out -- i am proud to second the nomination of michael steele and thank him for reaching out to the tea party folks. republicans >> holly hughes, a national committeewoman from michigan. i'm supporting michael steele. he is the best individual to lead us objectively in the next election and to promote our common goals, my reason for being an rnc number. thank you. >> lilly nunez, from colorado. i am honored to second the nomination for michael steele because he put us on the path to victory in 2010, and i believe he will see us through victory in 2012. thank you.

>> national committeewoman south dakota, i support and second the nomination of chairman michael steele for reelection because of all the money he said to our states and that ended in a twin and it's a cult -- in a wind and a takeover of the house. >> i am from montana. i am supporting michael steele because i have always of -- believe in the ground, up, as he does, and in both the state and national levels. this is the leadership we expect, and we will see from here through the 2012 election. >> madam chair, i am a national committeeman from rhode island. i'm supporting michael steele because two years ago this party was in dire straits, and i do not know if you have noticed, but we just had the biggest fear

this party has ever had. what corporation changes the head when you just have the biggest win? it is insane. hi encourages all of you to let's not change chairman. let's keep it going. we want to win in 2012. >> national committeewoman from rhode island. our success in november paved the way -- the winning path to 2012, and i do not wish to change course now. off to join me in supporting michael steele for chairman of the rnc. -- join me in supporting michael steele for chairman of the currency. he will bring us home. >> as national committeeman of the republican party of the virgin islands, on behalf of the whole delegation, when someone makes sweet music, you do not get rid of the conductor. we second the nomination of

michael steele. join him, make sweet music. [applause] >> national committeeman from new mexico. michael steele is the proven leader with the energy and tuesday as to lead us to victory. again, in 2012. it is my honor to request your support and your vote for michael steele. thank you. [applause] >> the chair recognizes the state chairman from a high for the purpose of nominating a candidate for rnc chairman. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, fellow members, i know we have heard of the speeches, no one wants to hear any more. let's get to the point. the challenges that face this committee are incredible and daunting. we have to dig up a $20 million

hole, put $27 million into the presidential trust, fund a get out to vote effort, pay for a national convention, identified the presidential candidate, and do so while facing what will likely be a $1 billion ground game in an effort to reelect obama. i respect every one of the candidates that has put forth their candidacy. i respect the heck out of each and every one of them, if you should too. i do not and the anyone who gets the job. i know one thing. this committee needs a quiet, effective, experienced a share to tackle these tough challenges, and i am confident that maria cino is that person. she is the only candidate in this race who has worked in and around the committee for better than 30 years. the only one that has managed the rnc not once, but twice. the only one who has run an

operation for a successful presidential campaign. the only one who helped bailout and national committee of literally billions of dollars. the only one less successfully funded and managed a national convention to the list goes on and on. she has the confidence of our party's highest ranking official, the acting speaker john boehner from the great state of ohio, and i joined in asking each of you to cast your vote for maria cino for chairman. it is my honor and pleasure to place into nomination the name of maria cino. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, kevin. the chair recognizes the national committeewoman from utah for the purpose of seconding. >> thank you. in 1993, republicans were in big trouble. we had a charismatic, young president. we have not held a house

majority and 40 years, and we were $45 million in debt. maria cino clear that debt, raised millions more dollars, and today, we have a charismatic president whose policies are wrong for our country. if i want the candidate who has raised the most money, elected the most republicans, executed the most programs, and demonstrate a life-long commitment to the republican party and its ideals. that is maria cino. i am honored to second her nomination. [applause] >> madam chairman, at cox, chairman of the new york state party. in 1996 she raised $100 million and successfully defended our new majority of the house of representatives. in 2000, she ran a successful operation that elected a republican challenger into the white house, and in 2004, she ran the political operation

that devised and implemented the most successful victory operations in the history of this national party. in 20 to 08, she ran a great convention. it is my great honor to second the nomination of maria cino from gritty buffalo to be the next chairman of all our republican party. see why. >> madame chairwoman, i am honored to second the nomination of maria cino. if it is time to elect a chairman who will restore credibility to the republican national committee from day one. it is time to elect maria cino will be able to raise money from day one. it is time to elect maria cino, a chairman who will be able to elect republicans from day one, and it is time to elect maria

cino, will stand tall for republicans across this country from day one. if i have had 35 years in the national committee. believe me. it is time. thank you very much. [applause] >> i rise to second the nomination of maria cino. i am impressed that she will help write the ship, particularly the internal ship. she will help us rectify parish you help us reach out to our candidates with money, because when all else fails, we are going to have to have about $700 billion to win in 2012, and she is the only candidate out there who has shown she can raise that money. see why. -- thank you. >> the chair recognizes the national committeeman from virginia for the purpose of nominate a candidate for rnc chairman.

>> madam chairman, it is my honor and pleasure to place a name and nomination for rnc chairman. we are fortunate to have well- qualified candidates for national chairman. all of them had -- has made their cases with respect to fund raising and their political skills. lettuce today, one of our candidates will win -- later today, one of our candidates will win a majority of our votes. as you consider the candidates, i ask you to keep in mind the four questions -- who would be most able to incorporate the tea party activists and other newly- active grassroots conservatives into the campaigns of republican candidates in 2012? i know these activist organizations. i have trained many for the tea

party groups and analogous organizations, and i believe the answer to that question is saul anuzis. second, who is most likely to exploit fully the high-tech social media for republican candidates? the answer is saul anuzis. who would you be confident could respond most effectively in spontaneous give-and-take with democrats in the news media? i think the answer is saul anuzis. fourth, whom do you know would be the chairman most quickly to get back to you when you want to discuss something important about your state or the rnc? i think the answer is saul anuzis. two years ago, saul anuzis was my second choice, now i am one of many here with saul anuzis as our first choice. he is easy to like. i predict we shall find on the

final ballot that saul anuzis is the second choice of a great many more of loss. it is my pleasure to nominates saul anuzis. [applause] >> thank you, morton. the chair recognizes karen floyd, state chairman for south carolina for the purpose of seconding. >> madam chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, for is my honor to second the nomination of saul anuzis. this is a gentleman that does not just walk the walk. he talks the talk and he walks the walk. this gentleman is someone that carries the core competency is that we need for this position. he is a fund-raiser. he is someone that inherently understands the tacticians, the ability to strategizing. he fundamentally understands technology and how to reach. ladies and gentlemen, within 30 days of my nomination of state party chairman, the rest of the

red states received tremendous nude. all government had some foibles and they played out nationwide. there was one person that came to the great state of south carolina. i was saul anuzis. if for no money, he helped the strategizing, and he made historic gains. i attribute most of those to the foundation laid by this gentleman. i asked each of you to take the arm-twisting and forget it, go to your hearts, do what is right, and vote for saul anuzis. [applause] >> i am bill crocker, national committee man from texas. it is my pleasure and honor to second the nomination of saul anuzis. he is a proven business manager and party manager. he is a tremendously successful fund-raiser. he is an outstanding manager of the republican message, and has

been an effective communicator. that is what he is, and what he has done, and that is what he can be and can do for you and me as chairman of the rnc. i strongly urge that you both for saul anuzis. i yield the balance of my time to the committeewoman from the massachusetts port >> madam chairman and members of the committee, i fully endorse saul anuzis for chairman of the rnc, and i wish you would all follow me. as one of a handful of states female chairman, i would like to say that saul anuzis is someone that females can go along with. he works well, not just because he is cute -- [laughter] >> he understands the problems that we face. he has always been helpful,

respectful care as a proud member of the young republicans, he can lead this grant, old party into a new day that will take the rnc where it needs to go in 2012. thank you. >> thank you. as there are no other nominations that qualify under five b, the nominations are close. will the committee please reconvene to reconsider any submitted proxies? lesley is over -- raise your hand -- their. -- there. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> if the proxy committee as finished meeting, i would like to call for an update of the report. >> madam chair, the committee has met and reviewed the 15 proxies' that were submitted to

the secretary of the rnc. the committee has determined that 15 are in order, and zero are not in order. on behalf of the proxy committee, i conclude the report and move that the rnc except the report. >> the motion has been made. do i hear a second? all of those in favor of the motion please signify by saying aye. the ayes have it. the motion passes. all members and proxy's must be in their seat at this time. all members and proxies' must be in their seat at this time. >> please follow the rules.

>> thank you for your attention. we will now proceed with the election for rnc chairman. the names of the following individuals are properly in nomination for chairman of the republican national committee. ann wagner, reince priebus, michael steele, maria cino, saul anuzis -- based upon the roll call and the proxy committee report, there are 168 eligible voters in person or by proxy to cast ballots. the role of the states will be called the alphabetical order. please listen carefully for your state to be called and follow the directions of the assistant sergeant at arms. as stated, once your state is

called, you walked toward the wall on my left, and wait to receive a ballad from the chairman of the tellers. non-members holding proxy's should be prepared to state their name and have it compared to the official proxy list. if anyone requests assistance with receiving and ballot, or needs a ballot delivered to your seat, please raise your hand and an assistant sergeant at arms will assist you. the chair, secretary, and sergeant at arms will go after the entire role has been called. are there any questions? hearing none, i will lessen our secretary calls the role. >> thank you, madam code-share. we will do this in three phases. if we could start with alabama, alaska, and american samoa.

>> and they are giving me to do it -- the signal to do another state. arizona. when you guys get up, if you could push your seats in, that would help the line moved along a little, just to give my two

cents. [laughter] >> arkansas. california. ok. colorado. connecticut. delaware. d.c. again, if you could please push your chair in. d.c.

[laughter] >> florida. georgia. guam. hawaii. i hope. -- idaho. illinois.

indiana. iowa. kansas. kentucky. >> louisiana. maine.

maryland. massachusetts. michigan. minnesota. mississippi. misery. -- misery. -- missouri. montana. nebraska.

>> of nevada. new hampshire. >> new jersey. new mexico. new york.

north carolina. >> north dakota. no. mary on us. ohio. oklahoma.

>> oregon. >> pennsylvania. pr. -- puerto rico. rhode island. south carolina. south dakota. tennessee. texas.

>> i have been asked, if you could sit down after us vote, that would be helpful for the individuals trying to load. -- trying to go out and get back to their seats. -- vote and get back to their seats. utah. vermont. virgin islands. >> virginia.

washington. west virginia. wisconsin. and wyoming.

>> are there any members of the rnc will have not exercised their opportunity to vote? any members who have not voted? please proceed with the accounting of the ballots. i declare this session to begin formally at peace. the floor remains closed to

non-members with the exception of the individuals holding proxies' and non-member candidates for rnc chairman. please do now leave the room. the counting process will not take long. when it is completed i will announce results, and we will proceed with business. the committee will stand at ease.

>> i have received the official results from the chairman of the tellers. the results will be read in descending order of votes received as follows -- reince priebus, 45. michael steele, 44. maria cino, 32.

saul anuzis, 24. ann wagner, 23. we will now recess -- one more time? ok. reince priebus, 45. michael steele, 44. maria cino, 32. saul anuzis, 24. ann wagner, 23. we will now recessed for 20 minutes. the floor remains closed to non- members, except for those members who are holding proxy's or our candidates on the ballot at that time. -- or our candidates on the ballot at that time.

>> the republican national committee meeting just outside of washington at national harbor -- their winter meeting where they will select the national chairman for the next two years michael steele, one of five candidates. if they just wrapped up the first round of both. the leading vote-getter is reince priebus, the wisconsin state chairman. the current chairman received 44 votes in that round.

in order to gain the chairmanship, the winner has to get 85 or more. another round of voting is coming up. what you are seeing on the floor is the members of the committee speaking to each other, and outside of the ballroom here, a shot as well. there are in recess, and they will go at it again with another round of voting. we are opening up our phone lines to get thoughts from republicans only. republicans only for the next couple of minutes or so while they stay in recess. there are five candidates. we mentioned michael steele and reince priebus. also, saul anuzis, the former michigan chairman of the republican party, ann wagner, former ambassador, and maria cino. we think they will all be in the second round of nominations. we will have to wait and see. let's see what our viewers have to say.

this is andrew in miami careened go ahead. see, when of the first problems i'm having is we need a candidate that will make the most money for the republican party. i read an article this week saying that we are broke for the redistricting lawsuits. i wonder where all of the money went with michael steele? >> do you donate to the party? caller: they sent me letters a day in and day out. i do not give money to the party any more. i give it directly to the candidates. the amount of parties, and this and that, i think they need to focus on the candidates, and start saving money. >> in the recent election, 2010, who did you contribute to? caller: mark lumer deal, rep scott -- rick scott.

>> reince priebus, your state representative is in the lead. what do you think? caller: i was shocked. i may college republican president of a small school in green bay. with my organization, we have been excited with the number of endorsements that reince priebus got. i have no idea where the 20 votes came from for michael steele. >> you were expected michael steele to have far fewer votes. >> far fewer, based on the public endorsements. for reince priebus to of the pickup two additional votes, i cannot believe that. >> what college are you attended -- attending? what is your effort, however small it may be in the election of a national chair? caller: not so much on the

election the nationally, but this year, in 2010, when we focus -- we worked very closely with reince priebus, and my organization did 1500 hours of campaign work for a school that is only two thousand kids. >> boston is next. budget up. -- take up. caller: i would have to go with saul anuzis, but i just want to say this is great for the party. hopefully, water comes out on top will be able to lead the republican -- whoever comes out on top will be able to lead the republican party effectively in the future, especially in 2012 against barack obama. >> saul anuzis garnered 23 votes in the first round.

reince priebus got 45. michael steele, the current chairman, 44. saul anuzis gets 32. ann wagner with 24 votes. excuse me, saul anuzis has 24. it is maria cino with 32. with 23 votes it is ann wagner. who do you want to see as the next chairman of the national party? to wisconsin we go once again. caller: i would like to see reince priebus. i am on the executive board of my county and i happen to see reince priebus work behind the scenes. he is a tireless worker. he did so much work to turn wisconsin into a red state again. i used to send money to the rnc, but in this past election season i did not.

when the rnc gave her a lot of money and she was deep in the primary, then turns around and supports a democrat, i thought i cannot support the rnc at this time. we need a guy like reince priebus to turn this around 10 >> that was the special election in the new york, right? caller: yes. >> in new hampshire. tony. caller: good afternoon. i have lost some of my confidence in michael steele. we need someone like maria cino who has raised a lot of money, which we will need to run a successful and said -- aggressive campaign in 2012. i like to see these people go her way. >> we are waiting for the republican national committee to gavel back him for another round of voting with the five candidates -- michael steele, saul anuzis, maria cino, reince

priebus, and ann wagner. they have to get 85 votes to gain the chairmanship. we're taking republicans calls. caller: i have a question. this lane stream media, as sarah palin calls him, has been making comments about arizona and the man who shot the congresswoman. >> we are getting off topic. how does this fit? caller: they need to point out the fact that the media makes the republican party looked so bad, saying it is the republican people that are whipping people up into a frenzy, and caused this guy to do this. why why not bring up the fact

that the guy read karl marx? >> maybe another program, another time. we are talking specifically about the election, the future of the republican party, and two people would like to see. tennis -- tennessee. go ahead. caller: i am calling to say that i would like to see reince priebus as the next republican national committee chairman. i think the party needs new leadership at this time. i think we can expand our victories in the last election, and if we are conservative republicans, we will stick to conservative platforms and win again in 2012 added thank you for your time. >> thank you for your call. we have been able to get some nice views inside and outside of the hall as delegates go on a bit of a break.

next up is maryland. margo. see, i am 100% behind michael steele. i'm a diehard republican, but the moderate republicans i feel are under attack. michael steele was under attack the moment he walked in. >> you used the term "raw deal." what do you mean by that? caller: i think his philosophies as a moderate were challenged by the far right of the republican party, and i feel the far right is damaging our party seriously. i think it needs more moderates. i am very concerned about it. i have been for years. michael steele, kimmie, is a moderate, and he came under attack for his beliefs, ever since he took the position i

feel he what -- position. i feel he was mistreated, and the far right is far too powerful in our party and i'm very concerned. >> tell me your opinion of the fund-raising, the $20 million in debt the committee finds itself in. why is money going elsewhere to groups like american crossword its -- crossroads? see, i do not know. i cannot give you my opinion. i trust his honesty, and i do not know the fastest -- facts and figures. i wish he would be given a chance. >> he will be given another chance. we have another round of voting. as you saw on the palace, reince priebus with 45 votes and michael steele with 44. lynn is next in walker, mass..

caller: we would like to see a change. our money this year did not go to the republican party. we felt we really wanted to push for changes. >> where the bulk of your candidate's contributions go? caller: michele bachman. there was a couple of others. rubio, down in florida. we felt we needed a change. for two years, we are in the hole for about host: ohio is next,. hello? you are on the air. john n. findley, ohio.

hi there. alfredo, are you in tampa? caller: yes. host: it had with your comments. caller: i would vote for michael steele. i am from cuba. my not might -- my english is not very well. i like michael steele. i like the strong republican community. host: it was two years ago this month that michael steele was first elected as chairman of the republican national committee. next up we go to finley, ohio, john you are on. caller: the mainstream media will spend desperate if he does not win reelection. they have been piling on with the republicans that michael steele is a bad leader. he has been victorious.

as soon as they do not elect him, they will pile on the republicans that they had not selected a winner and it is because of his race and because he is a minority and republicans are falling right into their trap. this guy has won and it is an indisputable. he has given them a house, he has given them governorships, mayorships, and anybody else in any other party with this type of winning record would be elected hands down. the republicans are playing stupid. they should give this guy another term. these people call in and say they will might give them money. he has not been convicted of a crime. come on. this is unbelievable. thank you for taking my call. host: this is the gaylord national harbour resort, just

minutes away down the potomac where the republican committee is meeting to elect a chairman. they have five candidates and have done a first round of voting and the two leading candidates, right brightest and michael steele -- it looks like they are ready to gavel in again. let's hear from miami. my support for saul anuzis. i did some canvassing. some of the republican party, the more grassroots people, they are dissatisfied with the far right of the republican party. they are perceived as corrupt and the bank bail outs started under george bush. everybody is really upset about those bank bailouts. i would like to see more of a chairman that would support all the grass roots people. , some of the tea party people, some partyron paul people and be

more inclusive. there is an undercurrent of groundswell support of change that everybody does not want. they want new ideas. they want the federal reserve audited. they want the money situation reported to was accurately. host: thank you. we heard there is a two-minute warning. we'll continue with our phone calls. elkhart, indiana, you are next. caller: i would like to put my support for reince preibus. we lived 40 years in illinois and i saw firsthand what he did in wisconsin and. his energy is needed in the republican party this minute. i would put my vote for reince preibus. host: un 45 others so far in terms of the republican national committee delegates, that is where it stands now. reince preibus picked up 45 in that first round of voting and

michael steele was 44 and 32 was on maria cino. caller: good afternoon i want to enthusiastically throws in for maria cino. i actually do fund-raising. the fact that the rnc is $21.5 million in debt is a problem. having raised money down here in nashville, you have a leader that can execute plans and get this committee back on track. i have heard a different comments from maryland -- host: it looks like they're coming back in. thank you for your comments. >> return to your seats quickly. the chair now recognizes jonah for an updated proxy report.

not yet ? in a minute or two, we will recognize jonah. we have a couple of new proxy's. the chair recognizes john of for

a proxy report. >> madam chair, i am the chairman of the republican party. we have reviewed the 16 properties that were submitted to the secretary of the rnc. the proxy committee has determined that 16 submitted proxies' are in order and zero are not in order. on behalf of the proxy committee, i conclude this report and move that the rnc accept the report of the proxy committee. >> without objection, so accepted. we have 168 voting again. please note that the ballot box is empty at this time. it is not quite here yet. [laughter] we will now proceed to the second devoted the names of the following individuals are properly in nomination for chairman of the republican national committee. and wagner, reince preibus, michael steele, maria cino, saul

anuzis. based upon the roll call and a proxy committee reports, there are 168 eligible voters in person and by proxy to cast votes. are there any questions? we will ask the secretary, sharon day, to call the roll. the same procedure you will follow that you did last time. thank you. >> again we will star with alabama, alaska, and american samoa, ariz., and again please remember to push your seats in. thank you. arkansas, california, colorado,

connecticut, delaware, d.c., georgia,guam, hawaii,

idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, kentucky, louisiana, maine, maryland,

massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, and it mississippi, missouri, montana, nebraska,

nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york,

north carolina, north dakota, northern marianas, ohio, oklahoma,

or againregon, pennsylvania, puo rico, rhode island, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas,

utah, vermont, virgin islands, va., washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming.

i'm >> declare this session to be informally at least. the floor remains closed to non-members with the exception of non-member candidates for rnc chairman. are there any members who have not voted? ok, we are at ease while the ballots are being tallied.

>> our results in descending order of votes are as follows -- prioibus, 52, steele, 37cino, 30, wagner, 27, anuzis, 22. preibus - 52, steele 52, cino,

30, wagner 27, a total of 168. we will now recessed for 20 minutes and the floor remains closed to non-members except for those non-members who are candidates on the ballot at this time.

>> this is the republican national committee winter meeting. they are gathering to select their in next chairman. michael steele is the current chairman. they have a roundup -- rounded up a second round of budget. michael steele is ahead and reince preibus is up from the

first round. maria cino as 30 boats which is an increase of eight for her. saul anuzis has 22 and and wagner increase turbos to 27. the winner needs 85. they are in recess and these are members -- delegates of my. they are members of the rnc talking to each other. we have sean miller of the hell back with us. the second round of votes and now a bit of a break. tell viewers what is going on on the floor at the national arbor. >> we just saw the second round happen. it is a fairly orderly affair. there is not a lot of -- a lot of excitement on the floor of this conference room. the candidates have private rooms where they will try to take members back and do some arm-twisting and try to get them to line up in their camp. it looks as though michael steele is beginning to fade.

folks were telling us that his commitment was only for the first round. his supporters are beginning to fade away and it looks like reince preibus is the beneficiary of that. saul anuzis is looking like he is fading badly. he is someone who was a moderate candidate. people thought he had good contacts among committee members. he had run before. the only question is where his orders will go. couple of candidates like saul anuzis and ann wagner with under 30 boats. how can they say that they turn in their boats or turn them for a cut? how did they relinquish the race? >> we spoke with saul anuzis earlier today and he denied that he had any type of deal made with other candidates. he said he was speaking to everyone but he has not made any deals yet.

it will come down to dealmaking. for the candidates who are looking at victory, they will start asking that the front runners, what can they get out of them in order to throw their support behind them. >> we will let sean miller go because you're first obligation is to the hill. we can read your updates at hill.com. we will open up our phone lines to republicans on the before the third round of voting. so would you like to see as the next chairman of the committee. =? caller: i am calling to support reince preibus from this great state of wisconsin. the rest of the michael still support will go to reince preibus because they have been friends for so long.

probably two more ballots and reince preibus will be the next chairman. >host: let's hear from washington pennsylvania. caller: i think reince preibus will probably be the next chairman. after the first thought i was really questioning the thinking of the republican party. they still had so many controversies and 20 million -- $20 million debt. i try to keep myself informed. there was a strategy meeting before the 2010 elections, frank luntz made a statement that informed voters are enemies of the republicans and it made me wonder what made him make a statement like that? he said the uninformed of the only ones who voted. >> who made that statement? >>frank luntz. he said before the election that inform the voters or republican

animes. it makes me question whether i want to be a republican. i saw the first about and i asked what was going on here. it was more less like he was saying that we are uninformed fools if we vote republicans. host: that is saul anuzis in the back of your screen in the center. he is one of the five candidates and his support dropped by a couple of votes in the second round of voting. you can stay on top of this in the twitter world. our web page is at twitter.com/ c-span. we posted a tweet that says the video library has posted the 2009 vote for michael still when he became the chairman. it was a meeting that went well into the afternoon with a number of rounds of the votes. that is on our video library now. you can weigh in with your

comments at twitter.com/c-span. let's go to tacoma, washington, caller: welcome i would vote for michael steele because he is a moderate and i think he did a good job. he was demonized a bit in the media. it looks like reince preibus is pulling in other groups. either way, i hope the moderates of the party use their heads and don't let the extreme right- wingers take over everything and get us out of this debt. host: this is washington, d.c., go ahead caller: previous caller said that reince preibus should probably will because he is a good friend of michael steele. reince preibus was a salaried employee of the rnc under michael steele for two years.

i think he was the chief of staff. it was a high administrative position. if he had differences with like a steel he never reads them -- raise them while he was employed. when his employment was about of, he took on michael steele and criticized him. one of the big criticisms is the debt and money raising. what happened was the rnc did not raise less money. republicans did not give less money, i should say, other organizations like crossroads america, and karl rove, raised $70 million or so that would have been rnc money because of the ideological differences. they were willing to sabotage the election. host: how does the next chairman overcome that no matter who it is? groups like american crossroads and other groups have already garnered a good bit of fundraising.

how does the next chairman turn that around? caller: how do you have these litmus test conservatives as the same time as the tea party people? i don't know. he is a backstab are handy as a litmus test right-wing religious type. he will polarized that also. it appears he has the other credentials. cino seems to have the broadest and deepest credentials. not that much support host: this is the gaylord national of washington, d.c. at the winter meeting of the republican national committee. we are giving you abuse inside and outside the ballroom where members of the rnc our meeting and voting for one of five candidates for chairmanship.

they are on their second round and will head into the third round next with reince preibus in the lead. this last round, he garnered 52 votes it. to win the chairmanship, it takes 85. north carolina, on our republican line, we are taking calls from republicans only. caller: i have heard from callers that debut michael still has a good chairman and as a moderate. i have nothing against michael steele but whoever we put as chairman should get back to the republican principles that our party was founded on. whether that is michael steel or not, i don't have a preference. i feel like we should strive to get back to our principles whoever is nominated. host: what is the republican operation like in north carolina? >> it is pretty strong. caller: i and chair of the

college republicans at my university. host: where you go to school? caller: at western carolina. we work with the north carolina gop party. it is a strong network and we really get out there to help our party grow and reach out to other people. we as an organization that my university are trying to put -- push more grass-roots campaigns but we welcome everyone. we just like a more principled- driven for the party. host: to california, tell us the name of your town. caller: antioch. host: go ahead. caller: you hear race statements and i don't think is a racial but if you don't vote for a black man but it is a racial issue if you vote for the white man. host: do you see that happening

here? caller: that is from the comments out there. we will just a vote on race, then we should not be voting at all. host: let's go back to the question -- who do you think should be the chairman? caller: i think we need a change. that is what america voted for. whether it is republican or democrat, i think the vote came from the people. host: in the nation's capital, this is mark. who should be the next chairman? excuse me matt in washington, d.c.. caller: personally, i have been able to meet with all of these people through my consulting firm. i think it comes down to three people. you look at ann wagner who reminds me of kay bailey hutchison from a large southern

states. you have saul anuzis to understand the internet probably better than anyone else and twitter and facebook and compiling 30-40 friends and followers. i think it is kind of a wisconsin thing this year with reince preibus where under his leadership you have ron johnson as a senator and you have sean duffy in congress and you have the batter is going to the rose bowl. host: what i am not hearing from you is what everybody else is reporting about and certainly some of the comments that the meeting today is the fund- raising ability of the next chairman with the party -- the committee being $20 million in debt. caller: right, there is a

that where you kind of have to be able to spend the money. did michael steele has been able to spend more money probably than most people. maybe there is an experience factor there with other people not being as experienced spending that money. host: play devil's advocate -- he spent that money but he said in his comments this morning about the fall campaign, his fire pelosi campaign where you could argue that was not successful. caller: that is the point he would make. it is easy to see how that was not successful and how that will affect things in the future. i don't know at this point. host: arlington, virginia is next. caller: hello, cspan. i would like to throw my support for chairman michael steele. as a conservative, i know michael steele. he is a roman catholic. he is pro-life.

as governor, he cut taxes, defense spending. it is interesting to hear some of the moderates calling in and espousing that the far right is taking over. in actuality, congress holds up the purse strings. what happened under bush was because the moderates continually compromised their ideals. michael still raised $198 million. he broke records. he broke midterm fund-raising records. the $20 million deficit that the rnc has is pretty simple. watercolors had alluded to it but i would also mention jim had a senate conservative fund and that soaked up 60 or $70 million, too. host: how to overcome that, no

matter who the next chairman is? is that lost forever? caller: no, mike has the right idea and that is grass roots. that is the conservative tea party movement. you will rely on smaller donations but you will have a lot more people giving. i think that is the future. host: thank you for your thoughts. we are waiting for the committee to gavel back again for a third round of voting. the leaders are still reince preibus and michael steele with maria cino at 30 votes. 85 wins the chairmanship. caller: i am so excited you are taking my call. i just want to say that i am 100% for michael steele.

i am an ex-employee of the rnc with the republican national hispanic assembly which most people don't know exists. small donations of like mind -- i am a singer and i used to be young band. my $10, my $5, every month, this is so important. his fund-raising has been excellent and not only that, i am so embarrassed at the state of texas. it is not voting for michael steele. i don't know where they are going we have a big problem with the hispanic population here. and the borders which is another subject. he did the firs pelosi. look at the win in the house. he went from 44 votes to 39? because reince preibus and wisconsin -- oh, please. host: you said you were

disappointed with your delegates from taxes. how do you make your been in known to the people voting there? caller: i will write them a letter. i'm a grass-roots person per . that is a grass roots oriented location. we are trying to get more hispanics in the republican party. because they have the same values, the same principles. hispanics have the same values as republicans. we are conservative. the government offers us free housing, free schools, free welfare and all this. and they deceive us. hispanics are very much republicans. i am disappointed. i will write a letter to my chairman and let them know that they have made a stupid decision. the first ballot, mr. anuzis, 24

boats below michael steele. doesn't that mean anything? host: 2 wisconsin next, people are running down reince preibus. he has worked so hard. he was everywhere. he worked very hard to get our state representative and got rid of feingold. we went from 26 we went to 20 seats from nothing. he worked hard with the grass- roots organization, the tea party, and the hispanic people. i am conservative and i work with tea party. we had a good group around the state and we still do. i am from walker's account which is the second strongest county,

republican county in the whole county. he is a christian man and even these people from the west coast who are against christians, i don't want moderates. moderates to me have no principles. you are either for something or you are not. host: the republican national committee is having their winter meeting, waiting for the third round of voting at the national harbour outside the nation's capital. the house and senate are out today and house republicans have been on retreat in baltimore. the house comes back next week and will begin debate on the health care repeal on tuesday. that will be live here on c- span. let's continue to take your calls while we wait for the third round of voting. roanoke, virginia. caller: i had been turned off on this michael steele character for a long time. it was based on some of the comments that have been made off and on for the last couple of years.

i wonder at times about his intelligence. thank you very much host: here is raleigh, north carolina. caller: i would like to put my voting for reince preibus. i think steele has done a good job but i think we need to move on. we need new blood. he is a great guy but let's move to reince preibus. if you want to be moderate, you are in the wrong party. thank you very much. host: cleveland is next. caller: i would like to comment. i think michael still deserves to be the leader again. i am always a democrat and he converted me to republican guard host: i will let you go because it looks like the chairman of the committee for the meeting may gavelling them back in for a third round of voting. >> some people 15 but then we

can live with -- 10 minutes between rounds instead of 20. >> is very seconds? all those in favor? opposed? the ayes have it. [applause] the chair now recognizes the john up for an updated proxy report. >> madam chair, i am the chairman for the proxy republican party. there is no change >> that means we are still at 168. ok, please note that the ballot box is empty. at this time. we will now proceed to the third round. the names of the following individuals are properly in nomination for chairman ann wagner, reince preibus, michael steele, maria cino, saul anuzis.

based upon the roll call and a proxy committee report, there are 168 eligible voters in person or by proxy to cast votes. are there any questions? if not, a secretary sharon day will call the roll. alabama, alaska, american samoa, california,kansas, colorado, connecticut, delaware,

d.c., florida, georgeia, guam, hawaii, idaho, illinois,

indiana, iowa, kansas, ky, entucky, louisiana, maine,

maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, ms. a, montana,no nebraska, -- missouri, , montana

nebraska, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new north north, carolina,m

dakota, number mary o-- ohio,ern marianas, oklahoma, oregon, pennsylvania,

puerto rico, rhode island, south carolina, south the, coda -- south dakota, tennessee, texas,

utah, vt., virgin islands, v irginia, and 10 washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming.

>> are there any members of the rnc that have not exercised their opportunity to go to? i declare this session to be informally at ease. the floor remains closed to non- members with the exhibition of nonmember candidates for rnc chairman while the ballots are being counted.

>> our result in descending order of votes received are in order, priebus, 54, steele, 33, wagner, 32, cino, 28, anuzis, 21. will now recessed -- will now recess for 10 minutes. the four remains close to non- members except those members who are candidates on the ballot at that time -- the floor remains

closed to non-members except those members who are candidates on the ballot at that time. >> after the third round of voting, reince priebus still ahead, edges up to votes to 54. keep in mind to win the chairmanship takes 85 votes. reince priebus with 54, michael steele with 33, maria cino with votes and

wagner with 32. kyl, reince priebus picks up just two more votes in this third round. how is all this going to be resolved? >> i think it is point is just a waiting game to see who drops out first. you look at michael steele, he still has 33 votes. once he drops out, as many people here expect him to do, priebus may be able to pick up a bunch of those. if anuzis drops out, that is 21 votes that could go to someone else. >> in between these votes and the recesses here, you are hearing from delegates that they are expecting one of the others

to drop out. will it be in the fourth or fifth round? >> back in 2009, then chairman mike duncan dropped out after three rounds and michael steele picked up a bunch of votes following that. so it could happen now. people are sort of expecting at least one person to drop out before the next round. we should see some kind of movement by around four. >> c-span of easily covers a lot of political events and conventions but rarely do we get a chance to look into the actual twisting arms and vote counting and all that going on on the floor. give our viewers a description of what you are over hearing as the recess continues and delegates speak to one another. >> this is politics probably in its purest form. people are out shaking hands, making deals. it is really a pretty cool thing, really fun experience.

you'll see some of these candidates running in and out of the ballroom, talking to each other. it is all part of the process. >> reince priebus picked up two votes between the second and third rounds. he is now at 54. our folks surprised he is not moving ahead any faster? >> he was certainly the front runner coming in. he is still living in the right direction. when someone drops out, if they see a priebus moving in the right direction, they might go toward him. there will be dealmaking between some of the other people who are finishing further behind him. if they join forces, that could overtake him. >> thank you for that update. clearly a lot of reporting, a lot of texting and all sorts of commenting going on as we take a look at members in the media at

the republican national committee winter meeting just outside of washington. after three rounds of voting, there is no clear favorite. other than reince priebus, but he still needs 31 more votes to win the chairmanship. we are going to go back to your calls and we have been taking calls from republicans only, who you would like to see as the next leader of your party. fort worth tx is next. caller: i am for anybody except michael still does because he has not been a good fund raiser. haley barbour has raised a lot of money with republican governors association. that nightclub incident, i don't blame that on michael steele, but it just made people lose confidence in voting for the rnc. he has not been a very good fund raiser for the republican party. host: this is frederick on the

line. you are on the air. caller: i don't know who's going to win, but it looks like it will be a woman replacement for steele, and i don't want to be wagner. she just jumped from fifth to third. there is your trend. it looks like the republicans are going to replace a black by a woman, they cannot do a white man. i know this because i have lived in missouri, and she was called the which on wheels. caller: and calling into the show my support for mr. steele. i think we need to show the democrats and the united states as a republican party is still united and that we support our

chairman. there have been of the mistakes, but i think a lot of the mistakes have been blown out of proportion by different news agencies and people both inside and outside of the party. >> looking at our twitter page, we are looking at our congressional media page. reid wilson is writing about the convention, about the winter committee meeting. he says michael still has retreated to a room off the floor and guarded the door, some supporters being escorted in. caller: i this wanted to say thank you for taking my call. i am kind of on the fence between steele and priebus. i think we need fresh blood in

the party. we had one hell of a sweep in november, but obama has to be a one-term president and we have to do whatever it takes to get the job done. net neutrality coming, and just basically overhaul of the whole system. has to be stopped, and whatever it takes. i am kind of on the fence. host: this is at the national harbour resort outside of washington d.c., the republican national committee meeting for their winter meeting. five candidates including the current chairman, michael steele, leading after three rounds of voting is wisconsin state republican chairman reince priebus. caller: if it does not end up that mr. steele is reelected, i would like to thank him for his service of the party. the miracle in massachusetts did

not happen by accident, andthe wins in congress did not happen by accident. a veteran could have lost an opportunity like we had this year, but a good chairman to the advantage of that, so thank you for your service, mr. steele. caller: i don't really know that i have a real favorite in this. i just know who i don't want, and i don't want reince priebus. my rationale for that is for one reason. i watched the debate between all the candidates about a week or so ago, and there was a statement made by reince priebus that i think every republican should sit up and take notice of. that was that he came out in support of the establishment of a national id that every single american would have to carry. realizing what ever you want to call it, this is the

nationalization of the federal government over the authority of the state. it is a further erosion of state's rights, and our individual liberties are being taken away from us and granted to the federal government. host: was he the only candidate to come out in favor of that national i.d.? caller: i believe he was. to me, this is totally abhorrent of everything that the last election was about in november. as the republican party came out with their platform of downsizing the power and scope of the federal government, we have someone running for the republican national committee who not only will be in charge of fund-raising but also attracting candidates. if you have someone is going to

go down this road, it makes beefier for the type of candidate that we will -- it makes meat fear for the type of candidates we will be offering up. host: chris mentioned the debate held at the national press club in washington. we covered that event and that is available on our video library at c-span.org. next up is lansing, michigan. this is david on the line. we also want to indicate we are getting some news reports that michael steele has been meeting with and wagner -- ann wagner, one of the five candidates. caller: i have been voting for about 20 years now and i got involved in republican politics about eight years ago. we see all the other candidates

who have shown incredible gains in their states were never part of the leadership and in michigan we saw a record loss to the democrats. i just don't see how we could afford to put someone like that in charge of the republican national committee right before such an important election year. host: this year picked then? caller: i am going with reince priebus. he is young and charismatic. he has the ability to get the job done. caller: i am one of these rare african-american republicans out here. i just want to see some unity among the country. i don't care about the race issue or any of this stuff. are we going to talk about race in america or are going to pretend it doesn't count? or were going to talk about it and get it off the table, or can

we just move on from this? host: i just want to point out that is ann wagner walking back into the room. we had reports that she had a meeting with michael steele. how do you think chairman steel e has performed in his two years as head of the party? caller: i think he has kind of sold us short. i don't think he is helping us to healed. i think obama is outpacing us in that. obama is pretending to really unite the country. we have to outpace him and really be genuine about it. the people that voted for rand paul and the people who campaigned -- >> thank you for your patience. they are coming back in for a fourth round of voting.

>> there will be 168 ballots. please note that the ballot boxes in the at this time. we will now proceed to the fourth round of voting. the names of the following individuals are properly in nomination for chairman of the republican national committee. ann wagner, reince priebus, michael steele, maria cino, saul anuzis. there are 168 eligible voters in person or by proxy to cast a ballot. any questions? secretary sharon they will call the roll. >> alabama, alaska, american samoa, ariz., arkansas,

california, colorado, connecticut, delaware,d.c., ,hawaii, georgia, was oguam

idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, kentucky, louisiana,

maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, mississippi, missouri, montana,

.ebraska could we please go in the roles we go when so you are not fighting the traffic trying to go the opposite direction? that would help us. nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york,

north carolina, north dakota, , ohio,n mariana as oklahoma, oregon, pennsylvania,

puerto rico, rhode island, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah,

vermont, virgin islands, virginia, washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming. here we go again.

>> are there any members of the republican national committee who have not exercised their opportunity to vote? i declare this section to be informally at ease. the floor remains close to non- members with the exception of nonmember candidates for rnc chairman.

>> our results in descending order. priebus, 58, cino, 29, steele, 28, wagner, 28, anuzis, 24, and one write in candidate that was not formally nominated so it is an ineligible ". [laughter] priebus, 58, cino, 29, steele 28, wagner, 28, anuzis, 24.

ineligible, one. we are now at ease for 10 minutes.

>> this is the national harbour outside of washington d.c., and have just wrapped up the fourth round of voting for who will lead the party, the next chairman. michael steele has lost 16 vote since the opening round where he had 44. in this fourth round he picked up 28 votes. he is still the leader after the four rounds. reince priebus is the current chairman of the response and republican party. -- chairman of the wisconsin republican party. we heard some reports that michael steele and ann wagner with -- were meeting. what came of that? go ahead with your comments. >> standing right near me in the hallway is ann wagner.

we are still trying to figure out the deal, but they were in the back room for about five minutes. she came out walking briskly past reporters and back into the ballroom. they both are still in but they both dropped modes in this last round. >> reince priebus is picking up votes but at a very slow pace. at this pace it will go five, six, seven rounds, don't you think? >> it sure looks that way. you kind of wonder what it means, there is some hesitation among committee members. we will have to see what happens with wagner and steele both dropping votes. you have to wonder if one of them is going to leave before the next round. >> earlier one of the committee

members had asked to shorten the recesses. we are now into 10 minutes. are the crowds getting eeg to wrap this thing up? >> you see some of them out in the hallway doing their own tallies, going through trying to figure out what is going to happen. not all of them are involved in all the deal making. >> you said michael steele is in that back room at this hour? >> he is out walking around in the hallway. ann wagner just went in and michael steele is now heading toward that room. >> we really appreciate your update and we will possibly check back in with you later to find out who wins this thing. >> thank you very much.

>> we have our phone lines open for republicans only and your thoughts on who you would like to see lead the party. we will take calls during this recess. ahead, another round of votes. the tally so far, reince priebus is leading with 58 votes, ria cino is next with 29 votes, michael still has 28 votes, saul anuzis is at 24 votes. ann wagner is former ambassador to luxembourg and as you also heard has been meeting with michael steele. she garnered 28 votes in the last round and there was one right in candidate that was not allowed. caller: i want to thank michael steele for his service to the republican party. i think he did a pretty good

job, except for one thing. we had a governor that was running, previous governor that was running in maryland, bob ehrlich, which he was the lieutenant governor. i think michael steele was the lieutenant governor under him. in the election, actually before the election, before the primary, money was given to bob ehrlich, and it was before the primary. from what i am understand, bob ehrlich was not even on the ballot yet. so we were a little bit upset about that. i think that anybody who gets in there should think about that. anybody who runs in the primary should have an equal chance in the republican party and all states, no money should be given to any candidate before the primary, only after the primary. >> we have cameras inside and

outside the hall and there appears to be an informal vote count going on over there. nick, what are your thoughts? who should win this chairmanship today? caller: i don't know exactly who should win. i may remember of the republican -- i am a member of the republican town committee. i wanted to make two points. one, i think it is a misconception that michael steele should get all the credit for this last win. it was the tea party who did what they did, in spite of the republican party. they did not always get cooperation. the other thing i want to mention is that i don't think race or gender should be a factor in any of this. it should be strongly on the merit system. we should go for the best person, regardless. i am just tired of hearing about race and gender being an issue.

i think we have gotten past that. certainly we have a black chairman today, and i don't think it should be an issue anymore. >> to chicago, kevin, what are your thoughts? caller: i hope marie cino pulls this out. i think michael still has left the party in poor shape going into 2012, being down $21.3 million really possess behind the eightball, and i am looking -- really puts us behind the eightball, and i am looking forward to having the new chairman today. >> you said the republicans won in spite of the chairman. caller: the rnc was not able to help like that had in recent years, and i just think new

leadership is needed. caller: i would like michael steele to win again. i don't agree with the previous caller. i have family and friends in michigan. then't want either one of ladies to prevail. i appreciate chairman steele. i think he will do better as he moves along. he deserves another chance, and i am all for it. >> you can follow what some of the reporters are saying online at c-span.org. anuzis just huddled with supporters in the hallway. something he may be on the way out. michael steele is smiling.

caller: i think we need someone else in there. he has mismanaged the republicans and he is trying to take credit for what the tea party did, and he did not work with the tea party, so he has no right to take credit for it. >> how much impact did his fire in electing have been electe republicans? >> my money went to the t party and if he gets reelected, my money will go to the tea party again because they are the ones that are trying -- we have some old republicans who need to go. >> less than two minutes before they gavel back in for a fifth round of voting. caller: i definitely think the republican party should keep

michael steele as our leader. you don't fire somebody that is winning, and he has one for us. he is a role model and a good man to lead us. i cannot believe that people there are not voting for him and keeping him and as our leader and i am really upset, because i think we should all be backing him for the wonderful job that he did in november and what he is done for the party the last couple of years. >> our camera following the chairman from outside of the ballroom. next up is new jersey, ann marie. caller: i have a deep concern over one of the candidates that is running. the gentleman from wisconsin. is my and your understanding that he was in favor of obamacare. would you happen to know whether or not that is true? >> i do not know his position, but i think you for your call. it looks like they may come back into session.

>> thank you very much. how are you all doing? i just wanted to check. two years, we have had a good time. we have done a lot of good things, work hard and build the party. but it is clear the party wants to do something a little different and hopefully a little bit better. and i appreciate all the hard work that all of you have brought to the table. i said that earlier this morning, message from the heart. this is tough because, you know, is what it is. but what is important, and i hope you do not forget as this process unfolds is that unification, moving forward, building, growing,winning.

our target, our ground game, our opportunity rests with the people of america. so i really thank you for the chairmanship of this party for the two years that i have had its, and at this time i will step aside for others to lead. but in so doing, i hope you all appreciate the legacy we leave. despite the noise, lord knows we have had a lot of noise -- despite the difficulties,we won. [cheers and applause]

sit down, sit down. sit down, sit down. please, please. as probably many of you have figured out, i am a fighter, and i am a little bit obstinate, but i am because i believe in the fight. i am, because i believe that the greatest gift we can give to the people politically is our service to them. and as i said this morning, that is your charge. you took that charge seriously, we went out, we raised money, $192 million of.

we won 53 house seats, we won in places we had not won in a long time. as i said this morning, it was not because of what i did or any of the officers, it is what you did. so i will step aside because i think the party is ready for something different. at this time, i released my supporters and i asked them to stand with me in supporting maria cino as next chairman of the republican party. [applause] but all the while, it is up to all of you to decide. we have been through some big storms, some small storms, but this storm you cannot allow to continue. we must heal ourselves and go forward together, and we must

win. barack obama's agenda is not good for america. we fired pelosi. let's take the senate. let's take the white house. let's heal america, made her stronger, better, prouder, as we are today as republicans, unified, moving forward. it is important. i thank you for the opportunity to serve and to lead, and now i exit stage right. [applause] [cheers and applause]

>> please note that the ballot box is empty. we will now proceed with the next round of voting. names of the following individuals are properly in nomination for chairman of the republican national committee. ann weber, reince priebus, cino ria s,aul anuzis. do we have any proxy changes?

>> there are no changes in the count. >> based upon the roll call and the proxy committee report, there are 168 eligible voters in person and by proxy to cast ballots. are there any questions? i will ask our secretary, sharon day, to call the roll. >> alabama, alaska, american samoa, arizona, ark., california, colorado,

connecticut, delaware,d.c., florida, georgia, guam, hawaii,

.daho, illinois .

interest onew mexico, north car,

north marianas, ohio, oklahoma

oregon, pennsylvania, puerto ricao, rhode island guaba, south carolina, south dakota tennessee, texas, utah, vermont,

virgin islands because costs and

wyoming -- virgin islands, washington, wyoming, west virginia.

>> are there any members of the on-air -- of the rnc that have not exercised their right to vote approved i declare this session to be informally at

ease. the floor remains close to with the exception of nonmember candidates for rnc chairman.

hawaii and anheuser has hot has

cannot fit him and often left left field fifth adulthoo

pau[no discernible audio]

>> darrow far as costs, -- our votes are as follows, 67, --

let me go through it again, saul anuzis 67, maria cino 40, ann wagner, 28. we will be at ease for 10 minutes.

>> the republican national committee winter meeting. this is the fifth round of voting. michael steele announced that he has dropped his reelection bid and he asked his supporters to back maria cino. reince priebus is still in the lead. he picked up nine votes. he stands at 67. to win the chairmanship out

cino picking up 40 votes. uann wagner had 38. saul anuzis bringing up the bottom. what did it take for chairman still to finally call it quits? >> he had gone down in three straight ballots. he probably knew from the starts. starting off with 44 votes is not enough with a chairman. you have to start off at about 60 votes. the undecided members think that you might have a chance. >> whe asked for his backers to back maria cino.

she picked up 11 votes. does that mean that someone will have to drop out or that major votes wins will have to go another way? >> they pretty much split it between maria cino, and saul anuzis, and reince priebus. cino's people told me that they were not sure how many votes that they would get. steele did deliver them the most among the others. this is when people start dropping out about one around. >> are you surprised that maria cino is still in it? >> well, she has some of momentum going in according to many other members that i was talking to. they're really like what she brings to the table. she is a previous rnc officials.

she really brought the -- out of that so she has a lot of experience. going into this, what they are do that. they are about $22 million in debt and they will have plenty of spokespeople to represent the party including john boehner who actually does support cino. they want someone who has been through this before, can raise money, and really compete with barack obama. >> we will let you go. do your job. our viewers can read a report at rollcall.com. we are going to open up our phone numbers for republicans on a. we are asking the questions online and at our twitter page. you can give us a call.

republicans only. we did not want to show you in case you missed it, the comments of michael steele as before the fifth round. he came before the meeting today and announced that he was stepping down. he was ending in his bid for reelection and throwing his weight behind maria cino. >> how are you doing? i just wanted to check. we have had a good time. we have done a lot of good things, we have worked hard and we have built the party. it is very clear that the party would like to do something different and hopefully a little bit better. i appreciate all of the hard work that all of you have brought to the table. i said that early this morning. i meant it from the heart. this is tough because it is what it is. what is important and i hope you

do not forget as the process unfolds is that unification moving forward, building, growing, winning. our target, our ground camps, our opportunity rests with the people of america so i really thank you for the chairmanship of this party and the two years that i have had it. at this time, i will step aside for others to lead. in so doing, i hope you all appreciate a legacy we leave. despite the noise, lord noise because lord knows we have had a lot of noise. despite the difficulty, we have one. -- have won.

[applause] the sit-down, sit down, sit down. [applause] please, please. as probably many of you have figured out, all i am a fighter and i am a little bit obstinate. i am because i believe in the fight. i am because i believe that the greatest gift we can give to the people politically is our service to them. as i have said, that is your charge. you took a charge seriously, we

ran out, we raised money, $192 million. we won 63 house seats, 21 house to republican. it was not because of what i did or what any of the officers did, it is because of what you did. i will step aside because i think the party is ready for something different. at this time, i released my supporters and i asked them to stand with me in supporting maria cino as chairman. [applause] all the while, it is up to all of you to decide. we have been through some big storms, some small storms, but

this storm, you cannot allow to continue. we must heal ourselves and go forward together and we must win. barack obama's agenda is not good for america. we fired policy -- nancy pelosi. let's take the senate, let's take the white house, let's heal america, a maker stronger, better, more proud, as we are today as republicans. unified moving forward it is important. thank you for the opportunity to serve and to lead. now, i exit stage right.

[applause] [applause] >> that was michael steele, stepping down. so far, reince priebus has 67 votes, maria cino 30 votes, ann wagner, 38 votes. we are outside of the ballroom where the meeting is taking place. we saw a look at maria cino heading into a room and meeting with michael steele.

we're waiting for them to come back in for another round of voting. let's go to your calls. what do you think? what are your thoughts on the tenure of michael steele? caller: i was glad to see him step down. heading into the 2012 elections, it is important to have an effective leader. the get-out-the-vote effort took a big hit. many of the major donors has defected to other third party groups. i think it is important for whoever comes out on top that they look at getting those donors back and get in the ground game going to compete with the obama machine in 2012. >> it looks like they might be ready to start the sixth round of voting.

let's go next to baltimore. caller: i was hoping that reince priebus would take over the helm. i think the republican party is strong as long as they shared the beliefs of the tea party. they made a big difference in the past election. i think the people need to be heard. i think that anyone who goes into washington should remember how they got their. they should listen to their constituents. >> we are looking at maria cino apparently coming out of some room. she is in second place in this fifth round of voting. she appears to be heading back into the ballroom for around numbersix. your thoughts on michael steele and who's next? caller: i am disappointed that michael steele stepped down that

i would definitely want to support whoever he is supporting. i had one question about something if you can take that. >> sure, go ahead. caller: i am not familiar with all of this going on but i had heard three different names. i just a thought that this was the u.s. in here. i have heard american samoa, guam, and virgin islands. i wanted to know what that is referring to. >> that is referring to members of the republican party in those territories. caller: are these part of the states? >> those are americans in those territories. i will let you go because they have started again. >> saul anuzis, ann wagner, reince priebus, maria cino.

>> proxy report. >> chairman of the hawaii party, there are no changes in account. >> based upon the roll call and a proxy committee report, there are 168 voters in person and by proxy to cast ballots. are there any questions? the secretary will call the roll. >> alabama, alaska, american samoa, arizona, arkansas, california, colorado, connecticut, delaware, d.c.,

florida, georgia, go longuam, h, idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa,

kansas, kentucky, louisiana, maine, maryland, massachusetts,

michigan, minnesota, mississippi, missouri, montana, nebraska, nevada, new hampshire,

new jersey, new mexico, new york, north carolina, north dakota, number mary agnes -- number marianas, ohio, oregon,

pennsylvania, pr, rhode island,

south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah, vermont,

virgin islands -- utah, vermont, virginia, virgin islands, washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming.

>> are there any members who have not exercised their opportunity to vote? i to declare this session to be informally at ease for 10 minutes. the floor remains closed to non- members with the exception of

nonmember candidates for rnc chairman. >> we have to do about how first. i stand corrected. -- we have to count the ballots first.

>[no discernible audio]

[no discernible audio]

hoin but what the [no discernible [no discernible audio]

[no discernible audio]

[no discernible audio] [no discernible audio]

>> our results in descending order are as follows -- reince priebus, 80, saul anuzis, 37, maria cino 34, ann wagner 17.

we will be at ease for 10 minutes.

[no discernible audio]

>> round six of our voting here as we watch this all rnc election for the new chairmen. that would complete a round 7 underway. let's get back to your calls here on c-span. we will start out in south carolina. caller: it is unfortunate that michael steele -- michael steele conceded. we had some great things happen in south carolina. if it was not for michael steele, we would not have our new governor. >> i think that michael steele

is overrated. we should have elected a guy from ohio. instead, we elected michael steele which is a big mistake. a bad management. his goal was to knock out some -- which did not arise. >> are you saying that the credit for the change did not have anything to do with mr. steele? caller: he had some but not like they have said. he has been critical of the tea party. that is probably why the money was not brought in to the rnc but it went to other sources. >> reince priebus got 80 votes but still short of the number

needed to win. republicans only, we go to baker's city, oregon. caller: i would like to respond to the previous caller. i thought that michael steele did an ok job. there was mistakes down the road. i think that he did an ok job. i did not have a problem with him kenyan elected. i am sad to see him go. i give him great credit for winning the house in record numbers. -- i did not have a problem with him at getting elected. i am excited for new leadership. >> ok, you just saw michael steele on your screen a moment ago as we continue our live coverage here on c-span.

hello, you are on c-span. >> hello, i just wanted to say that i think michael steele for his service. he has not done as bad a job as they say that he has. i really think that up reince priebus is a great candidate. they need a work force in a job like that but i think that he can connect and to do some outreach and represent the party well. he seems to be a good representative of the party. he has done a great job in wisconsin. >> south carolina, you are on the line. >> good afternoon. i want to make a comment, a caller was requesting that there was a total of 50 states and a chairman. 100th 68 in total -- 168 in total with the u.s. territories. the caller did not understand

the virgin islands. i want to provide color on that. >> we appreciate that. we have done six rounds in the winter meeting. reince priebus is leading in the sixth round. a bit short of what he needs to win. you're taking your action, republicans only, please for as though we will move forward to kansas. >>caller: i don't think that michael steele was able to reach out to young people like we hoped when he was first elected. many of our voters will be first-time voters. we are looking for a strong republican party. it looks like ann wagner will not get the nomination. we hope whoever might be the next chairman really reaches out to young people because i think that is important to the future

generations and to the strength of our party. >> of course, ann wagner from misery. we will talk to andrew. you are in missouri? -- ann wagner is from missouri. >> yes, i am. i supported her early on. there is a couple of close sources to cino's campaign that a call from john boehner to michael steele came shortly before michael steele conceded. that is what a couple of sources have said so far. cino that had a better shot than this.

i am a young republican. >> how old are you? caller: i am 19. we do a lot of work for a lot of different candidates. any share that can help us as effectively as they can will early boost to the party as a whole. >> we appreciate the call, we go over to mt. pleasant, is that right? and this is a shot from outside the actual meeting room.

we are taking your calls from republicans only. what do you think about the voting so far? what do you think about chairman steele has released his delegates? we will have those remarks for you in a bit. you can follow all of this on our website at c-span.org. let's go to michigan and talk to susan. okay, we will try wisconsin with brian. >> i am a chairman here and -- has done a great job here in wisconsin. keeping a positive message. his age and his fatality. >> we will have to let you go. -- his age and his vitality. >> i have had a wonderful

campaign team back there. they are terrific. i would like to thank all of you members of the rnc for meeting with me and taking my stocker phone calls over the holidays. on the republican national committee matters to me, matters to all of us. it is time that this committee heal and unify and remember that it is our job to beat barack obama in 2012. that is our job. i believe that our party is the best hope for our conservative movement. we are the best hope for america to restore freedom, our families, and this republic. don't you ever forget it. i have a passion for service and i will continue to serve my country and my community to by electing good conservative republicans to office along with each and every one of you.

i would like to thank you all for your love and support. i want this committee to come together and unified. i released my supporters because i respect this process very very much to do what they feel they should do it in their hearts. i thank you all. [applause] . .

>> the proxy committee that and reviewed the proxy's. seventeen submit proxies' are in order and zero are not in order. on behalf of the proxy committee, i conclude this

report and move that the rnc accept this change. >> are we still 168? >> we are still at 168. thank you. are there any questions? [unintelligible] >> all those in favor of the proxy about -- proxy vote acceptance say aye. the ayes have it. we will now proceed to the secretary calling the roll. >> alabama, alaska, american samoa, arizona, arkansas.

you guys are so good in arkansas. california, colorado, connecticut, delaware, d.c. -- washington, d.c., florida, georgia, guam, hawaii, idaho,

illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, louisiana, maine,

maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, mississippi, missouri, montana, nebraska, nevada, new

hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york, north carolina, north dakota, northern marianas, ohio, oklahoma,

oregon, pennsylvania, puerto rico, rhode island, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah,

vermont, virgin islands, virginia, washington, west virginia, wisconsin, wyoming.

[random conversations]

>> are there any members who have not exercised their opportunity to vote? i declare this session to be informally at ease. the floor remains close to non- members with the exception of non-member candidates and the rnc chair. 10 minutes. i did it again. it is not 10 minutes. we are ballett counting -- ballot counting. i wish it was 10 minutes.

[random conversations]

quacks in descending order, reince priebus 97, saul anuzis 43, maria cino 28. the chair recognizes kevin. >> i make a motion to let the record reflect that the vote was a unanimous selection of reince priebus as the next chairman of the republican national committee. >> i would like to set and the motion. >> it has been approved. the discussion. any discussion? all those in favor, aye. all those opposed? the ayes have it.

[applause] congratulations.

>> thank you. all right. thank you very much. i am going to keep this really short. i just want to thank god and jesus for this moment. i am so blessed. i have said that to you so many times. being a little kid growing up in kenosha. my first date with my wife was with henry hyde. that tells you a little about

me. with two great kids, we cannot wait to get to work in the party and rebuild this party and move on to conservative candidates. i want to thank the republican leaders from my home state of wisconsin, including steve king , scott walker, ron johnson, sean duffy and paul ryan. thank you very much. i want to thank all of the candidates to step up and offer themselves to this task. i want to thank chairman michael steele for his leadership over the past two years. thank you. and i want to thank all of the

rnc members who believed in my vision and understood there is some some good work we need to do on the committee and it has to get done. we have to get on track and together we can defeat barack obama in 2012 together, unified as a committee. [applause] with the election over, now is the time for the committee to unite. we must come together for our common interests, for the betterment of our party and our country. with that in mind, i want you to know that i am here to earn the trust and support of each and every one of you. i told you i would serve in humility and work hard. i will start working right now as your chairman.

we all recognize that there is a steep hill ahead of us. the only way we will be able to move forward is if we are all together. we must never forgets why we all do this. -- forget why we all do this. as reagan said, our nation is that shining city on a hill. we must work to keep it that way. the democrats have taken this country on the right path. -- on the wrong path. it is not going to be easy or glamorous. we must lead the way to a better committee and a better america. i have spoken to most of you. you have seen my plan to move this committee forward. it starts right now on day on yen. it is time to communicate this

plan in clear terms. you are the board of directors. i may be the ceo, but we must remember that every one of us is still an employee to republican voters. it is our job to fulfil the mission of the rnc. we are going to start by putting a solid business plan in place to operate effectively and efficiently to begin to restore the faith of our donors. we will work to develop a new line of communication with state parties. the new speaker of the house, john boehner, senator republican leader mitch mcconnell and newly elected republicans across the nation. with this new focus leadership, the rnc will move forward by restructuring our financial operations, reviewing our current plans of action and

hiring topknot staff. -- top-knotch staff. i understand the challenge that lies ahead of us. we are well past raising funds. we must support our 2011 candidates and hold a world- class convention and to be sure -- be sure that our president and nominee has the organization to beat barack obama. [applause] i am completely humbled to have the opportunity to lead this amazing party. starting today, starting now, as a committee, let's come together and let's get ready to elect

republicans. god bless the committee and god bless the united states of america. i appreciate it and i will earn your trust every day. [applause] thank you. we are going to take a three minute recess and we are going to start the co-chairman's race. >> there is a new chairman of the republican national committee. reince priebus is your new rnc

chairman. if you are a republican, we would like to hear from you. the number is on your screen. we will start out with sean miller on the hill. you have been watching this. how did reince priebus come up with the votes? >> he took some votes away from michael steele. he dropped away from the race. ann wagner dropped out before the seventh round of voting started. he was able to randall votes. he has taken the chairmanship with a little over 19 votes. >> what is the strength of reince priebus with the

republican national committee? what was it that sold the delegates and sold the votes at the rnc winter meeting? >> i think you hit the nail on the head in terms of referring to his record in wisconsin. he came in as chairman of the republican party in 2007. he was able to build a significant organization. they won russ feingold's senate seat. he was able to make the claim that they did that in what typically is a blue state. they made to the gains in this last election. he promised to lead the rnc forward. >> what are you looking for as we move into the chairmanship? >> there are some challenges

that he faces. one is fund raising. he is going to need to raise at least $400 million to compete with president obama and senate democrats and the dnc. the other challenge he faces is the tea party movement. what we saw over the last couple of years and the decentralization of republican power -- the tea party groups are activists. money was flowing away from the rnc and into this grass-roots movement. he has to convince those activists and those donors that the rnc is back and it is a more viable and stable organization. >> sean miller of the hill, we appreciate your work today.

he was giving us some insight information on the vote today. reince priebus was the youngest person elected as a republican party chairman in wisconsin. if you are a republican, we want to know what you think. you can see the number on your screen. we will start out in hartford, maryland with jonathan. >> i watched the whole thing from start to finish. i think he is going to do a wonderful job. he sounds enthusiastic. he is going to have a lot of support. republicans are going to stand behind him and we are going to for him. here in maryland, he has our support and i think he will do a wonderful job. >> nathan, you are on c-span.

>> reince priebus has shown he can be a good fund raiser. he definitely shows that he can beat democrats in the seats we took in the 2010 elections. i think he is an inspiration to get younger people and about in the party. it is time that we rally around him and come together as republicans. >> we also want to know what you think. you can call us on facebook. you can also follow us on c-span -- you can follow c-span on twitter. if you missed some of that, we will have some portions of the meeting tonight at 8:00 p.m. on c-span. you can find it all on line. let's go to orlando, florida. >> republican suck. >> we will move along to union,

kentucky. go ahead. you are on the air. >> i just want to say that i am republican and conservative. i hope this new rnc chairman will bring conservative and -- conservatism back to the republican party. we need that in our party. i am both a republican and a conservative. >> when moved to stewart, florida with barbara. >> that was quite a process. glad to see they finally made up their minds. i did not know a thing about the man. there was a lot said about $20 million or $30 million and the shortage. mr. miller finally brought up the reason for the shortage. that was because a lot of people decided to send money

directly to the candidates because the rnc was not listening. i am hoping that will change in the next few years. >> have you been watching all day on c-span? >> all day. >> are you likely to change your pattern of donating with the new chairman? >> i will have to wait and see. >> we will go to wisconsin. reince priebus is from your state. what do you think? >> he is an awesome guy. i know him personally. i think he will do an awesome job and bring our team back together and bring conservatism back to our country. i have a lot of confidence in him. i am all for him. >> texas is next. >> i am glad michael steele is gone. that deal that went on with the

exotic dancers and he spent money where he should not have. the rnc is transparent. we showed that whenever the democrats did what they did to hillary. what did we do? we brought a woman in. when obama got president, we showed how transparent we are again. we showed them, we have a black man, too. michael steele did not do anything for the party. the money i was given to the rnc, i started giving it to the governor's association. >> if you would like to see all of the rnc winter meeting, we have it on line. you can go to c-span.org. >> this is deborah. i am a black republican. i became a republican during the

time obama was running. i did not care for his ways and i decided to change. i was moved by what michael steele was saying and what he was trying to do. the republican party is just like the democratic party. if you are not in their click, they do not want you. michael steele had a lot of ideas that were different from the old republicans. he brought a lot of black republicans got the same way to the party picks it it it's sad. i do not know anything about this man. this is my first time ever hearing about this man. he does not seem like he is to banks market if you ask me. >> the reaction to the election of reince priebus as the chairman of the republican national committee. we will go to the virgin

islands. >> i want to comment with regard to michael steele. he came to the virgin islands. i am sorry that he lost. congratulations to reince priebus. the big issue is going to be can we gain back the senate and the white house. if we do not, there will be a lot of questions and soul- searching. you can give hundreds of dollars. if you did not win, will not mean anything. we will see. congratulations to reince priebus. we will see what happens in the future. >> thank you for the call. we will go to indianapolis. you are on c-span. >> i am call in because i am glad the man won. i am disappointed about of the people who are sitting -- who

are standing around and not fitting down that thing us see what is going on. we cannot see what is going on i think that is very bad. >> your reaction to the election of reince priebus as rnc chairman. >> i am happy. i am the president of the brave republican women federated. i think this is a new start. we are ready to do great things in 2011. >> on that note, we will thank you for your call. you can see a portion of this rnc meeting. we have the whole thing for you on our website at c-span.org. there will be more talk and reaction on "washington journal ." from earlier, the remarks of outgoing chairman michael

steele. >> how are you doing? i just wanted to check. two years . we have worked hard and we have built a party. a party was to do something different and a little bit better. i appreciate all the hard work that all of you have brought to the table. i said that earlier this morning. a message from the heart. this is tough because it is what it is. but what is important and i hope you do not forget as this process unfolds is that unification, building, growing, our target, our ground game, our opportunities rest with the people of america.

i really thank you for the chairmanship of this party for the two years i have had it. at this time, i will step aside for others to lead. in so doing, i hope you all appreciate the legacy. despite the noise, lord knows we have had a lot of noise. despite the difficulties, we won. [applause] sit down. sit down.

as probably many of you figured out, i am a piker. i am a little bit obstinate. but i am because i believe in the fight. i am because i believe the greatest gift we can give to be people politically is out or service to them. as i said this morning, that is your charge. you took the charge seriously. we went out and we raise money, $192 million. we won 63 house seats. 23 legislatures when. d to r. from it is what you did.

i will step aside because i think the party is ready for something different. at this time, i released my supporters and i asked them to stand with me in supporting maria cino as the next chairman of the party. [applause] it is up to all of you to decide. we have been through some big storms, some small storms. this storm you cannot allow to continue. we must heal ourselves. we must go forward together and we must win. barack obama's agenda is not good for america. we fired nancy pelosi.

let's take the white house. let's heal america, make her stronger, better, prouder as we are today as republicans. unified, moving forward. it is important. i thank you for the opportunity to serve and to lead. and now, i exit stage right. [applause]

>> middle and high school students, it is time to upload your video for the documentary competition. make your to video on this year's topic, "washington, d.c. lens."ne -- my the competition is open to students 6-12. for details go online to studentcam.org. >> the c-span network provides coverage of politics, history and public affairs. by our content anytime through the c-span video library. we take c-span on the road with our digital bought and low-tech

-- local content vehicle. you see span networks, now available in more than 100 million homes. created by cable and provided as a public service. >> now a discussion on how democratic activists feel about president obama on a range of policy priorities from this morning's "washington journal." our guest and he is the author herding donkeys."g donkey how do think the liberal base of the democratic party has responded to the events of this week? guest: i think they have responded very well to barack obama's speech. there were a lot of questions going in, what should he say, how should he say it. but as he began speaking and a

speech to gain some force, i think people realize it was a very powerful message that was delivering and it was a message that obama was unique to be able to deliver. i heard a lot of his supporters afterwards and they said this was the obama we voted for. he has the ability to rise to the occasion, i think. and that is what they have been wanting to see from this president for the last two years, real leadership. use the buy pulpit that you have and the ability that you have to operate and deliver the message to the american people. orate ande two or eighto deliver the message to the american people. host: let's look at president obama's comments. >> as we discussed these issues, let's each do so with a good dose of humility rather than appointing -- then pointing

fingers or assigning blame. -- rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame. let's look use this occasion to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together. host: president obama speaking this week at a memorial service in arizona. a lot of conservative commentators have praised him for this speech and not delving into the political realm, as you mentioned. why do you think they have been so positive and is there any political calculation in that? guest: it is nice to see them do that for once. he put politics aside in his speech. it is funny because there is this caricature of obama of -- as this un-american socialist. it is an image that has been created on the right.

when you saw his speech this week, that could not have been further fr the truth. it was such a heafelt, pro- american message. as he said, he was speaking to the american family, 300 million strong. barack obama sounded like ronald reagan in that speech, the president that conservatives so revered. things're looking at the they value, american values cannofor example, they gave him credit in his speech. i do not think it is going to last, but it was nice to see 419. host: what you think of the blow back that has taken place -- to see for one night. host: what you think of the blow back that has taken place with conservatives, that there have been accusations of accusations -- there have been accusations

of responsibility, this sort of blow back from the cause of the shooting. guest: i watched a lot of coverage the day of the shooting and part of it was great because we were getting a lot of live coverage. but part of izhak was -- but part of it was stuff that should have been saved for later. the right to a lot more than the left. a lot more of this has happened on the right. i think both sides, liberals under the bush era and conservatives under the obama era have had some hysterical rhetoric about the president. but the fascination with gun imagery is much more prevalent on the ride down the left. -- the right than the left. host: the book you wrote came

out in october. did the liberals get left behd in president obama's first two years in office? if guest: they had mixed feelings about obama. on the one hand they look at what he has done and say, ok, the stimulus bill, health care bill, financial reform, i mean, these are big pieces of legislation. at the same time, they look at the size of the democratic majority and the opportunity he was handed and they do not believe he is able to change washington in the way that he claimed to when he was campaigning. he talked a lot in his campaign about bringing his supporters in to washington, making them a parallel force off to lobbyists and legislators that are blocking change in the capital and that never happened. instead, obamaut a lot of deals to get things passed, you know, deals with health insurance companies and the like

during the health-care debate. and on a broader level, he ran a much more conventional, top- down white house and still with a lot of names from the clinton and bush era i think, many liberals were open there would be a lot more new faces. -- were hoping there would be a lot more new faces. host: you write in your book, " is typically one sided. guest: i think that happened a lot during the health care debate. president obama said he wanted a public option but did nothing to fight for it. when it died, people said, you did not fight for it. and it has happened again with the tax cuts. the president has said he did not want to extend the tax cuts

for the wealthiest americans, but he basically did not fight for it. i think they want him to fight, for what he believes in and if he cannot get it, ok. but have the fight before you compromise. i think that has been the centl critique of the obama administration of his supporters on the left that rain today. host: our guest is a contributing writer to the nation and is doing an investigative fellow show that the nation institute. let's hear from john in kentucky on the republican line. caller: i would like to understand about the speech that was given, how the people worswe complaining of the left. it was a beautiful speech, no

doubt. but wouldn't it have been much betterf he had spoke from the oval office, first, and directly on the situation instead of in a college atmosphere where it was more of a pep rally situation? it seems to me like it would have been more effective and he would have shown more empathy toward the families and the nation and brought it together more had it not been a seemingly -- whether it was or not -- a political atmosphere. guest: this has become somewhat of a common critique on the right and i could not disagree with it more. it was not a political pep rally. the president did not choose the format. tucson went through a horrible tragedy. the university of azona went through a horrible tragedy.

and when the president came, they wanted a moral, but they also wanted to feel better about themselves and their >> we are going to break away from this and go back live from the -- to the remarks of the newly elected chairman of the republican national committee, reince priebus. >> i promise that i would work hard every day to rebuild the committee and bring unity to our committee again. we need to raise a lot of money and come together as a party and build on the success and the victories we have had in 2010, rebuild our credibility as a party, as a conservative party in america with the right answers to help prevent our country from falling off that fiscal clef. we are going to uphold the principles of this party and raise the money we need and get

the money into the states to defeat barack obama in 2012, save our country and save our party. with that, i will take any questions you might have. i am actually running the meeting behind me if you have not noticed. i can take a few questions. >> how serious is the deficit in the party? how big is the whole -- the hole? >> we are looking at $20 million in debt. we have a lot of work to do. we have to get together our finance chairman around the country. i will get to work on that tonight to reach out to our major donors and get them on board so that we can have the money and the resources and the people we need to rebuild the rnc. i would be remiss not to say thank you to chairman michael steele for his leadership. we respect him and we wish him well.

i want to thank all of the other candidates, ann wagner, maria cino, saul anuzis, and of course michael steele. we appreciate their efforts . [unintelligible] >> are you the boys of the republican party. >> i served on the 68 members of the committee from every state and the territories and washington, d.c. we are blessed to have john boehner and mitch mcconnell as our leaders. we will work with them. we appreciate them. as chairman of the party, it is part of my job to support them. >> you do not have experience doing things like this. this is a big deal. are you prepared for the communications aspect of this position?

>> wisconsin is a targeted state. i have talked to a lot of you who are standing right here. we are not unused to have a lot of press as a state chairman. we have a state that barack obama this is almost every other month. as general counsel of the rnc, i have talked to a lot of the already about things i have done for the rnc. i am prepared for this. help, anything is possible. [unintelligible] >> that is the job of the chairman. i just grabbed the gavel to run the election. we are going to bring a team together. we are going to take the executive committee of the rnc. they will be the transition team. we are going to build unity on this committee. everyone will have a say.

we are going to bring leadership back into the building and get this train back on the rails. >> how relevant is the rnc? >> it is very relevant. we have to raise $100 million over the next two years. we need to get the finance chairman back on board and put the rnc back on their shoulders and rebuild this party. it is going to take hard work. i have no illusions about that. [unintelligible] >> because they believe in the republican party. they believe we need to save our country. they feel that in their hearts and their minds. it wants to come on board. they want to roll up their sleeves and move on to 2012 for a great victory. we will have a few victories in

2011, too. i had to go back in and run this meeting. [unintelligible] >> i do not think so at all. certainly not from the 168 who were voting. our party is part of the conservative movement in this country. we are not in competition with it. we are going to do it right into it together and we are going to win in 2012. >> the newly elected chairman of the republican national committee, reince priebus, speaking with reporters and others in washington, d.c. if you missed some of the republican national committee meeting, we will rerun some portions for you. we will also have it on line. we will take you back to that portion from "washington journal." we were talking about democrats

and how they feel about president obama. measurements in many years. republicans rose to 38%, and that is the high end of what god haseasured in the last two decades. -- the high end of what gallup has measured in the last two decades. guest: there is a major economic crisis in washington that neither party has sufficiently addressed. i think it is significa. i think the parties are evenl divided, which is where we are right now. rising, and keep that has been happening for a long time. a lot of them are probably conservative, but many are also democratic cleaning. at is what the electorate has

en so volatile and it has been hard to have some realignment because independents jump from one party to another. host: let's take a comment from florida. caller: i want to say that think president obama did a wonderful job arizona. i think the vitriol that has been going around this country is ludicrous. you have people like sarah palin who has the brains of a toad. she is out there talking and everything is about her. we need to change the vitriol in the country ande need to get along. guest: gained about 10 minutes without talking about -- we made it about 10 minutes without talking about sarah palin. [laughter]

that is our record. the contrast between obama and kailyn on wednesday could not have been more striking s looked defensive end somewhat petty in her video address before obama spoke. and after he spoke and laid out an expansive vision for the country, she looked more pty and smaller. d republicans will call-in and yell at me for that. she is a very more polarizing figure. chic -- i don't know how she is expanding her coalition. obama wanted to be a leader who could reach out across party lines.

host: much of your book fuses on howard dean and the influence, the legacy that he really left behind before running for president. you write that the campaign provided the manual for a bottom-up mass movement. his 50-state strategy -- you write --

guest: dean is assassinating to me. i wanted to write about what propelled him to the white house. if you look back, his campaign -- he stumbled upon a new political playbook, figuring out how to democratize politics. through mobilizing to the internet in a variety of forms. even though his campaign was not ultimately successful, the president -- he rode the same ideas to become chairman of the democratic party which people thought was crazy, this outside insurgent suddenly become chairman of the democratic party.

a lot of democrats and insider democrats say they have been left out of the democratic party. they wanted to be relevant in the red and blue states alike. they were yearning for some way to be involved in the party, and they believed they could win if they were given the resources to do so. the swing states will still be important, but they were going to give money to alaska and rebuild the democratic party. that is something that democrats llied around if you look at what happened in 2006 and in 2008. the obama campaign said that when they were running in all different places. it states like indiana and north carolina which nobody thought would go blue in 2008, how they went blue, and then if you look 2010, the tea party picked them up.

they wanted to organize all of these places. we are in this interesting era where the right and the left are committed to doing grass-roots politics. >> does howd dean get credit for that? caller: he should get credit. i don't think as much -- guest: he should get credit. i don't think as much. there were a lot of democrats that did not like him. republicans who endlessly replayed his screaming and i walk and love to make fun of him, now they say very openly that they wer copying his playbook. i think he gets a lot more credit compared to where he was two or three years ago. i don't think he gets as much credit from the insiders in the obama administration to date. host: let's hear from barry down

in florida. caller: i think the last caller showed typical [unintelligible] of democrats. sarah palin has the brains of the total but we have to down the rhetoric, we should not do these kinds of things. also, mr. ari berman is very disingenuous about the reaction of democrats to these tragedies. it is all like -- it is a wasted tragedy. what they did with the minnesota -- i can remember his name, the minnesota senator that died a few years ago, why they did at his memorial service, what they do in general is to use these debts to its advance their own political agenda. guest: and there was no political agenda and barack

obama's speech other than wanting to be more civil with each other. he specifically said now is not the time to debate health care or gun-control. he specifically rejected to talk about these issues. so i don't see that in terms of barack obama's speech. host: new jersey on our democrats aligned. -- line. caller: it is all of the politicians need to start learning how to tell the truth. this country has risen drastically and they are telling of federal employees- of their wages are frozen. they did the same to the senior citizens two years in a row. food went up 11%.

senior citizens do not need a flat screen tvs and computers, and doctors do not prescribe them medicine for high blood pressure or sugar. considering them as a part of the economy going up or down is ridiculous. guest: i missed the first part. he talked about the deficit going up? host: concerns about politicians telling the truth and balancing people's economic reality when you talk about how the economy is doing on a larger scale. guest: the economy is not doing well, and i don't think anyone would dispute that. a lot of people are struggling, people who have jobs, and even some of the jobs that they have -- a lot of people have stopped looking for work. to me, this is still the same

issue in the country. we were talking -- we were talking about tucson this week, probably for another week or two, and then we will get back to the economy and the pain that people are feeling. republicans basically it docked in the 2010 electn, saying we have to cut spending and taxes and weave to cut the deficit. you are probably not going to do all three in combination. democrats have not really a laid out in my view the next step. what is next? we have not seen that from the obama administration. how are you going to address the pain that people are feeling? how are you going t relate to all of the struggling americans? president obama has not been as good on bread-and-butter issues

at americans are facing. i think that is one skill that obama could borrow from bill clinton, which is to have empathy for the plight of people who are struggling in this economy. i hope he starts talking with us a lot more in the next two years and talks straight with the american people about what is going on in the country, the magnitude of the crisis he inherited, and how much time it will take for it to get better. host: a recent story from a roll call -- what does the obama administration to to stay relevant as republicans lead in th house and a democratic

majority in the senate shrinks? guest: i think the president has shown in tucson he is still relevant and still the president. house republicans can do what they want to do what they cannot make laws. the president can veto what they do. he has a much bigger pulpit and go out in the country and basically say to john boehner, you do what you want to do and i am going to do what i want to do. i am not going to abandon my agenda to do that. i was talking to a former reagan biographer and i was asking him how he was able to be successful. reagan went out and sold his policies to the american people. he had a democratic congress. he did not give up his message.

he believed in what he was doing. if obama believes in his own plan and in his own policy ideas, he needs to either try to bring republicans where he is, and if he can't, he has to go out and talk to the american people about what is best for the country. host: it republican caller from minnesota. good morning. caller: i have a comment and question. i feel the fairness doctrine promotes the partisanship. when they first guarded counteoint speeches, i was appalled. does this not increase by partisanship? more strongly, the president should be bipartisan. he shod be more in the middle, americans think.

the presidency is the position of bipartisan and should be worthy of all americans trust. he should be more of a statement like a total american leader. guest: we will see if that happens in the next two years. i don't think he got the cooperation he expected from the other side. i think republicans made the determination that if they helped him to succeed, obama would rise as a result, so they would say no to anything, which is of course what happened. the strategy of saying no actually worked pretty effectively. i think it is going to be hard for them to do that now. i think it is going to put some impetus on president obama to try to be bipartisan. he has to be bipartisan if he feels like it is actually going to help solve problems in the

country today. sometimes it will and sometimes it will not. i don think for example cutting social security and medicare is going to be something that a lot of americans are going to like because i think that is going to be a major issue in the coming years. in terms of the responses,e have had responses to the state of the union, and people tend not to watch it. they tend to turn off the tv whenever a respondent comes on. host: looking at the partisanship, this piece in the political -- -- in politico --

let's go on to frankfurt, kentucky, where richard joi us on the democrat line. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have a couple of comments and a question. president obama and the stimulus package, saving our basic auto industry and millions of other jobs. for over eight years, we had the bush tax cuts that everybody is talking about. where are the jobs that these tax cuts were supposed to produce? my question is why does the democratic party not put out as many advertisements as the republican advertisements to promote what they have successfully done to try to get the economy stimulated, provide more jobs, and i will end the call now and wait for your

response. thank you very much. guest: there was an alarming statistic for democrats before the election. something like 95% of americans got tax cuts an only 8% in new about it. if you give someone a tax cut, they need to at least know about it. i think they undersold the stimulus, absolutely. i think there needs to be a two- prong strategy. number one, talk about how you got here and what you have done subsequently in terms of the crisis and talk about how the stimulus and other policies that have been pushed, the auto bailout which has been incredibly successful -- i think they need to talk more about that, but that is not enough. i think there needs to be some prescription now to go beyond it. and lot of these funds are going

to expire soon. states are hamstrung in terms of their budgets. there are a lot of issues in the next two years that the stimulus will not address. i think a lot of americans are looking to howl obama address is the economy and if there will be any action on jobs. the number one ccern and priority of the american people. host: ari berman is a contributing writer of "the nation." he is also the author of the book, "herding donkeys." if it talks a lot about howard dean and his strategy. you talk about his -- when he left the chairmanship of the dnc, and that was turned over

to mr. mccain. you talk about how the dean was getting -- was being downplayed a bit. james carville wrote -- you said howard dean's snob did not matter because of one man's bruised ego -- guest: if you look at one of the main enemies that he made in his fight to rebuild the docratic party and decentralize power away from washington was rahm emanuel who in 2006 was running

the campaign committee. he and dean got into a fight of how to fund the democratic party and also a larger vision of what the democratic party could be. rahm emanuelanted to spend money on tv advertisements and target swing districts. there was a difference in opinion there. after obama made rahm emanuel his chief of staff, a fairly controversial decision, he was not the most popular figure in the capital. he made it clear he did not want howard deanround. not only that, but rahm emanuel had a very contentious relationship with the democratic base in general who worked so hard to select president obama. he went further and called them

f'ing retarded. i think it had a bad affect on obama and his supporters. rahm emanuel will likely be the next mayor of chicago. unfortunately, he leaves obama's administration pretty severely reduced. they have to spend more attention with their base. i thi repealing "don't ask, don't tell" and things like that helps. this balance, the balance between negotiating with the public and dealing with the business of the capital, and also dealing with his supporters who are going to be so important to his reelection, the white house is going to have to figure out how to navigate that better in the last two yrs. host: a republican from houston,

texas, go ahead. caller: i am a black senior citizen gndmother just a few years shy of 80 years old. i left the republican party years ago and i have not regretted leaving one minute. i want to talk to that young man. the only reason the democrats -- you are deathly afraid of her. she believes in the constitutio and the sanctity of life. you all are so stupid, you democrats. the more you tax us, the more you push us into her campus. -- her camp. sitting here prison obama, obama is only president today only because he had a black daddy.

remember, he h a white mother. the joe biden was all right then and he is right now. guest: in terms of sarah palin, i am not a spokesman of the democratic party. they are not afraid of her at all. the intensely do not like her but think she would be the easiest candidate for president obama to defeat in 2012. i think if you look at polls, they show that. sh is very divisive and very polarizing. i don't see how she broadened her political coalition beyond that 25% or 30% of republicans who really love her. i think she is too divisive even for the republican party.

she will get enthusiastic support if she runs for president from the tea party, but those that ofne alexians year in and year out, are going to be terrified of her and do everything they can to defeat her. host: joe is on our independent line. caller thank god for c-span. we are going after the wrong thing. the fairness doctrine -- l congress opened their doors up. let us decide. washington is getting us aggravated, calling in about democrats, republicans, and pundits. open the doors. put everything in plain english instead of a 2000-page insurance

that we just passed on health care. guest: if you look at obama's speech, he made the argument that if we were more civil to each other, we would have a better democracy. i also think if you look at the main problem of washington, it is that powerful interest and very organized interest has more power than everybody else does. in my opinion, that is a structural problem that exists in both administrations. it bothers americans in both parties, which too much money in politics. the interest of a lot of lobbyists count more than regular, everyday americans who basically buy off politicians d through campaign contributions and through fund raising. to me, that is the real issue of what washington is broken and it remains broken. if obama wants to pass health care, the first thing he has to

do is cut deals with all of the industry's he is abouto regulate. that is not a republican or democratic problem to me. that is a structural problem that not enough people are talking about. caller: i think they ought to change the republican party's it tit title. they have been fighting obama since he has taken office. why not -- why ven't they cooperated in the last two years? host: do you think there will be more cooperation moving forward? gut: i think they are in a bind. the bond is that the american people do want the parties to work together. that is one reason why obama picked up after the lame-duck congress because he was able to pass the number of bills people

wanted for once. but the bind that he is in is that -- that the party has been very clear to try to thwart his agenda to elect a president in 2012. those issues are going to pull the republican party in both directions. i am not sure how republicans are going to solve eight. it seems to me they are overriding people out in 2012 and their overriding interest is not going to be entering their ents. republicans are saying i do not want it to be me, which makes working with the other side much re difficult unless youre based -- unless you are from a state -- most republicans are

getting pulled further and further to the rht. it is going to be very interesting to see how they navigate this going forward. host: carl in mississippi, a republican. hi there. go ahead. caller: i cannot believe the memory loss of people who do not remember that when this president was elected, they were going to get health care passed through without republicans. they were going to do wh or without republicans. now, everybody wants to work with the republicans now that we won back the house. have they forgotten -- they were doing things they wanted to do without the republican party. we have always been a two-party system and a check and balance system. they wanted to do anything they wanted to whether we like it or

not. guest: for six months, there were bipartisan negotiations in the senate finance committee led by max baucus. that was a central democratic strategy, to try to bring these republicans on board. it became terry clear that the republican party was not going to support this legislation -- it became very clear that the republican party was not going to support this legislation. they went around the country saying obama was going to pull the plug on a grandmother. in my opinion, obama waited too long to try to push for a democratic-only bill because it was obvious that republicans were not going to go along with this. they wanted to be -- they wanted it to be obama's waterloo.