solve it. you do not solve it by going to brazil and other countries, saying that america is going to be their best customer for oil. we will be our own best customer. we are going to drill, coal, gas, shale, all of our natural resources. america will be its own best customer. we have an immigration crisis. one of the reasons there has been little progress as because one of the things you learn as a business person and a problem solver is make sure you are a working on the right problem. in this case, we do not have one problem but four. this is how the cain

administration will attack illegal immigration. first, secure the border for real. secondly, promote the path to citizenship that is already there. let me tell you what the solution is for immigration. we have a path to citizenship. we do not need a new one. do you know what it is? legal immigration is the path to citizenship. the third problem is to enforce the laws that are already there and number four, the government cannot and will not deal with it the issue, so what i believe we should empower the states to

do with the federal government does not doing and let them deal with the illegals that are here in this country. empower the states. empower the states to deal with their problems. we have a foggy foreign-policy coming out of washington, d.c. i have been criticized because i have not had any direct foreign policy experience. the guy we have there now has? [laughter] helped me understand that. i may not have an extensive foreign-policy experience, but let me tell you what my approach to foreign policy will be. number one is, clearly identify who our friends are. clearly identify who our enemies are. and stop giving money to our

enemies. [cheers and applause] #two, before i commit any of our brave men and women in uniform to go to war on behalf of this nation, i will make sure that the mission is clear. i will make sure that the definition of "victory" is clear and i will make sure that it is clear how it is in the best interests of the united states and that particular nation, because if i send our men and women into more, they want to be in it to win it which is why we need to be clear why we are there. [cheers and applause] we have a moral crisis.

there are people who want to take god out of our culture, the founding fathers understood the importance of godly, biblical principles. there are some people who want to ignore the declaration and the constitution. i happen to believe that the founding fathers got it right. they got it right when they say, "we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are in doubt by their create your -- creator." and i will never leave that statement out of the declaration of independence -- "endowed by their creator." "they are endowed with inalienable rights and among these are life, liberty, and

pursuit of happiness peacoat life from conception. -- pursuit of happines." life from conception. in pursuit of happiness based on determinatino. there is no department of happy in washington, d.c. my parents achieved their american dream is the old- fashioned way. they worked for it. i know that is a novel idea, but they worked for it. they achieved their dream is the old-fashioned way. one of the reasons i am running for president of the united states is because i have achieved my american dream and then some. 12 years ago, my first

grandchild was born. when i looked into the little space for the very first time, the thought that went through my mind was not, "what do i have to do to make sure she gets a good education?" or "what do i have to do to make sure she gets a good start in life?" the first thought that went through my mind was, "what do why do to make this a better nation and a better world/" that was 12 years ago. when i saw president obama take office and watched the weakening of america, i knew the voice i heard 12 years ago meant that i had to use my skills and abilities to do something about

this nation and get it off the wrong track and put it back from the right track because the american people, we the people, this giant has awakened and it is not going back to sleep. [cheers and applause] the people of this great nation are sending a message to washington, d.c. the message they are sending to washington, d.c., is that they are ready to embrace a problem solver and not another politician. they are sending a message to washington, d.c., that the precious thing that we call liberty, we are not going to let it go. just like the founding fathers did their job and they were inspired a by what i call the spirit of america, it is that

same spirit that has this nation, its citizens, willing and ready to take back its government. no one expressed the challenges that we face better than the giver himself when he reminded us that freedom, never more than one generation away from extinction, you cannot pass it on in the bloodstream. what must be fought for, protected, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and grandchildren what the united states of america used to be like when men were freed. i am not going to have that conversation with my grandkids, and i do not think you want to

have that conversation with yours. [cheers and applause] the people of this country have spoken loud and clear. on our currency it says, "in god we trust." in the fourth verse of our national anthem, "the star spangled banner," it says so again. we need to put united back in the united states of america, the greatest nation in the world. [cheers and

at the stage where we have been bringing the speeches of all the candidates. more people are gathering for the results of upper straw poll. earlier, and we got a preview with matthew strong. we will show you as much of that coverage as we can before returning to our live coverage of the straw poll results. >> ha. realigns flong into the doors -- we have lines flowing into the doors. it looks like a great day to be in iowa. >> what is the straw poll? what is the price of the admission? who is attending today and who is not?

>> there will be nine names on the ballot, all have announced president. six of them will be here today. i like to describe the straw poll as a county fair meet a rock concert meats and national political convention. >> we take you back live to ames, iowa. and matthew strawn on the stage. you are watching live coverage on c-span. >> secretary of state shultz will hand deliver the straw poll results to me. [applause] with 16,892 iowans voting, the

winner of the 2011 iowa straw poll is congresswoman michele bachmann. [applause] thank you, everyone, and have a good night. ♪

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>> we are organizing people on the ground, buses and cars. people did not leave. they stayed in our tent. people were -- this was a sense of a cuase. -- a cause. i felt good about that. we had a group that was a strong, passionate basis of support. these are groups that i touched. whether i touched them in a

speech or in the debate or in our community, we were able to do a great job. i was excited about that. >> alone, of the candidates, you said the debt ceiling had to be raised. do you think that could hurt you? >> it is certainly different than what ron paul and michele bachmann said. that is what i called showmanship and not leadership. i will match my conservative or credentials with anybody on that stage. tough. i'll stay and hang out some principles, but at some point you have to raise the debt ceiling. it cannot be done. if we do not have conservatives that are willing to stand up to those who want to thrash down the government, then i think we are not putting someone forward

against barack obama wynn's any chance of getting a broad base of support. >> where are you going next? >> i've got seven kids. we'll pack up. we will head back to pennsylvania. we are driving back. i'm a dad. i don't have a bus with my name on it. i have a couple of cars. we're heading back to pennsylvania. >> when will you get a bus? >> ricksantorum.com, please contribute. maybe at some point we'll get a bus. once i got a chance to talk, people said they like what they heard. with this dish, hopefully people will look to what we have to say and put us out there. >> will you stay in the race all the way through february?

>> i feel great. we came within a few hundred votes of third place. given the fact that the three candidates above me spent millions of dollars on television here. i saw more shirts from there -- it was unbelievable, the expense, the bells and whistles and rock concert is. we had a couple of nights, local bands. we feel very good that people are responding to the message. i cannot tell you the number of people that came up and said, i am voting for you, i did not know who you were in july came to the debate. one person said, i am an active republican. i never see you. i'm very confident that the more people get the chance to hear this message, we will do very well. >> what is the message?

>> i am the full spectrum conservative who has done what they said there were going to do when it came to washington and got it done. i am not one that stands there and says, my way or the highway or place to the crowd. i went out and took big, controversial issues and got them done for the conservative cause. national security, as well as fiscal and economic. unlike the other candidates, i have defeated democratic candidates in tough district. so no one in this race has the resume and the vision i have. >> how worried about you about rick perry? he did very well. >> if everyone was talking about me as much as everybody was talking aboutr rick perry, i'd

have donew ell well, too. >> he's governor of texas. he has a lot of resources. i am the little engine that could candidate. rick perry's a great guy, ooh- ahh. we're chugging along. we have a caucus strategy, not a straw poll strategy. the straw poll was a check to see if we were building a base of support. we are building support in iowa. >> we did a great job. setting aside ron paul from the standpoint of being able to win the caucus, if you look at the attention of the three people,

between pawlenty, bachmann and me. in those press clips, and see how many times pawlenty was mentioned -- made a feel like you've lot of progress. >> i do not know how you could see it otherwise. how many stories i heard, this inane campaign. it's embarrassing. he has no chance to do anything. yet here we are finishing above those with more pressing credibility. finishing above those that spent a lot of money. >> you largely attribute this to the debate. >> i attribute this to a couple of things. the right message in the right messenger. we deliver that message in

groups of 20, 12, 30, 50 in 80 towns across iowa. a lot of those folks came out today. a lot of those people in charles city. all of these folks that came out in some anzand said, we'll come. maybe we did well in ames and polk county, but we have a lot of votes from around the state. we have that organization in these little counties that are a lot more republican than polk county. they will be a factor in the caucus. >> you were able to put your campaign more into gear during the debate,. >> we did get -- we did not get a whole lot of questions until the social conservatives

questions came up. all the sudden, a lot of them used the line about family and life. i came to talk about a lot of things. can and that is something we have to overcome. we are a full spectrum conservative that has a better record than anybody else in the field. >> do you think the strong stance he took about iran? >> i think it hurt ron paul. michele bachmann should be thanking me. i heard that from a lot of people that said, i didn't know that about him. we did a lot of good for us and frankly for the party in that debate. >> congratulations. >> thank you. my wife karen, by the way.

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