an accomplishment. >> when you ask people who was the president, it is hard. >> eugene debs was a 5 time candidate for president. >> when people get old, there should be social insurance for them. there should be retirement benefits. that is what we call social security. but the same people who hated debs and when he was alive and now want to destroy social security. i think it is fair to say that many of the advances made in the 1930's under president roosevelt -- those were ideas that people like dennis probably brought to the attention -- the first person

>> i introduced senator sanders as if he was gene v. debs. they are both socialists. >> he speaks highly of debs and i'm not a socialist. >> what does it moon to be a socialist? the debs' case? >> in barry sanders' case you don't want to caucus with the democrats or republicans but want to be independent. what does it mean? we were talking about william jennings brian, occupy wall street criticizes, saying they don't have a message or order. if they had william jennings brian they'd be in business and they don't have to do that thing with the mega phone and talk because brian could be heard through the whole crowd no matter what was going on. debs is the same way if you allow me to say the rhetorical meeting phone. i wrote this down and want to get it just right. but at his trial, gene debs

said -- this 11918, while there is a lower class, i am in it it. while there's a criminal element, i'm of it. while there's a soul in prison, i am not free. is he said this in 1918, 21 years before johnstein beck writes in "grapes of wrath" whenever this is a fight and hungry eating i'll be there and whenever there is a fight, i'll be there. and 50 years before bruce springsteen brings back the ghost of john aldman and repeats the word ofstein beck and this comes from debs and is our conscience in a way. bernie sand serious right. the words he said literally echo through our time today. >> you mentioned warren harding earlier. why did warren harding invite him to the oval office after he left prison? he pardoned him. >> he pardoned him, and --

because warren harding, for all of his failings, was a decent, kindly human being. and i believe he felt that an injustice had been perpetuated on debs and he wanted him out of jail in time for christmas so he could spend it with his family. i think that tells you all you need to know. >> any comment on debs? >> a hero. and i think -- >> because you like him politically? >> for sure. and i don't like the fact that socialism has become an help that -- an epitaph that you hurl at people without any understanding of what it means and in simple terms it's the naturalization of production and distribution. it's a question of how far we're going to go. debs is to some extent written

out of the history books. and this is a man who stood by his ideals, knew he was going to be arrested when he gave that famous speech in ohio and was willing to go to jail for his beliefs. that's something that is worth remembering in american politicians -- politics. >> and got close to a million votes when he was in jail. >> yes, 1960. >> i think the highest vote, the percentage was 6% in 1912. >> the percentage vote. >> and you asked about his socialism. what he really was was a radical labor leader and today we'd say he was sticking up for the working man. you could argue there are plenty of liberal democrats today who didn't view economics much differently than debs. >> let's go to charles evans hughes and i think, mr. smith, you called the best or one of the best shows. >> certainly one of the best

contenders. >> you just like the beard. let's go to charles evans hughes. >> hello and thank you for a wonderful program. i would like to know the opinion from your panelists to what you believe charles evans hughes might make both politically and judicially of what's going on in wall street right now. >> well, can you project? >> well, you know, everybody has their own perspective what's going on at wall street right now but i do think charles evans hughes was in some respects one of the great, early reformers and if you think about the trajectory of his career, he didn't seek out public service, you know, for sort of his own sake or as something he really wanted an elective office. he kind of came through public service through his law practice and through an opportunity to kind of investigate industries where there was a lot of corruption, and i think this is something that was a hallmark of his career. i think even in his presidential run, it's probably consistent with the idea that

he wasn't necessarily the world's best back slapper or knew how to build alliances with people, because i think he was very focused on getting rid of corruption and not caring if that meant if a few sacred cows were slaughtered in the process. >> buchanan because he was on the court before and after he ran, i want to ask you about this current election. what role do you think, there are a couple big huge cases coming up the court will play in the 2012 election. >> probably in march or june but sometime in the spring render a verdict on the health care law. and you know, you had paul clement on there and he's been the former solicitor general and he would believe in hughes. f.d.r. said when he tried to pack the court, the people are with me. hughes' response essentially was, well, maybe the constitution isn't. and we're refighting that again. we're relitigating that same battle between the power of the

president and the power of the people. >> if you've just joined us, we're talking about "the contenders" series that played on c-span in september, october, november, and a little december, most of them were on-site, mitchell, south dakota, albany, new york, in front of the supreme court you just saw there and lots of other places. but i want to remind you if you're interested in watching them, you can go to c-span.org and look under "the contenders." we have a little less than 25 minutes to go in this discussion and we're going next to wendell wilkey, a hoosier. >> jason is joining us next from stanford, north carolina. go ahead, please. >> i just wanted to comment that in the fall of 1940, wendel wilingy -- wilkey did a whistle stop tour and i happened to be a trainee in melbourne, florida, and he came through melbourne and was on the rear platform of the train and about a crowd of 50 or 60 people and i had the

opportunity to shake hands with wendell and that was either september or october of 1940. and he was very interesting. -- and it was very interesting. >> you remember when you saw him on that whistle stop tour what you thought when you saw him campaign? >> i was a kid of 18 years old and i just was in awe of here's a guy who could be president of the united states, i really looked up to him. i'm 89 now and just 18 years old, a kid. so i was really, really visibly impressed with him. he made a majestic appearance being on the back of that train. it was something very, very special. >> jean banker, you remember the first president you saw in person and where was it? >> eisenhower, in washington, at his inaugural. and of course i had voted for

his opponent, and my husband and i had gone to the inaugural parade, and of course eisenhower was a very comforting figure, and stevenson, at the time i didn't know this, infer had much of a chance, i think one of the things you could tell the future contenders, try not and run against generals. it won't work out well. >> who was your first president? >> i saw richard nixon in 1968. at the republican convention. i was 14 and carrying my rockefeller sign in the floor demonstration hitting iowa delegates over the head with it because i knew we were going to lose. but i was there for nixon's acceptance speech. and then at some point we met him actually at mr. nixon's

funeral. >> mr. canon? >> mine also is richard nixon -- no, excuse me. i take take back. it's lyndon johnson, i saw him in a rally. i was a kid, a teenager. >> when you heard the caller, 89 years old, he could still remember it and excited about the fact he saw mr. willkie in person. just in your experience, what importance is it to have seen a candidate? >> well, you contrast that and, again, you wonder if 50 years from now there will be folks like that because television, of course, has intervened between then and now and transformed the relationship between americans and their politicians and americans and their presidents. >> brian, this is "the contender" show and he saw willkie, he didn't see a president. the first time i met a contender was gene mccarthy. i had a sign, me and my friend,

sophomore, at mcclatchy high school that said "all the way with l.b.j." and the college kids were shaking their fists at was. and mccarthy called us over there, why are you for the president? we didn't know. we said we think we have the war going on and need to support the commander in chief. he said, boys, that's a good reason, i'll tell lyndon i said that. and i was hooked. >> here's a clip from the thomas e. dewy program. >> the most difficult time but an opportunity to be of great help to the people of this city , what can we do for you? >> i need a small squad of detectives who will go to work on this job as they never have before, who will know that the mayor and the commissioner are behind them personally all the time. >> is everything said? >> every gangster in the mob is being watched this minute. >> any signs of leaks? >> they don't expect a thing.

>> then it's 10:00 tonight, pick up the 15 ringleaders first. here are the sealed orders for the men. >> the roundup was skillfully directed. mob after mob was taken by surprise. simultaneously all over the city, the underworld was rounded up. >> we have made a real start on cleaning the gangsters out of new york. for 20 years the underworld has preyed on our people and robbed them and then frightened them into silence. but now the day of fear of the gangster is coming to an end. >> mr. smith, you wrote a book about tom dewy, did you ever see him with a sense of humor? >> oh, yeah, he had a sense of humor. but like a lot of us, he mellowed with age. >> are you mellowing with age? >> i said "like a lot of us." i think i'd be losing my sense of humor if i were. you know, he said near the end

of his life, everything came too early for me. you know, he had achieved a kind of perspective. one thing about dewey that makes him very contempry. he was a celebrity before he was a politician. he was the gangbuster. that rather clumsily re-enacted scene anticipated a whole host of movies you can see on late night tv to this day with the likes of george raft and betty davis, hollywooders cranking out film after film, dewey, long before anyone thought of him as a president was the gangbuster, the prosecutor, the guy who got the bad guys. >> that's crazy in some ways. i think we forget that these are human beings sometimes and we just think of them as sort of figures that run for office and they don't have feelings and passions and whatever.

i mean, what a terrible thing to think you won, to have that famous headline and lose. >> but how much of that is their fault? that they delivered that, to know, to take that with you, to know that you've become a bye word for losing the sure thing. i mean, that's a negative legacy that you can't escape. >> but yes, this presidential -- it's not a race, it's a tennis game, so if you lose, you can always forget your mistakes and think that the other person was simply better. that i think did not help dewey. i don't think it helped al smith who was always angry that he had lost. so i think we need to show a little bit more compassion sometimes to our contenders and

even our president. >> if you were a presidential candidate today and looked at thomas e. dew d. ey and whatnot to do. ? >> dewey didn't lose because of that. we had a candidate last time out, rudy giuliani who wanted to do what dewey did, he was a prosecutor and put people in prison. he didn't get the nomination. our politics have changed and wasn't right on the issues for the moderate republican party. but it's not enough. putting people in prison is a necessary thing. we admire prosecutors. we don't normally choose them for president. >> here's your favorite speaker, i don't know if he's your favorite candidate, hubert humphrey. >> all right. >> i worked for hubert humphrey , my husband in the 1960's was his press secretary. i was muriel humphrey's press secretary. >> my goodness. >> and we were involved in his 1960 campaign. we were with him through all of

1968. we were at the democratic convention and the horror and tragedy of what was unfolding. we were with him as he stood there looking out the window at the violence and terrible tragedy unfolding in grant park. and the atmosphere in the room was almost of a funeral. and humpry -- and humphrey was the saddest man you can imagine on the night that he had achieved his greatest political victory to be the democratic presidential candidate. >> this moment -- this moment is one of personal pride and gratification, yet one cannot help but reflect the deep

sadness that we feel over the troubles and the violence which have erupted regrettably and tragically in the streets of this great city and for the personal injuries which have occurred. [applause] >> i look at hubert humphrey and comes to mind in the current campaign, newt gingrich had a lot written about how much people that work with him don't like him. and i wondered looking at hubert humphrey, was he liked by people? >> he was beloved, and by republicans, too. he was close to barry goldwater. he had a lot of friends on the other side. i think in that show -- he gave a speech in iowa once and who was the republican? it might have been goldwater and they were attacking each other and then afterwards were seen having dinner together.

you know, the 1968 convention for people who don't know, there were riots in chicago and left the democrats wounded coming out of that. they were already wounded by robert kennedy's assassination and torn in half by the war. but i don't think we like to say humphrey lost to richard nixon because of that convention but he probably lost to richard nixon because he hadn't done the one thing hubert always did all his career, was speak his mind and speak his heart and stand up. he didn't speak out -- he didn't stand up to lyndon johnson on the war. he didn't tell democrats how he felt. the party would have been unified a lot earlier and humphrey would have looked a more courageous figure and that's sad because that's really who he was. this one time in his life he didn't really do it. >> except, think of september 30 in salt lake city where he gave this famous speech which even there was perceived as a break with the white house -- with the white house. you could make the break gene mccarthy contributed to

humphrey's loss and if mccarthy had been more forthcoming in his support of humphrey who after all was much closer to his world view than richard nixon. >> jean baker, go ahead. >> i think we're leaving out something when we personalize presidential politics too much. and that is the effect of the machine and the affect of how voters are influenced by the past, but also by these grassroots campaigns to get out and vote for nixon or get out and vote for humphrey. i mean, often the american people don't deconstruct politics and the leaders to the extent that we are doing this afternoon. sometimes it's simply a wrote vote. sometimes it's i'm going to challenge my father and vote a different way than he does.

and sometimes it's the party discipline. >> but let me ask about the likeability thing again. any of you have examples of where behind the scenes likeability either got somebody a nomination or prevented them from getting a nomination because people didn't like him personally? >> i would argue on the contrary. i mean, i'll give you two quick examples. tom dewey was not a beloved figure. even among his supporters. we're hearing some of that today, parallels being drawn with mitt romney, for example, but he managed to win the nomination not once but twice. general ford was universally liked. and yet it wasn't enough to hold on to the presidency in 1976. >> but i've got one that speaks directly to your point and it's from our books, here you get this free, not to pay $2.99.

mitt romney last time out four years ago was not well liked and disliked by the other candidates and was considered aloof and attacked him for ads and they kind of didn't like him, the other candidates. and when mitt romney lost in iowa to mike huckabee, he didn't call huckabee and stalk in his mind and put it in his book a year later. but john mccain called him to congratulate him and both knew the campaign was then going from iowa to new hampshire where mccain was going to be stronger and mike huckabee said to john mccain, now it's your turn to beat the son of a bitch. he was talking about romney. that didn't help romney. the likeability didn't help him because huckabee stayed in that thing long after he could have within nominated in part despite mitt romney. four years later romney has learned his lesson and tim 5 lenty got out -- tim pawlenty

got out and romney greeted him like a friend and put his arm around and asked about his family and he was a decent guy. there's a very human element among the contenders themselves, especially in a primary process. >> can i think to estes keyfarber? may i speak, not can i? >> arguably should have been the democratic candidate when stevenson was. and p also like tom dewey had been a crime buster in chicago. and everybody thought that he -- not everybody, but those folks in the democratic party who had power thought that he was a phony. and there was something about the political presence in which

i think the american people understand who is authentic and who is not. ed aly stevenson -- adlay stevenson who defeated keith farber in the convention was not let's go in the back room and smoke some cigars kind of guy, he really was let's go have a glass of the best brandy from france. but none the less, he could convey this niceness estes key farber could not. and in that convention one sees the importance of being somewhat accessible and personable. >> very quickly, i would say we saw the charming side of barry goldwater and i would say for all the differences, goldwater and humphrey are two illustrations of candidates who are more likable than the men who defeated them. >> all right. we have only seven or eight

minutes left. here is george wallace. >> i feel, and i must say i've climbed my last political mountain, but there are still some personal hills i must climb, but for now i must pass the rope and the pick to another climber and say climb on, climb on to higher heights, climb hope to reach our peak and then look back and wave at me. i, too, will still be climbing. my fellow alabamians, i bid you a fond and affectionate farewell. [applause] >> karl cannon, your reaction? >> george wallace burst on to the scene of america not

sitting in a wheelchair but standing and looked like a middleweight fighter, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. he runs as a candidate. he runs as a racist candidate, really and spoke in code but there was no mistaking it. and late in life after he's wounded by an assassins bullet he recants on race and he goes and is a sympathetic figure at the end of his life, and he is the last candidate -- it's the last time -- it's a signpost in america and the last time you can really run a racist campaign and get any traction at all and people aren't even tempted to do it after that. >> i read somewhere brimer who tried to kill him is a jan ter today and out of prison. you know anything about that? >> i would say that clip is distorting because it testifies to a remarkable human story and also because of that fact

conceals the historical significance of george wallace which as far as "the contenders" are concerned would argue is not in his subsequent transformation, moving as that is, but in his politics and the campaigns he waged before that transformation, that's why he's on this list. >> i think some of these contenders, most of them probably, the majority, are harbingers of the future, in that they knock on the doorway with programs, public service commissions, etc., etc., but others are statements of a real turning point in american life. and surely george wallace is that. i'm wondering whether he's using that quotation from martin luther king on purpose. it was something about climbing up. is he doing that on purpose or

not? it's really a quotation from king's famous speech, isn't it? >> i tell you what, jean baker, i think you're going to get the last word and leave it as a question. and we'll thank you for doing this with us from -- it teaches history at goucher college, richard norton smith is a long time author of the rockefeller book >> work in progress. >> going to be out when? >> 2013. >> and karl cannon and you're writing a book -- >> in 2012, the election begins, the battle begins. >> i can't wait. >> thank you all for spending this time with us both before and after the series and richard, for your idea in the first place and our executive producer of this show. we're going to end it, this 90 minutes here, with a bunch of clips on the lighter and funnier moments of the series. thanks for watching. >> in one side note, he did not

drink but did enjoy eating. >> oh, yes. sometimes when he was on the campaign trail giving the speeches today, sometimes he ate as many as six meals a day and he was known -- he could devour three chickens at one sitting. >> the mansion of course had five children. its own zoo. this is true, he had a zoo. a zoo. >> was it there when al smith got there? >> no, he brought them all with him. a lot of things were given to him. he had bear, he had deer, he had elk. at one point someone gave him an alligator. >> why? >> smith always loved animals. when he was a kid, he used to collect dogs and down in the south street and the seaport and everything, people would come in -- sailors would come in and have these exotic animals and give him monkeys and goats and he'd take them home and put them in his attic and then have them in his back yard. >> your brother is now a republican, correct? >> yes, he is, but i still love him very much.

>> as adly stevenson iii, if you have to go to a store or show your name somewhere, do people react? >> the old folks, some of the old folks, i was in a store the other day and saw this young woman at the counter looking at my credit card and she's looking at my name and i said, is that name familiar to you? and she said no, but it's cool. i think we're forgotten, i think our politics are largely forgotten, too, it's been a wonderful program and opportunity to recall other politics, another america. >> you can watch this roundtable discussion on our contender series and listen to the historian views again at 11:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. for more information on our series "the contenders" go to our website at c-span.org. there you'll find a schedule of the series, biographies of all the candidates, historians appraisals and portions of their speeches when available.

all at c-span.org/thecontenders. >> tomorrow, we talk of medicare costs. and also what tax issues to expect for 2012. washington journal is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> next month the u.s. supreme court will hear oral argument about the case dealing with the constitutionality for standards for indecency and site as 1978 court case, f.c.c. versus pacifica foundation where a radio station aired george carlin's filthy words monologue and said words censored by the f.c.c. this saturday. >> the listener pointed out the words were broadcast at a time in the afternoon when a child could have been turning the dial and would have come across those words.

>> v span radio will air that historical argument and listen to c-span look at 9 -- 90.1 f.m. and nationwide at 119 and online at c-spanradio.org. >> sunday on newsmakers, republican conference vice chairman senator john baraso how republicans view congress' record in 2011 and what his party plans to do in 2012. at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. here on c-span. >> sometimes i think it would be best for government to just stay completely out of sports. a lot of the times when congress gets involved, the hearings are basically television shows designed to give the congressmen and women involved exposure. >> author and sports commentator john finestein on the intersection of sports and government. >> the flip side is sports is a multi, multibillion dollar

business in this country. it has a huge effect on the lives of people, people as fans, people in terms of raising money for universities, for higher education, there are so many different ways that sports affects our lives. many of the stadiums that exist are built with government funds. so there are also times when i think the federal government should be more involved. >> john finestein's new book is "one-on-one" and you can watch the rest of the interview sunday night on c-span's "q&a." >> next remarks from presidential candidate mitt romney on his job plan and economy. he spoke at the missouri valley valley steel plant and starts with remarks from minnesota governor tim pawlenty who endorsed mitt romney earlier this year. this is about 45 minutes. ♪

>> good to be back in iowa, my name is tim pawlenty, a former governor of the state of minnesota and will spell you my jokes but this is the one state in the country where i can tell you olena jokes and people get them. i want to share a couple shots as i introduce ann romney in a moment. in iowa not long ago i had a chance to meet a 10-year-old boy named malin and he came up to me and he gave me his theory about how he can grow jobs in the united states of america. and he said this, he said

governor, if you keep the taxes low, then people will have more money and if people have more money, then they'll buy more things. and if they buy more things, then businesses will be busier. and if businesses are busier, then they'll hire more people. and then those people will have more money and he said, and so on and so on. we shouldn't have to have a 10-year-old boy know more about jobs and the economy than the president of the united states barack obama. [applause] >> and i share that story with you because we have somebody running for president of the united states who in my view is the most capable and knowledgeable and electable candidate in this field by far but on one of the most pressing issues of the day facing our country, how we're going to grow jobs in this country. the answer to that question to how to best grow jobs in the

united states of america isn't best answered by politicians in washington, d.c. who sent their whole life there, the answer to that question is to go to people who started businesses, invested in businesses, grown businesses, provided jobs and mitt romney is the only candidate in this race who for almost his entire life has invested in businesses, grown businesses, provided jobs, and it's so vitally important because when you talk to people in iowa and in minnesota and all across this country and you ask them, what are your hopes and dreams? what do you care most about? they always say things like i'm worried about whether i can get my health care premiums paid. i'm worried about whether my kids are going to get to college or not, whether i'm going to be able to afford it. i'm worried about whether i'm going to have a job or my spouse is going to have a job now or down the road and hope it's a good paying job. i grew up in a meatpacking town, my dad was a truck driver and my mom a homemaker and saw firsthand what it means with the power of the family to have

opportunity mostly through job. the gentleman standing to my right you'll hear in a few minutes i think is the best equipped by far to lead this country's economy back to a pro growth, pro job economy. and now i want to introduce before the governor comes up, i want to introduce ann romney. she's had so many wonderful characteristics and traits. some of you heard the old saying the best sermons aren't just preached, they're lived. in other words, it's one thing to talk the talk, it's another thing to walk the walk. and when you look at the life that the romneys have led, a life of character, integrity, leadership, service, and reaching out to serve their state, their country, these are individuals of incredible depth and character. i'm really proud that people of this quality and character and integrity would step forward and say i want to lead this country. we're never going to wake up any day during this campaign or when mitt romney is president of the united states and be

embarrassed by anything he does or anything ann does. these are two wonderful, amazing people. their hearts and their heads are connected. i'm proud to support them. i hope you'll get out and support them in the iowa caucuses coming up real soon. and i want to introduce to you somebody who will be a fabulous first lady for the united states of america. ann romney. [applause] >> thank you, tim. thank you all for coming. i look at these faces and they could be other places this morning doing other things. christmas is just around the corner and mitt and i appreciate the fact that you're here. so thank you. when tim was talking about his upbringing and his family, i think all of us can have our own stories. i have my own story, too. my father grew up in wales, my grandfather was a welsh coal miner and there was very little bread on the table at times in my father's life and they

struggled. my grandfather had a terrible coal mining accident, and ended up coming to america, like so many of your ancestors did, for opportunity. i feel so many times as though i have one foot still in wales, and so close to those lives and the sacrifices and the difficulties of people's lives and how close we all are in so many ways and share so many things. we're worried about america right now. i think all of us recognize that america is heading in the wrong direction. and that the sacrifices that our ancestors made and we're making and you're making to make sure that your children have all the opportunities in the world, we worry about those things right now. and mitt and i are running -- he's the one really running but i'm supporting him. it's not about us. it's about america.

this land and this country is the hope of the earth. and it's got to remain that way. and i feel very strongly that there is only one person that truly can turn this country around and keep america the way we think it should be, the hope of the earth. so i'm thrilled to be here. i appreciate all of you coming out this morning. and let's hear from mitt. >> thanks, sweetie. thank you. [applause] >> now, bob, i see you have constructed a stage this morning that is not about to go anywhere. look at this thing. what do we have here? how many -- looks like about 20 different pieces of steel here that have come together. i am reminded, as ann was speaking and i see this stage of steel of our experience in debuick four -- dubuque four years ago. we were on a stage higher than

this with two parts assembled there and we're on two sides and i'm on one side and she's on the other. suddenly the stage she is on collapses and falls down and hits her back side and a big ooh from the audience and i turn from her and a little later ask her, what do you think? she said i fell on debutt in dubuque. she took is pretty easy and we're not worried about anything like that happening this morning. what a great place this is. i hope you appreciate this building and what it represents. and why it's here. good men and women have jobs as a result of people who built this. and it's not just the outside of this building that makes it unusual, it's what goes on here and the thinking and innovation that occurred here that allows the people who work here, what, 70 some odd people, those jobs are associated with a number of things that make it work. and if any one of those things

stopped working, why, those jobs would be done. -- would be gone. what's happening here is happening in places all over the country. this is how i spent my life is in businesses like this learning how they work and trying to make them better, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. ann didn't tell the story, she came in and as soon as she walked in the room she said this reminds me of jared, her dad's company, like this, a steel fab shop and made specialty parts and so forth, largely for the u.s. navy and shipbuilders and made various parts, you might look into that. there's a lot of opportunities there. and so she came in and she smelled the smell and looked around, yeah, this is like jared. and i knew how much that meant to her. let me tell you i think why this happens, how it is that industries like this begin, why jobs occur. and it goes back to something about the american spirit. my dad was born in mexico. and ann's dad born in wales.

similar in some respects in what happened to their lives. my dad's family came back to the united states, they were american citizens, they came back several years after he was born, i think five or six years, his dad was a contractor and construction goes up and down and now and again they went bankrupt but my dad was a carpenter, a drywall carpenter, they called it lap and plaster back then, a drywall carpenter but never got the time and money to get a college degree but didn't think that would prevent him from realizing his dreams and he ultimately became head of a car company and then became governor of a state. he believed in america and believed in america, the circumstance of your birth doesn't prevent influence accomplishing what you might want to achieve. he came into the company he was going to run called american motors. they made ramblers and jeeps. it was -- i see a couple nodding heads. did you have a rambler?

>> a gremlin. >> oh, i'm sorry. it was not our finest hour. but he came in and the company stock -- the chief executive of the company, a fellow named george mason passed away and my dad was suddenly made the new head of the company and the stock collapsed and i remember mom and dad talking about whether or not the banks would provide ongoing financing or whether the company might not survive and my dad went around and convinced the banks and employees the company could survive and he brought in a new idea. they were making great big cars called nashes, nashes and hudsons. there was a nash band, nashes and hudsons. and they'd made a car a few years before called the nash rambler, and my dad thought that was the future. so he reintroduced the same car and brought that car back. i think he did that actually when george mason was still alive. they brought that back, sold

the nash rambler and increasingly focused their company on the small car. he called it a compact car. and he coined that term, the compact car. my english teacher in high school would say to me, your dad is ruining the english language. i said why, he said it's not compact. a compact is what a woman uses to powder her nose. it's a compact car. it's compact. not compact. anyway, my dad coined the term compact car, i believe, and so did selling these ramblers and helped turn the company around and as a result of that a lot of people had a lot of good jobs for a long, long time. innovation. risk-taking. vision. that's the nature of what allows a place like this to be in business. some years ago you were a fab shop here, as i understand it. and that business got real tough. and the margins got squeezed more and more until it looked like the business wouldn't be able to survive, and someone had the idea to come up with a

slagger. whose idea was that? >> all these guys. >> all these guys. people from the shop. said you know, why don't we make cutting tables, why don't we create this thing and sell it around the world? at the high point you're selling over 100 a year of those things. right now the economy is struggling. but innovation here by men and women with innovation in their mind and seeing opportunity keep this place going. by the way, if you don't have any new ideas for 10 years, you'll be out of business in 10 years. because competition will copy what you've done, steal your ideas and your designs, try to outcompete you. so you have to always be innovating and creating. that's what's extraordinary about america is that we have in this country men and women with ideas, technology, thinking, and we also have the freedom to be able to implement those things. we allow risk to be taken. we do those things that allow

enterprise to grow and thrive. it's a remarkable thing, business. very few things stay the same over time. what concerns me is we have in washington a class of people who spent their whole time in washington and they don't understand what you do. they don't understand how the economy works. you see them from time to time. i watch our president. i think he's a nice guy. i just think he has no appreciation of what it takes to work in the facility like this to come up with ideas to create new products to compete around the world, to be able to sell a product to let's say germany knowing that china is also trying to sell the same product. he doesn't understand that because he hasn't done it. and in the past it didn't make much difference because we were so strong and everyone else was so weak, why, america could just outcompete anyone in the world. now we've got some tough competition, not just from our european ancestors, if you will, but also from the more

populous nations like china and ultimately india will become competitive. we face real competition around the world and need a government that sees their job as encouraging you in the private sector, making it easier to take risk, making it easier to get capital and loans. so you can be able to make the investments necessary to keep a place like this going. and i watch our president over the last three years shake my hand and say he's over his head. he doesn't understand what's needed. he goes to the banking industry and puts in place a 2,000 some odd page bill with hundreds, thousands of pages of new regulation to be written, and those things make it harder for banks to make loans. to businesses like this. which make it harder for you to sell products around the world and get the credit you need to do so. and then he puts in place something called obamacare. there are a lot of things i don't like about it. but one of them is it's scaring small employers, small

businesses. they're saying i'm not sure i can afford to hire people anymore. now he has another idea. how about this, how about businesses that are union businesses where the employees don't want unions and they have their right to choose but they're going to take away the right to a secret ballot from america's workers. now, that's a bad idea that he's been promoting. why? well, because it would allow intimidation to occur to encourage people to vote in a certain way. let me tell you, that will scare away employers and entrepreneurs and innovator. i want to keep america the most attractive place in the world for every kind of innovation, investment, and job growth. i'm a product of a mom and a dad who took risks, were highly successful, and then i went off on my own and started my own business. i've learned from that, had

experience working in businesses that in my opinion help me understand what it takes not just to keep this business going, but to see more businesses and enterprises around the country grow and add jobs and just like that 10-year-old, was it, tim, this 10-year-old who said yeah, the more businesses we have successful, the more we'll have people working, the more they're working and the more they can buy, the more they can buy, the better business is here. one more thing i'll mention. it's good for us to have trade with other nations. how many of these slaggers do you sell to countries outside the united states? what proportion do you think? a small portion came. -- portion today. what are some of the places you've sold them? [inaudible] >> china, sweden, denmark, germany. where did you say? >> israel. >> saudi arabia. >> saudi arabia. so they'll go out around the world. i want more places for our goods to go.

i want people to think it's easy to buy products from the united states of america. i want more markets open. i also want to make sure that as we compete with other people who make something like a slagger, there's nothing quite like a slagger, right? but those people who will try and make something like a slagger, i want them to understand that they better not cheat or the united states is going to step in and stop them from cheating. and there are some cheaters out there when it comes to fair trade. one of them is china. they've been stealing designs, patents and technology. they've also manipulated their currency so that their products are artificially low-priced. you can't allow that to go on year after year after year. i want to use the experience i have in the world of the free enterprise system to make sure america gets working again. and i'm running in this race because i understand how to get middle class americans

prosperous again, working again, buying things and putting more americans back to work. and i happen to believe that's what america needs and what america wants. now -- [applause] >> i'm going to turn to you guys here and ask if you have a question or two. this is kind of a daunting scenario with the lights here and fabulous flag hung back there and -- but nonetheless, i'm going to ask you for some questions here in just a moment. you probably don't need a microphone, i can repeat the question if you can't hear it but i do want to hear your thoughts. i want to say one more thing, though. and that is ann mentioned that these are tough times. and they are tough times. you guys have jobs. hope your spouses do. but i know these are tough times. even for those with jobs. the average -- or the median

income in america has dropped 10%. in the last four years. 10%. and the prices of things you're buying are not going down like that. gasoline isn't. food isn't. health cost isn't. and so there is a real squeeze in america for middle class families like those in this room. and so it feels tough. and then we see 25 million, 26 million people out of work or stopping -- having to stop look for work and part-time jobs and need full-time work. you see home values in a lot of the parts of this country having dropped by a 1/3 or more. they feel like tough times. ann says there are tough times. there are a lot of people who think the future is not as bright as the past. let me tell you this, i think the future is a good deal brighter than the present and for our kids and grandkids it will be every bit as great as we have enjoyed and as the greatest generation enjoyed. why do i say that? well, we're still the most inventive nation in the world. we still have ideas. we have extraordinary assets

and technology we can draw upon. we have financial resources. we have a powerful economy. we're the hope of the earth and we have a highly patriotic people that will do whatever is necessary to keep america strong. one of the things that most impressed me about my chance to go off and run the olympics. you may not have known that. but i got a chance to run the olympics in 2002. it was noticing that when the national anthem was played, that the young people in america, if they were standing on the podium and got the gold medal and our flag went up, the national anthem played, they'd put their hand over their heart. and you could see them sing the words to the national anthem, and sometimes they got them right. and i've asked, where did this tradition begin of putting our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem? and it began during the second world war, f.d.r. asked us to do that in honor of the blood

that was shed by america's sons and daughters in far off places. we're a very patriotic people. we love america. we're willing to sacrifice for america. if called upon by leaders who tell the truth and who live with integrity and who know how to lead. and i hope to be one of those leaders. i need your help at the caucus. i know that bob was telling me that the caucus site at the high school gets full so get there early. i need you guys to get there. i'd love to have your support and your vote at the caucus because i want to be one of those leaders that will tell the truth, live with integrity and knows how to lead and will put america back to work with rising incomes again because i love this country and because i know how to do it. thank you so much for your help this morning. thank you. [applause] .

>> now, last night you saw a debate if you had nothing better to do. and so that means two or three of you saw the debate. but if you did see the debate you were all questioned out but if you have any further questions i'm happy to respond to anything you may have this morning. yes, sir. [inaudible] >> the question -- i won't repeat all the compliments though i'd wished i'd given you a microphone so everybody could hear them. the question is what am i going to do on the first day. and i've got a long list. one, there are a series of bills that i will file. and number two, there are a series of executive orders of things that happen immediately.

and let me mention some of those. number one, i'm going to direct the secretary of health and human services to grant a waiver from obamacare to all 50 states so we can stop obamacare in its tracks. [applause] >> and i'll go on to find legislation -- to file legislation to repeal obamacare and to instead return to the states their constitutional responsibility and right to care for the needs of their poor and those that are uninsured. that's one item. number two, i will direct the secretary of energy to provide licenses to drillers, wildcatters, gas drillers, to start developing our energy resources in this country and get the oil and gas that we need. that's number two. [applause] >> number three, and this is a little controversial. i will designate china as a currency manipulator.

under our law, that allows the president to apply tariffs where the president believes that chinese currency manipulation has cost american jobs or is unfair. i'll look at what they've done with regards to stealing technology, intellectual property, designs, patents and so forth as well as where they hacked into computers to steal technology and will apply those tariffs where i believe they're necessary to make sure that they understand we're not going to allow them any more to play on an uneven playing field. that's the next. i will also make sure that the president's policy, he said, look, you can't work on a federal work site unless it's a union organization. i'm going to say, no, no, it ought to be a level playing field. i'll change that executive order as well. there's something else i want to do and will do this on day one and that is i'll file a piece of legislation that relates to taxes for employers. this goes back to what governor pawlenty mentioned. we have right now the highest taxes in the world for employers.

we're tied with japan. europe is about 10 points lower for employers. we're about 35% tax rate. europe is about 25%. i'll bring our rate down to 25% for employers and take out some special deductions and exemptions that companies currently get so we don't lose revenue. but at the same time bring our rates down so that businesses are able to stay in this country and not have to pay higher taxes to do so. otherwise, they'll leave. i don't want businesses to leave here going elsewhere because they can get a huge tax break. i want the jobs to stay here. and there's something else i'll do. and it relates to taxation and the other big burden on small business. and that's regulation. sometimes in my party i think we misspeak. we say we're for deregulation. well, what we mean by that is it regulation has become too heavy and burdensome, we want to shrink it down but we don't

want zero regulation. you have to have regulation and law to make a market work, to let players know how to compete with each other. but i want to get our regulation down to be -- to be supportive of industry rather than overwhelming and burdening industry. and i've watched this president and his administration has been out of control when it comes to regulations. the rate of regulatory introduction in this country, new regulations, has quadrupled under this president. and so i will on day one put a halt to all the regulations that were put in during the obama years and then i'll take a look at them one by one and get rid of any of those that are costing american jobs. those are the first things i'll get going on day one and the list goes lorninge. i've got an economic plan that includes 59 different steps we'll get going on them from the very beginning. thank you for the question. thank you. [applause]

what are you planning on doing for agriculture? it is hard to get started. machinery is terribly expensive. we have large farmers that are using themselves and their employees to get tax dollars from the government for their farm program. i think we should completely do away with the farm program. they can sink or swim on their own. get some incentives to get young people back in there. >> i love the idea of having people who want to have a chance of starting a farm have that dream come true. i had the chance when i was 15 to work on a ranch in idaho. my awful later in his life had gotten out of the business world -- my uncle later in his life

had gotten out of the business world and bought a ranch. the work there was real tough. i loved it. it was one of the greatest experiences to work on that ranch. for people who want to work in farming, that is a wonderful thing. what of the biggest challenges we have in agriculture today is getting pilons. i have talked to community bankers and say how come i keep hearing you are not providing loans like you have in the past? what i hear from them is a bill called dodd-frank has scared the dickens out of them. they have pulled back, not sure if they will pass inspection from government inspectors. as they pull back, it makes it harder and harder for young people get the loans they need to get started in farming. i'd like to change that. there is another thing i would like to do. this is also controversial. some of my friends.

we should not worry about ethanol. i actually like the fact that ethanol as part of our energy mix. in my view, ethanol is an important part of our energy security. i do not want to keep sending money overseas to buy energy there when we have resources here. one of the renewable resources is ethanol. i believe the subsidy put in place and in the past made sense to get the industry going. that subsidy is going away because the industry is on its feet. i wrote believe the renewable fuel standards should be kept in place so people will invest in the agriculture sector. it has been good for agriculture. it has been tougher for people trying to buy a farm because prices for land have gone up. i want to keep the american agricultural system alive and well. i do not want to -- i do not want to see us do to forming what we have done to

manufacturing. we have allow manufacturing to leave this country. i do not want to see that happen to agriculture. thank you. i appreciate it. [applause] yes, ma'am. >> there will be many more caucuses this year. you do not have to worry about getting their an hour early. >> that is great. by the way, if you are voting for me, the date is january 3. [laughter] the other folks are taking theirs on january 4. [laughter] just kidding. yes, sir? >> what do you plan on doing to get "in god we trust" back into this country again. our children cannot celebrate christmas without fear of offending someone else. i would like to see that back in this country again. "i know there are some people who would like to make this nation a secular nation, who

want to take god out of everything that exists in our country. they say it is constitutional. it is hard to the fact that the declaration of independence notes that we were in doubt by our creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. how you take god out of america with the declaration points out it was god who gave us those rights and in the first place? i believe we should be able to have religious ornamentation and celebration in the public square. whether that is a manger, a menorah, or representatives of other faiths -- it is important to recognize that we look to god for many of our blessings. i have had the chance to read some of the stories -- i have had the chance, i am sure you have, to read some of these stories about the early days of the revolution and how many

times we were in a tight spot. and how many times george washington felt that it was only through the blessings of providence that this nation was able to become a free and able to win our independence militarily. we have been blessed by our creator. i think it's appropriate for us to recognize that in the public square. i think that at school celebrations, we should be able to have prayer there. i am not looking for teachers to have prayer every day in the classroom, but i do think at special ceremonies, graduation, football games, and the like, that calling on our creator is a good idea. and to recognize that on this earth, they're sending more than just ourselves. -- there is something more than just ourselves. by the way, i know there are a lot of people that do not believe in god, and that is their right. we do not want to impose on those folks. one of those things i love about the country is that whether you are believing or non-believing, you typically have something that is more important to you in your life than just yourself. it is the great thing about our country.

we are bigger than ourselves. we're willing to sacrifice for things to believe in. for many of us, it is our god. for others, it is our country and our family, the future of this country. those things combined to be a great source of sacrifice. it is part of who we are. we live person to greater than -- we live for something > -- bigger than ourselves in this country. if we lose that, we lose a great deal of what makes america american. i love the stories of that french historian, the french historian came here long ago and tried to understand what made america an extraordinary land. one of those things was our willingness to help care for one another and to sacrifice our own interests for the interest of our fellow citizens. it is a great country, and i trust in god. and i know you do. and i believe that it is appropriator in the public -- appropriate in the public square for us to recognize that we do, indeed, have a creator and that

we trust in our creator, particularly at this time of the year. thank you. [applause] yes, sir? >> i was wondering if you could touch on entitlements a little bit. your first day in office will be busy, but maybe sometime later in the week you can talk about entitlements. >> [laughs] thank you. i help identify that bill on day one. -- i hope to file that bill on day one. it might be that paul ryan is able to get that under way in completed before then. probably not, but i sure hope so. but i do not think this president is likely to take any bold or courageous step as it relates to an issue as important as that. last night i mentioned a couple of things. one is you have all heard that we have a huge deficit every year. we spend more money than we take in. that is getting to be a big problem. and this president, by the end of his four years, will have put in place as much total deficit or a total debt as all the prior presidents combined, almost.

it is extraordinary how much he has borrowed. so the national debt has come to a point of about $15 trillion, and that threatens america, because as some point the people who loaned us that extra $1 trillion of a deficit each year, the people who loaned us the money will say i am not willing to loan it anymore, unless you pay me a lot of higher interest rates. then evens start happening, and it starts eating up our budget. interest rates from everything, from cars to being able to get financing because diesel products around the world and around the country. higher and higher price. if that happens, the economy slows down and a lot of people have got to work. this does that matters, and we have to stop that. -- this deficit matters and we have to stop that. there is something else that matters. that is the promises that we have made to one another that we have not put money aside to pay for. and the total of those entitlement promises comes to

about $62 trillion. the big ones are medicaid, medicare, and social security. that money has been spent, the money you have put in over the years was grabbed by congress and spend. -- grabbed by congress and spent. so how are we going to pay for that? for those who are retired or near retirement, we're fine. we can care for those. but for young people coming along in their 20's, '30's, '40's, and early '50s, we have to make sure we're telling people the truth. this week was a big week. because of republican congressmen and a democrat senator came together and said we have got an idea for making medicare work. now knows the kind of proud, because it was the same idea to -- i am kind of proud because it was the same idea put forward about a month ago. so i am pretty excited about it, and the fact that a democrat and republican came together and proposed it is good news. in means that there is a willingness on both sides of the aisle to deal with a tough problem.

the idea was this -- with regards to medicare in the future -- i will call it medicare version 2.0 for young people coming along, for medicare in the future, you'll be able to get a premium support payment as a retiree, and you can use that to the by traditional medicare or to buy a private plan. and they will compete. the private plans with the government medicare. and, by the way, people of higher income will get a smaller payment. they will get a smaller subsidy or premium support payments. people of lower income will get a higher payment. and if you do those things, we can make medicare sustainable forever and get rid of that huge overhang of over-promise. on the social security said, -- on the social security side, similarly, we can bring down the rate of growth in the social security payments for high-income recipients of the future. again, no change for people already retired or near retirement. but that means for someone in their 20's, they know that they're going to make a lot of

money in their life, and their social security payment is going to be less than for some new lives through their life with more modest means. again, those kinds of changes allow us to keep those programs solvent and protect them and provide them for the next generations. finally, medicaid. you wonder what medicaid is, those that are not into all this government stuff. i have to admit, i do not know the differences between these things before i got into government. then i got into it and understood that medicaid is the health care program for the poor, by and large. that is a program that runs very, very fast. the federal government picks up half the bill. the state picks up the other half. i would go to government and take its money and give it back to iowa and say, i like, you -- iowa, q -- iowa, craft your own program in the way you think best to take care of your own poor. we're not going to get the federal government tell you how to care for your own people.

because, by the way, their differences between being poor in mississippi or michigan or massachusetts or montana or iowa or ohio, so let states craft their own programs and then run that program, that inflation plus 1% -- if we do that, by the way, we said about $100 billion a year. by the fourth year i would be in office. so i get those programs to work by making relatively modest changes, and you might think, how are you going to get this through congress? good news if we have democrats and republicans seeing eye-to- eye on this right now. number two, we need to have a leader. i am going to close with this thought. one of the things you know here is that someone has to be a leader in this enterprise. maybe it is bob. i presume it it is. right here. is it john? it is john. [laughter] john is laughing and saying, it sure is, bob. [laughter] and you need to have someone, a leader -- by the way, being a leader means is not that you

make all the decisions that you are always right. being a leader means that you can listen to other people, and you can hear ideas and then get them done. that you know how to build a team of good people that can work together. that is what being a leader means. it is not being a boss, it is being a leader. i have had the unusual experience of watching a leader as a boy. my dad, i watched him run that car company. i watched him run for governor. i want to as governor. -- i watched him as governor. i used to watch him in his office interacting with members of his administration. i sort of learned by watching him. then i got a chance to run a business and to start a business. and then to go off and run the olympics. and i got a chance to be a governor of a state. and in that leadership experience, i learned in -- by the way, i learned from successes and failures. not everything i touched turned out well. those experiences, i think are

needed in washington. it we need a leader there. we have got a lot of people on the republican stage, any one a better president than we have now. but i also think is helpful to have a leader in washington who knows how to bring people together and who understands in his heart and in his core how to make the economy work for the american people. that is what i hope you understand i represent. by the way, i am concerned about the poor in this country. i want to make sure we have a safety net to care for the poor. if there holes in that safety net, i want to fix it. i am not terribly concerned about the rich in this country. the region doing just fine. -- the rich are doing just fine. as a word about the whole people i am worried about the whole people -- i am worried about the whole people in the middle, the middle class. that is the group want to see get to work again with good

jobs. i want a good job for everybody who wants one, with higher income, with the confidence that the future will be bright. i want to be your president as a leader and to work with you to make sure that america remains the shining city on the hill. i love this country with all my heart. i learned that from my mother and father. and what to make sure that america remains as it has always been, the hub of the earth. thank you so much. i want to make sure america remains as it always has been, the hope of the earth. thank you so much. john, bob, thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] ♪ >> born free i was born free i was born free born free free like a river raging strong in the wind and chasing dreams

and facing father time deep like the grandest canyon wild like an uncaged stallion my heart cannot be blind you cannot me down and watch me believe -- you can knock me down and watch me believe. that you cannot keep no change on me i was born free i was born free i was born free born free ♪

>> hear what the canada for saying that our newly designed web site for campaign -- what the candidates are saying that our newly designed web site for campaign 2012. >> if we took that oath of office seriously, we would get rid of 80% of the government. >> if your question was who is the proven constitutional conservative, that would be me. >> read the latest comments from candidates and political reporters, and link to c-span media partners all at c-

/campaign2012. >> we continue with michele bachmann. after that, a wrap up of "the contenders for "later, president obama's remarks. >> tomorrow on washington journal, medicare costs. kevin mccormally on tax issues for 2012. washington journal is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the supreme court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality for the sec standards on indecency. -- fcc standards on indecency.

this saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> the listener pointed out that the words for broadcast at a time in the afternoon when a child could have been tuning the dial and would have come across those words. >> c-span radio will air that historic oral argument. listen to c-span radio in washington d.c., nationwide on xm satellit, and online at c- span.org. >> sunday on news makers, john grosso on how republicans -- of the republican record in 2011. that is that in o'clock a.m. and 6:00 p.m. here on c-span. >> sometimes i think it would be best for government to stay completely out of sports.

a lot of the time when congress gets involved, the hearings are basically television shows designed to get the congressmen and women involved exposure. >> john feinstein of the intersection of sports and government. >> the flip side -- sports is a multi-billion dollar business in this country. it has a huge effect of the lives of people. fans, raising money for universities, for higher education -- there are so many different ways the sports affects our lives. the stadiums that exist are built with government funds. oftentimes when i think the federal government should be more involved. >> john feinstein's new book is "one on one." you can watch the rest of the interview sunday night on c- span's "q&a". >> our political coverage continues with republican

presidents a candidate michele bachmann at a town hall meeting at the dutch bakery in orange city iowa. this is part of airbus door of the it -- bus tour of the state. the caucus will take place on january 3, 2012. this is about 30 minutes. [applause] >> how are you? good to see you. hello, you guys. [applause] how are you? hi, there. -- hi there.

hi, you guys.

>> hello, thank you for coming out. why don't we give congresswoman michele bachmann a huge sioux county, iowa welcome. [applause] can i hold that for you? >> thank you so much for your leadership here. thank you so much for all of you here in the bakery. anybody want to take a guess? m4p? michele for president. i am with you. thank you, everybody. this is wonderful. we're going to break at that and pass it around, and we will watch and god will apply it in front of our eyes. -- god will multiplying it in front of our eyes. i am thrilled to be here. there is nothing like a dutch bakery. isn't that true? it is the best food in the world, so we're thrilled to be

here. as was surprised that my husband is not over here at the counter right now, because he lives and dies by bakeries. so we are glad to be able to be here -- >> i will not go that far. [laughter] >> well, we're thrilled to be able to be here, and this is really your time. i want to open up by saying this i am michele bachmann, and i am running to be the next president of the united states of america. i think it is time to put an iowan in the white house. [applause] orangeave a lot more city and a lot less washington, d.c. why did you think? -- what do you think? i agree, too. i want to just bring up real briefly, in 1980, some of us were around then, but we have got a lot of young people, want to remind you. in 1980, then candidate ronald reagan asked the question -- --

famously asked the question -- some of you may remember. he asked all of america, are you better off today than you were four years ago when jimmy carter took over as president? so i am going to ask you, are we better off today than we were when barack obama took over as president? >> [all] "no." >> those are with you, i agree. today barack obama took over as -- the day barack obama took over as president comedy know how much gasoline was a gallon? $1.79. give this one and a picture of the shetland pony. -- give this bormann a picture of a shetland pony. [laughter] that is right. $1.79. today, it is a little bit more than that, isn't it? if we would legalize american energy production, we will bring down gasoline to the price again. you see, that is the situation that we're dealing with right now. so i ask that question during i think the republicans actually -- and is a more difficult

place and even when ronald reagan asked that question in 1980. so the question is, who will stand in the same legacy of ronald reagan? who will be the person who will act like a margaret thatcher in that legacy of a ronald reagan? what we need to ask is, who is the person who has already stood toe-to-toe with barack obama and taken him on with obamacare in washington? who has already stood and to convert obama on with the jobs -- and taken to barack obama on with the jobs and housing contruction act, known as dodd- frank? who has looked him in the eyes on the issue of taxpayer-funded abortion, on the issue of illegal immigrants in this country, which we have got to build a fence on our southern border? -- on our southern border. who has taken the president on on cap and trade, on issue- after-issue? what i want you to know if i am is fully prepared to stand on the stage and to all barack