stewart, communications director for the michele bachmann campaign. iowa's republican party chairman matthew strawn. and john hopkins university professor robert means about u.s. ethanol policy. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: "washington journal's" live coverage continues from des moines. that is the i was state capitol on the screen. -- i was state capitol on the screen. the 1774 caucuses held tuesday. a new study out four of the --

from the center for the study of the american electorate that says voter turnout in the u.s. will drop in 2012. given that the statement, we want to gauge your enthusiasm level for campaign 2012 and the candidates. we divided our phone lines just a little differently for this first segment of "washington journal" this morning. we divided them by age. the numbers are on your screen -- of course, you can always e-mail us or send us a tweet or facebook.

for e-mail, you have to put the hyphen in there, and if you could, put your age. for twitter, no hyphen in c-span in that case. facebook, again, no hypehn, and if he could, please include your age group so we can gauge how people are standing as far as they're a boozy ask -- enthusiasm. here is the accuracy in media report.

against this backdrop, he goes on --

again, that this an "accuracy in media" report. but here is the study -- center for the study of the american electorate is the name of the study. it is from american university. curtis gnas is the director -- curtis gans is the director. houston, from the 30-50 line. caller: real high. i think president obama is going to be reelected. i think he did a wonderful job. i come from new orleans, so i know when the government is neglecting the people, that the crime rate goes up. if you don't take care of the people, the crime rate go up, everything goes -- i am from new orleans and i have seen the neglect of people. i just think president obama -- i think he is doing a fantastic

job and that is all i wanted to say. host: on our over 50 line ourroy from montgomery, alabama. caller: my level in very high. i do believe that president obama will be reelected. my family had come together and have our discussion, so we will be out there voting from him. i am also from new orleans, so i live in montgomery alabama. thank you so much but i love c- span. i have been watching it 15 years. host: do you have the same of his es and as you had in 2008 for president obama? caller: to be honest with you, it has decreased a little bit. just in the of that. host: why? caller: there is a lot of unexplained actions he has taken over the years. some loss to the people in

different areas -- not only in the housing area but there are other areas -- my professors and college talking about they see some of the stuff. i do agree with them and i agree with some of the news reports and a lot of what the c-span participants who come on, i could see what they are talking about, too. host: what are you studying? caller: business management. host: when did you go back? caller: last year. i have been away from college almost 25 years. host: good luck to you. thank you for calling in. from "the new york post" -- you can see the new polls. a brand new cnn/time poll.

in new hampshire, mitt romney is in first with 44%, ron paul, 17% -- the next call comes from robert from virginia beach, virginia, on the 18-29 line. caller: i just wanted to say that i am very enthusiastic about the november elections. host: who are you supporting? caller: i am away to be

supporting president obama. host: ok? did you vote in 2008? caller: i did. i was 18. it was my first time voting. host: compare your enthusiasm levels? caller: probably more now because back then i was younger. i am a college senior and i have all this debt to pay off and i will need a pretty high wage jobs. hopefully in the next five years i can buy a home and do things like that. i don't trust the republican party at all with the under 30 generation. i do not think they have anything to really offer our age group. host: lynn is in berlin, connecticut. over 50. how are you doing -- caller: how are you doing? thank you for c-span.

host: where do you stand? caller: enthusiasm is not the word. i am determined to vote. i will be voting. and i don't have a candidate that i have settled on yet. i am eliminating people, but i have not settled on my final candidate yet. obviously, in connecticut, we don't vote in the primary for some months yet so it may be my candidate will not even be there when i get to that point. but i think we need -- i think anybody on the republican side is better than obama at this moment. i think we can't stand another four years of obama's leadership. host: who on the republican side are you currently enthusiastic about? caller: i am looking at santorum, i am looking at bachmann. i am looking for a constitutional conservative, somebody who is going to get this country, this government,

under control. things are so out of whack. the senate has not produced a budget in, what, two and a half or three years now? they are not governing. they are just doing what they want to do without any regard to what the constitution says they can do. we do not govern by executive order in this country. we are supposed to start a bill, have it passed by one house, have it passed by the other house, and then have it signed or not by the president. we are not supposed to be governing by fiat. we are not a dictatorship or a monarchies. obama scared me to death four years ago or three years ago. the cult of personality, the "dear leader-ish" stuff. i don't want a dear leader, but i want a president, and i want a president who i know will go

home in four years or big eight years when he is voted out. host: what you do in berlin? caller: i just work in an office. nothing special. host: thank you for calling in. the front page from "the new york times."

again, that was on the front page of "the new york times" this morning. this is from "the washington times" -- back to your calls on your enthusiasm level/age group. robert, from louisville, 30-50. caller: thank you for taking my call.

i have been following it awful closely, and i wonder why the mainstream media do not have pom poms in their hands for one thing. if this was a incumbent republican and office of the for another term, we will probably be hearing stories about paris help lower the kardashians or something and it would be tearing each other apart 10 times worth. this is called a primary, we are trying to find a person to go against obama and they are making it out like we are cutting each other's throats and nobody is any good. you just gotta watch fox or else you will just hear cheerleading. and i am going for newt gingrich because he has a track record of getting things done. host: how enthusiastic are you about that choice? caller: well, my second choice

would probably be rick santorum. but i agree with a lot of things that ron paul talks about, but he is a pacifist and i would be scared to have him in office. host: let's go back to your first choice, newt gingrich. hal enthusiastic are you about newt gingrich questioned caller: -- about new newt gingrich? caller: i hope reads the nomination bid from a i think is the same thing as an obama. -- i hope he gets the nomination. mitt romney is the same thing as obama. he will do the same thing. i am scared of him. i night -- like newt gingrich because he has a track record and he got things done when he was speaker. host: jessica, binghamton, new york. 18-29. caller: my enthusiasm for the

campaign of 2012 is very high right now. for ron paul. i have done my homework on front paw and more importantly i think it is very important that my age group kids and all been this election, and does their homework and follows the debate, the questions they are asking, the answers they are giving. we have to come together. this is a great time in our technology, and a lot of things and gone downhill -- but this is an awesome opportunity for my age group and everybody to get involved in the presidential collection for country. host: did you hear the story we just read from "the new york times" about ron paul, his young supporters? caller: the young supporters who are trying to get out the vote and going there without a radical sense of mind -- not going there to cause trouble. they are going there to support it. host: what is an issue that is important to you, that you --

why you are supporting ron paul? caller: thus far -- i think he is someone my generation can look up to. we do not see him as, forgive me for saying, the old way, but we see him as accepting, you know, generations that have come after him and what they are thinking and working together to make a real change and get people involved in it. host: mitt romney has a new web video out. >> make sure businesses in america that works for all. if you are willing to fight for that american dream for those still left back.

if you are not willing to settle for what you have to settle for. >> it was four years ago this week that barack obama visited davenport, and he gave a speech right down this street. he said he would repair the nation and repair the world. and then across the nation he went out and he promised he would put americans back to work. then he closed with these words -- this is our moment, this is our time. well, mr. president, you had your moment. we have seen the results. and now, mr. president, this is our time. this election is about more than just replacing a -- it is about saving a vision of america. we still believe in an america that brings back the best and all this, that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves. it is time for this pessimistic president to step aside and let american optimism that built this great this nation on our to

build a greater future for our children. [applause] host: and some comments on our facebook page. we begin with brett who says he is very enthusiastic, especially since ron paul as a front runner in iowa.

eddie in georgia, 30-50 age group. what is your enthusiasm level? we will move on from eddie to pittsburgh. mike, what is your enthusiasm level? caller: good morning. first of all, i would like to say that i really enjoy "the contenders" series. i am watching it 10:00 p.m. every evening. it brings back a lot of memories. host: it was a lot of -- wasn't it? caller: i was not old enough to vote at the time but i worked for senator barry goldwater. but it is interesting -- the old

saying that what goes around, comes around. i have been a democrat for most of my life, though i supported mr. goldwater, and i changed to republican so that i could vote for ron paul in the primary. ron paul is a realist and ron paul is really the candidates of change right now. the country is broke and nobody is talking about how much it costs to wage war, but ron paul has. that is number one. number two -- there was a very interesting column by george will it "the washington post," ne makes an interesting baseball analogy about mr. romney. he compares mr. romney's average of getting elected to the 1962 new york mets, the year they

came into the national league. of their average was 40 wins and 120 losses. if you look at mr. romney's electability average, it is 227, so he did not do as well as the 1962 new york mets. and i remember them. there were terrible. host: what is your enthusiasm level about ron paul? caller: it is very high. it is very high because the man has a grasp of what is going on, and i believe that he is talking about real change. host: anthony, l.a., good morning, 18-29. caller: good morning to you. i am very enthusiastic about this nest -- next election that i supported obama in the last election but i just cannot feel we are going on the right path. i am currently supporting mitt romney. i believe he knows how to actually handle the economy and lead us on the right path. i do support ron paul more, though, but i do not believe he will win in a general election.

i do not believe that will and that -- happened here that is all i have to say. host: you supported president obama in 2008 but you are switching right now to mitt romney? caller: yes. i fell into the propaganda, the change we can believe in. everybody i talked to who did support obama, especially out here in a liberal state, they changed their minds about the subject. they no longer support him. did not deliver. i am not naive enough to believe the economy can be fixed in four years. but i just don't feel we are on the right path at all. we cannot just spending and spending. host: would you do in l.a.? caller: my family owns a small business. it is a retail business. we have noticed that sales have declined greatly and people are not spending money anymore. host: ok. thank you for coming in. "the washington times" --

another story here on this page -- tampa, diana, 30-50. caller: how are you? host: what is your of these have some level? caller: my enthusiasm level is still very much high for president obama. i recently moved back down to tampa, and i was in the cleveland area and i did some candid work for him and i really honestly believe in my heart he will be our next president, he will be reelected. i am not sure what the republican show -- who is going

to be the republican candidate, but i really don't have a lot of faith in mr. mitt romney. i don't have a trust with him. i feel like he is pretty much in the back pocket of wall street. newt gingrich -- i am just not sure on trusting them. i don't like to hear things they say. i think mr. romney flip-flops back and forth. their attitudes and the policies on immigration -- my husband is a cuban-american and i really believe in equality for minorities. i believe we are based on diverse culture. my grandparents came from italy and they worked so hard. so, i believe we are based on diverse culture here and i believe mr. obama will get this economy turned around. i do not think people are giving him enough time. i really have my trust in him. i think by ignoring the fact that -- that he did don't ask,

don't tell -- that he passed a historical health care bill, why are people just ignoring these facts? host: thank you for calling in. from the huffington post, this is post it up there at the website. this is written by a writtenblogger from the hollington -- this is written by a lead blogger from zero covington post. she lists some of the top-10 supporters of the front hall. -- she lists some of the top-10 supporters of ron paul.

these are just some of the people -- again, nothing to impose, if you want to see the full list, top-10 racist ron paul friend supporters, of the blogger on that site has compiled. from "the wall street journal"

-- again, these were karl rove the's predictions for 2012.

that's your calls. michael in -- back to your calls. michael from rhode island.

caller: i am extremely enthusiastic because obama -- i supported him in 2008 and he trampled on our bill of rights, he agrees with the poison patriot act. of the war on terror, that can never be one, as far as i'm concerned -- he is a socialist on the verge of being a communist. as far as loss of rights for freedom, i did not agree with that whatsoever. look at what he has done with the tsa. host: you told us why you are not enthusiastic about president obama. who are you of these es stiggelbout? caller: ron paul. as far as i am concerned, he is the only hope for this country. or, for that matter, this planet. host: baltimore, todd, 18-29. caller: i am very enthusiastic about this upcoming election. i would have to voice my support for mitt romney. not only is he the most

delectable out of all the republicans, i would say he is the most experienced in the business world, and he knows how to operate an economy. he has had experience with gaining jobs and losing jobs. and he is also very honest. and i think that the most important quality in prison and has to have is the ability to compromise. i think mitt romney and newt gingrich understand that. more than likely we will probably be working with a democratic senate and a republican house. we don't need another brinksmanship-type washington that we have today. so, i think that mitt romney would definitely be the most electable candidate and ron paul, i don't think it's that mold. host: on our facebook page, robert says --

if you would like to continue the conversation about your own position, will there is a good conversation going on there right now, facebook/com/cspan, right up at the top of the facebook page. from "the new york times" -- and we are going to have a michele bachmann adviser on from des moines in about 15 or 20 minutes and we will ask her about that story as we continue our live story of the iowa caucuses building up to next tuesday. from "the washington post" --

now, there is a chart that goes along with the story. this is among hispanic registered voters -- 68% for president obama, 23% for mitt romney, and then 69% for barack obama and 23% for rick perry. tampa -- abraham is on the line. a 30-50. caller: good morning, how are you? my enthusiasm about the election for 2012 is that i respect that what front wall says you have to respect the constitution. if you disrespect the constitution you should be brought up on charges of treason.

also, barack obama, the president, he expects men to step up in this country. there is a movement going on about child support. we are going to occupy them all right next to the capital, and right in front of lincoln there is martin luther king, and we will start preaching about getting rid of child support and the tyrants in the family court system because our family court system, they took an oath to uphold and protect -- host: we are going to leave it right there. here are some twitter comments we received on this question this morning.

from "the hill" newspaper -- kucinich will challenge fellow democratic ohio dem.

illinois, brad is on the line. over 50. what is your enthusiasm level? caller: i am pretty enthused. i think these republicans have gone too far to the right and every one of them are very unstable. obama. 2012. all the way. host: is it as high as it was in 2008? caller: i would say, yes, because if anybody voted for republicans, all the poor people are unlikely to be wiped off the map. -- are likely to be wiped off the mat. host: another story --

our next call comes from stephen in springfield, illinois. 18-29. caller: how are you doing? i am really enthusiastic about this election because it is our chance to actually send a message to washington about what we as a country want. with all due respect to my neighbor who just call from illinois who said people are going to get more poor when republicans win -- do you feel more rich today than you did three and a half years ago? i certainly do not. we are coming out of college with so much, its debt and the value of our money is going down because this president cannot balance the budget. i thought this president was going to be like clinton. i supported him in 2008 but he cannot balance the books. i am really thinking about shopping around on the republican side this time around. thank you for c-span.

host: you have not taken the date yet? caller: well, you know, i am a gay man in illinois, and they just approved civil unions -- but i have to look at the jobs. host: dave is on the line, between 30-50. caller: thank you for c-span2 and my enthusiasm level is high. i have an idea about voting. i think maybe they should have a thing where you could vote none or other -- i think people should vote, a right that people fought for us to have. and the other thing i have to say is that if people do not vote, they should not complain about how bad the economy is when they can help change it. i support president obama. host: thank you for calling in.

here is the front page of "the des moines register." romney offices, wells fargo target. if you were watching yesterday, he saw we had ed fallon, one of the organizers on, and we covered their organizational caucus as well. and you can watch all of that online at c-span.org. a lot more coverage from iowa coming up today. we've got michele bachmann and ron paul on the jan mickelson show in the des moines, and we have town hall meetings. go to c-span.org to get the entire schedule and you can see everything that will be live from iowa today. rebecca, 18-29. caller: how are you?

i am good, thank you. i voted for barack obama in 2008 and i am definitely going to be voting for him again in 2012. i think he is doing a really good job. i think people have a short memory. when bush left office, our economy was devastated and barack obama over the past three years has done everything in his power to fix the economy, and in the face of nothing but republican obstructionism. and i don't think people give him enough credit how difficult it is for him literally to get anything done. like, last christmas, he wanted to let the bush tax cuts expire which would have drastically reduce the deficit but the republicans would not let him, they held unemployment hostage. just like this year when the republicans wanted to will be on

unemployment -- the tax cut hostage -- or, this year, the republicans try to hold tax cuts hostage again. so, i think he faces a lot of republican obstructionism that and the other thing i have to point that out about republicans -- i see a lot of men supporting them but i did not think they care about what the republicans stand on when it is because every republican out there said they want to get rid of planned parenthood, verse -- birth control, abortion rights, they want to take away basically our entire right to control our own bodies when we want to procreate. i think the republicans are hugely regressive and trying to take women's rights back to the 1950's. a first of all, that is why i would never vote for them. second of all, they have passed more anti-environmental laws than any congress and anybody who cares at all about the amount of mercury in their

children and lead and benzene and carcinogens should want regulations. host: rebecca, would you do in l.a.? caller: right now i am in school. i am studying environmental law. host: all right. thank you for calling in this morning. ron paul has a new ad out. here it is. >> the washington machine is strangling our economy. politicians who supported bailouts and mandates, serial hypocrites and flip floppers, cannot clean up the mess. one man stands alone. a real plan to cut $1 trillion in year one, balance the budget in three. a consistent, incorruptible, guided by faith and principle -- ron paul, the one we have been looking for. >> i am ron paul and i approve this message. host: michigan. dave, over 50. caller: yes, it would be nice if you gave me as much time as he gave the young lady who just

came before me. i am calling to express my enthusiasm for the conservative politicians running for the presidency, and i do believe that the abortion issue that they so much want to get rid of it is a very smart thing because the reason we are in this fix right now is abortion itself, which created the age demographic problem that we have. henceforth, the baby boomers who are going to retire, by a five- one generations followed them will put a burden on the generation so they will not be able to meet it. and it would not be that way if we had 100 million taxpayers paying into this system instead of pushing up daffodils. now, the left, but got their abortion, they got a legalized, but the trouble is it bit them in the rear end because it is destroying all of the social

safety nets that the generations, the younger generations, would be paying for. it does not make any sense. if you have a family with one child and he is over in europe and you are old and you need to mow the grass and do something around the house, you cannot call on that kid, can you? host: we will leave it there. very quickly, we got some more stories we want to show you. we are running out of time. some non-political stories, or non-iowa stories. advisers were abruptly pulled from the center --

that is in the "the new york times." this is from "the wall street journal." we have one more ad we want to show you. newt gingrich. >> if you have high unemployment as the new normal, just say baloney. we can create millions of jobs. a plan includes repealing laws and that raises taxes and strangles businesses, cutting

taxes so america is again a great place to invest, and unleashing the power of our energy industry. that is just the start. working together, we can rebuild the america we love and get people working again. i newt gingrich, and i approve this message. host: finally, the story from "the wall street journal" -- those are some of the cases that the supreme court will be bringing up early in the new

year. coming up in just a minute, our live coverage from iowa continues. we will be joined by alice stewart, who works with michele bachmann. she will be in our des moines studio in just a minute. but first, some more as we want to show you, including from michele bachmann, rick perry, and rick santorum. we will be right back, live from iowa. >> i like michele bachmann when she first appeared on the scene. >> she is social and fiscal conservative. >> i like her stand on immigration. >> i feel it is very important because these values to be carried into the white house. >> she stands up what she believes the commission listens to what the american people say. but i like her financial background and of course experience in congress. i hope she has a real positive campaign from here on out. >> if washington is the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it? among them, they spent 53 years

in congress. congressman get $174,000 a year and you get the bill. we need the solution. >> that is the reason why i call for a part-time congress, cut the pay in half, cut their time in washington in half, cut their staff and half. send them home and let them get a job. >> i'm rick perry, and i approve this message. >> he is rick santorum, a loving husband, a devoted father, homes cooler, and a man of deep faith. he wrote the law--- that ban partial birth abortion, overhauled the welfare system, and no one of them or to detect america against iran that a growing threat and rick santorum -- and palin, that, and huckabee are singing his praises. >> i am rick santorum, and i approve this message. >> "washington journal" continues. host: now, live from iowa, the

state capital is on the screen. that is des moines, and the state capitol is in downtown. and we have our temporary studio. and that is alice stewart on your screen, communications director for michele bachmann for president. and she is our guest for the next 40 minutes or so here on the "washington journal." i want to start with the story that is an all the papers this morning and all the political websites, bachmann's iowa chairman gems to paul. sorenson, who was working for your boss, is now jumping over to ron paul. why is that? guest: obviously, you certainly would have to ask him that. first of all, thank you for having me on. i look forward to speaking with you. k you would have. ent for the reason for him jumping ship -- you would have to ask kent about him jump

mission. we found out last night. it was very disappointing. he campaigned for us until yesterday afternoon and shortly after that event he went across town to a ron paul event and announced he was joining the team. we are disappointed but quickly we announced that a well -- very well respected state senator who has been campaigning vigorously for us for several months is our new state chair and we are excited to have him on. kent had indicated to michelle in the past two days he was offered a large sum of money from the front of campaign to change his alliances, and he did, and we certainly wish him well but we are moving forward. we are campaigning hard across the state. and this is certainly not going to slow us down at all. if anything, we are thrilled to have brad on board. to bring us to victory on tuesday. host: where is michele bachmann campaigning today? guest: today we are going to be all over the state.

we are going to start off the day here in des moines, she will be on the jan mickelson show, and i believe the cbs -- c-span will be covering that. we will wrap up the 99-county toward that we have been doing for 11 days and i can assure you, it has been exhausting the very exhilarating. michelle is from iowa. and she wanted to make sure that in this last push to the caucuses that she had the opportunity to meet as many people as she possibly could. and we started this out, as i said, a little over 11 days ago and we hit every single county in the state. last night, around 10:00, we have gone through 94 of the county's. we have 5 more today. coffeeshops and diners and bowling alleys and pizza ranch as across the state. but the great thing about this is michele has been able to connect with the people and visit with them and talk to

them and listen to them. i have seen all the candidates out on the trail and she is the best retail politician we have in this race because she likes to hear from the people, she likes to know what they have to say about the issues. she enjoys connecting with them. she wants to hear what they have to say about the issues on their mind, what they talk about at the breakfast table. and she listens and she takes it to heart. a lot of times she makes decisions on issues based on love pulse of the people in iowa and, like a set, she does a better than anyone and look forward to finishing up the 99- kantor and we will hit several other city -- cities as we work our way through the caucuses. host: we want to put our phone numbers up on the screen. our usual division. we will put those up in just a minute. but on top of that, we set aside our fourth line for iowa residents -- alice stewart, 1774 precincts

will be holding caucuses on tuesday. how do you organize for that? guest: it takes a lot of planning and groundwork. fortunately for our campaign, we started out before the straw poll with less time and resources than any of the other candidates and started building a ground game. the show, as you know, went on to win on the straw poll. we started a great ground game and build an organization and build on that sent the straw poll in august. we have precinct captains across the state, county chairmen in virtually every county in the state. that is no small task, i can assure you. but the county chairman of the precinct captains are going through and assigning people to different caucus sites. michele herself will speak at a caucus in her hometown of waterloo, iowa. we will have several other family members going across the

state and speaking at caucuses, and servants will be speaking house -- surrogates will be speaking. getting out there and meeting with the people. because the great thing about the caucasus is it is a last- minute opportunity to hear about the candidates. as you travel the state as we have over the past several weeks, virtually 45% of the electorate is still undecided. they see what is on tv and they read the paper and a year the polls and they make up their own mind after having met the candidates themselves for being a family member or a surrogate looking at how the stand on positions. and often people go into the caucus meeting themselves without making their mind up. it is critical we have the right people on caucus night to go and share michele's message of being a consistent conservative, the

only consistent conservative we have on this race in terms of the social issues, on life, and marriage, faith, family, and certainly on economic issues. she has fought hard in washington to appeal obamacare. she stood up against tarp, should -- stood strong on fiscal issues to turn the economy around. these are the kinds of issues we will share with the electorate on caucus night and it will make the decision she is the one who best represents the views and values of people here in iowa. host: polls have her not and the top 3 or 4. she won the iowa straw poll last august, but what is it going to take -- what are you going to consider to be a win? guest: we certainly would expect to launch out of iowa with a first-place winner, that is what we are shooting for. nobody expected us to win the straw poll and she won, with less resources and time than any other candidate. she worked extremely hard to go

out and meet the people. the people of iowa take their voting extremely seriously and they are not swayed by the polls and pundits. they met -- make up their own minds. as we have gone through the process, the betting process, of the campaign, it has been tremendous for them to vet the candidates and as they peel back the layers of other candidates and michele, they will say that she is the one who represents their views and values. she has gone out and it showed the contrast, whether at a debate, a town hall, her media appearances, she's shows a contrast between herself and other candidates and the people of iowa are responding well. we had tremendous turnout in extremely small towns in iowa, those who had 300 people -- we had tremendous turnout all hours of the day and night on our 99- county to war and many of us have come to our event undecided and as michelle has shared her message and explain to voters

where she stood on issues, they say they will go to the caucuses and the vote for her. we are encouraged by this tour where we have been able to connect to the people, and we do expect as the people we meet today and over the next several days, that they will see michele, where she is on the issues, and we expect to come to the caucuses and give her their support. host: yesterday, alice stewart, bob vander plaats of the family leader was on the program any talk about the fact that the evangelical vote was split. >> as i said, we are not going to talk down any candidate. they all have a lot of assets to bring to the table. they are all people we could galvanize around. but the advantage for mitt romney is these votes will be fragmented and he will be able to come out of the state of iowa. that is a predicament that we are in.

but what i try to do is lead. there will probably be coalescing movement to say let's give rick santorum a chance, he has not gotten his rise yet. i think what he does, he will handle the vetting and the scrutiny -- and the scrutiny extremely well. i think you will be the best choice against barack obama. host: alice stewart? guest: i think the world of bob, a tremendous leader in the fifth community but he is by no means the voice of the entire faith community in iowa. he himself could not get the consensus of his own group, the family later, to rally around his choice for president, rick santorum. while rick is a fine candidate, he is not a general consensus for the faith community. michele the terminus of more from pastors and faith leaders, the endorsement of more than 100 pastors and faith leaders, traveling the state and

speaking for her. we have a former leader of the family leader who has been traveling us on this county to war. we have had concerned women for america speaking for us. these are leaders in the faith community that have vetted all the candidates and looked at where they stood on the key issues of concern of the christian and faith community and they see that she is the most steadfast and consistent and true on the social issues that they are concerned with, and that includes on life, when it comes to marriage, when it comes to family and faith -- those are issues that are of critical concern for them and they see michele has been unwavering on those issues. we have other candidates who have been pro-abortion in the past, and now because it is politically expedient, they are pro-life. we have others who have signed gay marriage licenses as governor and michele has been staunchly supported that a marriage is between one man and one woman. these are issues people of the

faith committee did not want someone who was on the other side of the issue in the past and now they are running for president as a republican, that they understand where they need to stand on the issues. michele has never wavered on the issues. she has been married to the same man for 33 years. they have five wonderful children and 23 fantastic foster children. and she is not only politically but personally has been a pillar in terms of the faith community and her values and being a true role model in terms of what the faith community leaders are looking for. caller: hello ms. stewart. i'm calling from iowa. i'd like to ask a question regarding iran. i'm concerned president obama has allowed them to conduct these war games.

they have already established themselves as a national security threat. and i'd like to know just what her stance is there. i've heard her say some opinions where she seems to be aggressive. other opinions seem to be more centrist, and i am hoping to see more of an increased aggressive standpoint from her. because we cannot allow them to operate in such a anti-israel, anti-american way and act like that's going to get it done. host: carl, before we get an answer are you planning on caucusing on tuesday? and for whom? caller: well, my wife and i have considered. we always caucus and right now we are undecided. we view this republican field as weak. we view romney as nothing but a

liberal shrouded with conservative clothes, and frankly some of the candidates seem to not know what they stand for when they are in a debate or when they are on c-span or what have you, they move different ways. 10 we don't know quite where we're going. that's why we're up early to talk to ms. bachmann's representative here. guest: well, carl, thank you so much for calling in and appreciate you really looking at the issues and vetting the candidates and hope we have your support next tuesday, but i hope you saw the last debate in sue city and michele passionately spoke about where she stands on iran and had a back and forth with ron paul on this regard and first and foremost when it comes to our national defense, she strongly believes of strength in peace

and in terms of what we need to do with iran. she made it quite clear that she supports israel on all levels and we cannot take the iranian's leader's word that they are not developing nuclear weapons when we know they are. mahmoud ahmadinejad has said he's just using nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes, and that's just not the case. she has continued support for american military might and wants to continue to show america is the greatest military in the world and will continue to support our military. but first and foremost she will stand vehemently against any development of nuclear weapons in that country and wants to make sure she is understood as

adamant on that and supports no further development of nuclear weapons around the world. host: on the democratic line? caller: hello. how are you? host: good. caller: i have two questions. one, ms. bachmann hits that health care act but i haven't leader her say anything she would do to improve it but just dismantle it. if she dismantles it, people will die. two, she says she is a christian. i want to know what bible she reads? because she uses jees us is' name in vein because he did not take from the rich and give to the poor as she said. can you respond to that?

host: alzheimer's? health care and christianty? grip first and foremost she thinks obama care is the wrong way to go. certainly everyone should have access to health care but obama care is not the way to do it and having an individual mandate and forcing people to buy health insurance is wrong and unconstitutional. and one of the first thing she plans to do is repeal obama care. she led 40,000 people to washington to show their disapproval for obama care and she wants to repeal it. there are better ways to go about providing health care and as president she'll go about making sure that there is quality affordable health care to people across this country but individual mandatory dates which is what we have had in massachusetts with governor romney is not the way to do it but we need to have quality

affordable health care for people across the country and she is certainly a question to your next question. she certainly believes in her god and in her strong faith. it's something that she lives every single day. but in terms of providing care to people and in terms of making sure everyone has a good quality of life, she has lived that in her daily life and political life. as i said, she's a mother of five children and brought in foster children in her own home. so there's no better example of someone who is charitable and wants the best for people in need and opens up her own home to other children so she is a strong christian and woman of faith and not only thraves in her political life but in her personal life as well. host: from the 2008 presidential campaign, huckabee won the iowa caucuses that

year. tom is a republican, hi tom. caller: good morning ms. stewart. i'm a republican. guest: good morning. caller: yes. but the people i know republicans and democrats alike are both giving obama his vote and i also think he deserves the vote. he's improved the world trade by creating more jobs and improved our relationship with foreign countries and i agree that the world will not stand for nuclear proliferation by any country. and he's done a wonderful job bringing the republicans and democrats together. his request for the rich to pay for aide is another wonderful thing that he's done. this country needs recovery and reform and to be admirable in the world, and i believe in --

for unwed mothers and families to come together and it's not the government's place to be so involved except not support abortion. and i just feel obama is deserving of the vote, and i'm a republican. host: alzheimer's? guest: -- host: alice stewart? guest: well, i appreciate the call but i strongly disagree with you. we have -- unemployment is through the roof. he promised us with the stimulus package it wouldn't go over %. and we've gone over 10% and still hovering in the 9% point and the unemployment is just not where it needs to be. in terms of our economy, it's in the toilet and in terms of creating any type of certainty with our environment and certainty amongst the american people with our financial situation, it's horrible.

and he continues to blame the current economic crisis and current crisis we have on the previous administration, and it's wrong. where we are in terms of the economy and unemployment is he owns that. he is the one who got us in the situation we're in and with the disapproval of obama care that should never have gotten through, he put his focus on health care which is a critical issue and we need to create jobs and certainty in our economy and he had his eye off the prize at the time, and that's why our economy is in the problem it's in and for him to go through other countries and apologize for america, that totally takes away from the american exceptionalism that we have. so not only here domestically as he causes uncertainty in our country and economy, but abroad he's done a lot to tarnish the image we have in this country

and we need new leadership. we need someone who will come in and turn the economy around and create certainty amongst you know what i mean our washington leaders. and we don't have that right now. so we need to get someone in there like michele who will go in there and not conduct business as usual in washington and create a stronger military and go back to the american exceptionalism that we had years ago and that's exactly what michele wants to do. host: new polls out showing rick santorum is showing what there is a surge in third place. he competing for the same caucus goers as michele bachmann? guest: well, we are all seeking caucus votes, but sure. he and michele share a lot of the same elector at as far as members of faith in the christian community and social conservatives. but it's important to note he's

pro union and that's something that republicans do not support. and in the past he has supported and endorsed pro abortion candidates and that's something you cannot walk away from and he supported those with mike huckabee, and those are things you can't walk away from. and michele's record has been consistent when it comes to life, she's certainly never endorsed someone who has been pro abortion and when it comes to faith and family and issues that are critical to the faith community, she has been consistent on those issues and talked the talk and walked the walk when it comes to it politically and personally. and that's a stark contrast we have between sme she and mr. santorum and he was not elected back to congress and michele has been serving in congress for five years.

host: our next caller from toledo, iowa. dennis is on the line. dennis? caller: hi. i'd like to ask why don't michele bachmann tell newt gingrich to zip up? then we won't have abortions. it's a joke in iowa like when tom hop kin ran for the senate. they blamed hocken for abortion, but he ran against united states senate to jetsen who slept with prostitutes. host: all right. the importance of the abortion issue, alice stewart, in the iowa caucuses? guest: well, you have to get the life issue right. unequivocally. you have to get that issue right. and michele has been unequivalentical in her support from thrife natural death. she has never waivered fromthat. she has been a strong pro life

leader whether it's newt gingrich or others that have been pro abortion in the past or different views on the life issue, and you cannot look at a candidate that has ever been pro abortions because how are we to know they will get the nomination and not go back to the stance on that. we cannot have a candidate that ever thought remotely that abortion is the way to go and michele has neverwared on that. host: no way to pick a president talking about the iowa caucuses. the actions of 120,000 idiosyncratic voters in an idiosyncratic state has come to dominate news nationwide yet this is like letting a single small city play a pivotal roll in the selection of our next president. you've been through the iowa circuit a couple of times.

is it necessary? is it important? >> well, it's part of the process. and that's what we have. the great thing about the iowa caucuses and having iowa first on the schedule is that iowa is really the heartbeat of america, the pulse of the people and in terms of republicans, the idea and makeup of the people of iowa are strongly reflective of members of the conservative and republican party. these people in iowa are very hard workers. they love their family and they love their faith and are strong workers and believe in marriage between a man and a woman. and at least on the republican side, it's important for them to go through this process. we have several or a few of the candidates that decided to opt out of the straw poll and now as the candidates have come here and are engaging in the process, it gives the parties

time to come into the coffee shops and into their living rooms and speak to them face-to-face and listen to them on where they stand on the issues and listen to what they talk about at the breakfast table or dinner table and take in what they have to say and let the elector at hear what the candidates have to say because the people are the ones who are the bosses when those are elected to president. the people of iowa and the people of this country are the bosses and the candidates out there are vying for a job that the people are the bosses. so it's important to go through this process. the caucus is unique and it's different, and it's part of the process. and every candidate does need come out here and visit with the people and tuesday night is going to be an exciting time. it's different. it's not your typical election or typical primary. but it's part of the process

and we look forward in participating in it on tuesday. >> and c-span will be live in iowa from now until tuesday and then tuesday night we will be live from the cauks -- from the time if caucus begins until it ends. steve on the independent line you're on with alice stewart of the bachmann campaign. caller: good morning ms. stewart. guest: good morning steve. caller: i think michele bachmann -- and i respect michele bachmann. president mitch daniels and tim that stay in this race with such fluidty and volatility. i read that press earlier you saw on the c-span when you were waiting to talk will pretty much finish off paul.

gingrich, he's just a lobbiest. and romney is, you know, basically he's romney. i said this before i hang up. the next debate, michele bachmann must accuse gingrich of highjacking the tea party movement. thank you very much. host: alice stewart? guest: yes. thank you for the call. in terms of daniels and paw lenty. running for president is an excruciating endeavor and involves every ounce of your being in your time and energy as well as your families so i respect governor paw plenty for getting in the process and while the straw poll didn't work out the way he deserved, it's exhausting and excruciating and for mitch daniels, clearly he made a decision that's best for his family. so you cannot hold it against

anyone to not get into this fray because it's taxing on individuals and families. so take that into consideration as well. so there's a lot that goes into this process. it's tough for any candidate. but one thing michele has done whether it's going against newt gingrich or mitt romney, she has done her best to remain positive. as for negative ads on television, she doesn't intend to but in each of her debates she's gone overboard to show the contrasts between she and the other candidates and has done a fine job showing that. you specifically mentioned newt gingrich. she has done that time and time again of what he did back when serving in congress and more recently, the current issues that are -- we see them as black eyes on his record as far as receiving $1.5 from freddie

mac. here we have the company to blame for the collapse of the housing industry, and he's pocketing millions of dollars from them. in addition to that, he is what is the poster child of a washington insider. he is what's wrong with what's going on in congress right now. and he is making millions of dollars from what's going on in washington. and he claims he is not a lobbiest, well, he certainly is. he has been a peddler since he's been in there. whether he wants to say he's a registered lobbiest is his decision but has been influenced since in congress and she has done her best to show the difference between she and him and wants to do away with the pay for play in washington and he is the poster child for that. host: go ahead, mike. caller: i believe i'm with the silent majority here. guest: hi.

caller: and i -- why exactly is -- going through the roof? i mean in the gold business -- [inaudible] whole world -- gone under -- and -- i guess -- where does the majority of her campaign money come from? host: mike, we cannot hear you. very quickly, what is your question for alice stewart? caller: where does the majority of her campaign money come from? guest: that's a great question. i appreciate you asking. the great thing about our campaign is the bulk of our money comes from small donors. in the last report our average contribution was roughly $42. that goes to show she is getting money from average, everyday, hard-working american people not money from corporate fat cats or bundlers. a lot of money we get through

online contributions. we have fundraising events and but the pride michele gets is the amount of money she gets from individual donors is one where there is no way anyone could ever say that she is trading financial contributions or campaign contributions for favors down the road, and she takes great pride in that. where you see other campaigns. particularly governors that are running for president that have -- you can directly trace campaign contributions to future positions in their cabinet or future favors down the road, and we cannot have that. that type of pay for play situation is something we can't have at the state level or certainly in washington. terms of her contributions, she takes great pride in knowing it comes through small contributions from everyday

hard-working people across the country. host: you're on live in des moines. caller: hello. good morning. it's amazing, the things that ms. bachmann is going to do, i'm just curious how she is going to do this on her own? there is a house and senate there, you know? guest: true. that's a great point. but michele has made a name for herself in washington as someone who doesn't take no for an answer. she has stood strong and hard against the issues sthebles in and a lot of that is doing away with big government, and she has stood up against her own party on several issues and what she plans to do as president in making sure we have to bring both fights together. we have to bring both democrats and republicans together but ultimately she knows when she's president she is representing the people of this country and she will have the will of the people at her side and whether or not republicans in congress

or democrats, they want to stand their ground and draw a line in the sand. i assure you when she speaks the members of congress will act accordingly. we saw that with issues over the past years. people will flood the members of congress emails and phone lines and certainly go to washington if necessary to let their voices be heard and everything she does as president of the united states will be what's in the best interest of the people and with the people at her side and at her back, members of congress will have no choice but to rally together and do what's best for the people. host: if michele bachmann doesn't finish in the top four or five, will she drop out of the race? guest: we are looking at finishing at the top. we have been on a 99-county tour and have had tremendous support. as we heard from a couple of the callers.

many people are still undecided. and as michele has had the opportunity to meet with them, they are switching over to our campaign, so the support we've had previous to the straw poll was encouraging. and after the straw poll, we have continued to build on the organization we have and ground support we have and that's going to be key tuesday night. so the organization we have as a campaign and continued support across the state, we expect to do extremely well here in iowa tuesday. host: bill a republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. real quick a couple comments. i've been listening, and i was for herman cain. but the lying media drove him out. so now i'm for michele bachmann and rick perry a close second, because my opinion is paul and huntsman are in the wrong

party. i like her take on iraq. i think obama pulled us out and we're going to lose another war. i was in vietnam and congress made us huse that war and i'm sick of america losing wars. host: alice stewart? guest: well, i couldn't agree with you more. in terms of herman cain, michele has picked up quite a bit of his support. we picked up some of his staffers as soon as he with drew from the race, and we've got an lot of his support here in iowa and south carolina and across the country and a lot of it is because michele is a strong leader in the tea party movement. a member in the house of the tea party caucus and tea party members are lookout and proud and that's the great support she's had. we've had several tea party organizations across the country come out and endorse her. and we're encouraged by that and welcome the endorsement

across the country but the tea party is a group michele has been involved with from the beginning and proud of what she's done to help that organization grow, and we are thrilled to have supported endorsement from any tea party members. but to your point on the american military might, michele has been very clear that she supports our military and wants us to remain a strong country and believes that american exceptionalism is something she wants to fight tooth and nail for in congress and will certainly help in funding for our military. but she knows as ronald reagan said we can achieve peace through strength and the only way we can do that is to continue to support our military, and michele will do that wholeheartedly. host: how often do you run into other candidates on the campaign trail? guest: the past several days, quite often. we go to the same small towns

and end up staying at the same hotel. generally the events don't crisscross but in a small town there's only a small handful of hotels so we run into their staff quite often. but all the candidates are fantastic people and they all get along and their staff members are great. and it's part of the fun of running for president or being on a campaign is getting to know the other candidates and their staff, so -- these days that's -- as more of the candidates are in state as we get close to the caucus being on another campaign bus or caravan is something you see on a daily basis. host: well alice stewart is in downtown des moines. our next caller is from des moines. caller: had a couple comments and a question. the united states overthrew the iranian leadership with a coup

d' etat and installed another dictator named saddam hussein and had another unprovoked attack against iran and killed many iranians how do you justify going to war with iran and american justification when all we want to do is steal their oil? guest: on that issue, we don't need to be a slave to any other country when it comes to our energy or anyor area of the world for our dependence on any type of oil or energy. and that's why michele will be vehemently for independence on energy and that's one of the things she wants to do as forth tap into our natural resources we have here whether it's in anwar or other areas of our country and tap into the other

resources we have and become energy-independent. as long as we depend on other nations for our energy resources, we are not going to be the great country we can be. so that in and of itself will go a long way in making sure it's not only an economic issue but a national security issue so becoming energy-independent will help us economically and in national security. that's one thing michele is very, very strong about. host: just a few minutes left with our guest alice stewart. on our independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i'd like to applaud the lady for her diligence and her interest in regarding her candidate, michele bachmann. and i feel that michele bachmann is not the heir apparent in the republican party. i don't think -- i think the last woman who ran for a

presidential nomination was hillary clinton, and i don't think she even measures up to her political prowess. however, i like the woman and i think she is a fine person and means well, but i don't think she'll make it. and i got in on the -- through on the last subject aboutenthuse same age as ron paul. and coming from a 70-6 year old person to another 76-year old manon, i don't see how this has the enthusiasm that he seems to have. he is not the error parents, either. neither is romney. i think newt gingrich is the

only one who is heir apparent, and as you can gather from what i am saying, he has the best chance. guest: i appreciate the call and strongly disagree with you. in terms of ron paul, he will not be built nominee by any stretch of the imagination. he might be having a surge right now, but he is not going to be the nominee for the republican party. what he stands for in terms of being against american's military might, that is not the republican party is standing for. legalizing illegal drugs is not what the republican party stands for. the terms of michele, this is not the first time people said that. people said she would not win the straw poll. she might be small in stature but she is big in her determination, and she has traveled this state and country and showed people heard

titanium's fine. she does not take no for an answer. she has the background, the record, and a consistent conservative record that people in this party want. and she has been staunch on issues in terms of our economy in washington. as i said, she stood up to her own party on the economy -- in terms of whether it is balancing the budget, standing up against tarp, or the stimulus, she has stood firm on issues that will help our economy and she does not take no for an answer. but the issues people are concerned but now -- jobs, economy, and standing up to obamacare, she has been clear that she has the ideas that will help turn the economy around. i encourage you all to go to michele bachmann.com and read her solution about creating a framework for turning the economy around and creating jobs. it is not a one-size-fits-all package that will dramatically turn the economy around, but a series of events that needs to

take place and measures that needs to be implemented to help create certainty first and foremost in our economy in order to create jobs, and in order to help businesses invest in their own businesses and the economy. these are the things that will create jobs and turn the economy around. she has been disheartened -- as a business owner she understands what it is like to make a payroll at the end of the month, what it is like to have to provide thrive and prosper and we do not have that right now. it did not underestimate michele bachmann because she is determined to not only win iowa but also go on to the other states and be the nominee. host: alice stewart is the communications director for the michele bachmann campaign. thank you, alice stewart. coming up next, the gop chair of iowa, matthew strawn, will be

our guest. but first, our own pedro is also in downtown des moines. we are live there all week. that is the state capital in iowa. >> the director of caucus iowa at the historical society in des moines. tell us a little bit about caucus i would. >> the purpose is to let the press and visitors to i what know how caucuses work. it is not like the primary were you just drive to the precinct. here you spend an evening talking about issues and expressing a preference for the you want to be present. >> we are standing in what looks like a high school gymnasium. >> these characters represent so many different kinds of people involved -- whether it is a blogger, a precinct captain, boulder, campaign manager.

we are trying to show how many characters are involved. this is an example of a democratic caucus in does gymnasiums setting. we kind of explain -- because democrats did not do it the same way as republicans do it. >> those folks standing here, you tell a little bit about what they do. what other aspects do you cover? >> about how the caucuses work. and also we have a history of how it became first in the nation and how it has impacted the election process, and we had on election-by-election since 1972. >> tell us what questions you get when people visit and asked about the caucus and what do you hope this demonstrates for them? >> you are not really voting -- do not use that word, because you are expressing a preference and polling. and how did it start and why did it start? that is kind of a complicated question. i can give the gate -- dates and

talk about the impact from jimmy carter in 1976 that upheld this to a national event. and the other thing, since you are the press, the -- how the candidate needs a story of the press needs candidate to get the story -- it is a symbiotic relationship between the press and the candidates. >> how does this caucus gets updated from four years ago -- or this exhibit? >> we added some elements from the last caucus. mike huckabee, the republican winner, and barack obama, the democratic winner. >> you put these brings together. tell us a little bit about the design and how did you go about getting the various components? >> we have a media room. we talk of retail politics, held the candidates have to press the flesh. you cannot just do campaign commercials, but you have a caffeine -- cafe scene where the

candidate says down and has a cup of coffee. we have a component where republicans meet in a house in a smaller precinct. in this gymnasiums setting, we have a news room setting. we have these settings where caucuses happen in the process happens. it is not just a one-night thing. it goes on for a year or a year and a half. >> how many visitors? >> thousands. especially this time of year. >> when they come, what is the best way to go through it as far as what you advise folks? >> it is self-guided. there is a clear and trends. it will tell you some general information about iowa. >> did you learn things yourself by putting the exhibit together? >> every time. how complicated the democrats do things versus the republicans. and each one has a dynamic. each caucus has a separate, you might say, event that happens or bring a candidate who does something different. >> the actual figures we are

seeing standing here, are they ohioans? >> a lot of them are just co- workers. we just needed people. this explains this person -- this is called a long time caucus-the war. whether it is a precinct captain or local reporter. all these different kinds of people who are doing different things and having a different point of view of the whole caucus process. >> there are a lot of types of people who get involved. >> it is not just the campaign manager and a worker and a candidate. there are so many other people. the internet has changed things, and of course, television has been a huge presence. >> you are demonstrating through here you have somebody called a video blogger, and in the paper there is some kind of google thing new this year, google central. but every year, some new technology. i remember in 1988, vhs video

tapes were sent out by a candidate. you could go home and stick it into the tv and see about your candidate. technology certainly in packs the caucus. >> if you are in des moines, this is caucus iowa, the exhibit. thank you. >> thank you. host: that was pedro over at the state historical society in des moines, iowa. he will be out there all week. and live on tuesday night. caucuses on c-span 1 and c- span2, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time, as the live coverage from des moines continues. now we are pleased to be joined by the state gop chairman in a iowa, matthew strawn, chairman of the republican party of iowa. what is the role of the republican party in the caucus?

morning from the hawkeye state. unseasonably warm morning. it is not a state-run election. the state has no official role. it is entirely run by the republican party of iowa and the state central committee. we are charged with organizing 1774 separate precinct caucuses are around the state on the night of january 3. that includes overseeing everything from the recruitment of volunteers, to running to these precincts, up until the presidential preference poll that takes place. it takes place -- the reason everyone is here. we oversee the voting, tabulation, the recording, everything done through the staff of the republican party of iowa with immense volunteer effort for what the state. host: you called it a

presidential preference poll. no delegates are chosen? guest: not at the caucuses. the history of the caucasus -- we do this every two years, whether or not obviously there is a presidential election. it is how we organize -- where we choose precinct committee people, we have discussions about the various issue platforms that we would to see brought up. and going back to 1972, that was the first year, at one of the caucuses and they decided to add a presidential preference poll to try to get greater attendance at these caucuses. of course, it has grown into what to -- what you see today. host: how many republicans do you expect to turn out to deny? guest: that of the great question. in 2008 we had just under 120,000 iowa republicans turned out, which was an all-time high. there are a lot of variables that go into turnout, including the weather. we of the midwest, it is winter.

right now the forecast looks very good. variables include how many first-time caucus the worst turnout. a couple of things i pointed to right now, how 2008 is different than 2012 -- one, a lot more republicans in the state of iowa than there were in 2008. we had 33 straight months of republican voters registration gains. and looking at the straw poll in august, where we had nearly 20,000 iowans show up, and the largest attended straw poll in the history of our straw polls. that included the fact that mitt romney, rick perry, newt gingrich, were not aggressively parts of abating in the straw poll. thirdly, i look at the first opportunity any american has to cast a ballot to start the process to replace barack obama as president. some of those datapoint point to what could be a robust turnout for republicans january 3. host: if you would like to talk

to the gop chair from iowa -- it has been chairman since january 2009. we set aside our fourth line for iowa residents -- and you can send an e-mail or tweet. this is something you have probably been asked 100,000 times, basing it on matt miller's column or his op-ed piece this morning in the "washington post." no way to pick a president -- the actions in a idiosyncratic state has come to dominate news nationwide.

why i would? guest: the quadrennial attack, we go through with every cycle. i would encourage people to get out here and see the process up close. it demands that candidates actually come to our communities, come to our coffeeshops and our farm co-ops and that every day hard-working iowans look them in the eye. the roll is incredibly vital. look at public polling right now. the faith that americans have in their leaders in washington is at an all-time low. the fact we still have places like iowa require somebody wants to be president to physically be here and let an everyday citizen estimates of question about what they want to leave our country, is good for the process. because if that we do not have small states like iowa and new hampshire that require the retail politicking, all we had is a move toward the national

primary. if we have a national primary, all that will be is a national fund raising process on who can raise the most money to have the most tv ads and they will be for the disconnected from the electorate. that is a broad view of what i think iowa and new hampshire should continue to play the role. more specifically, when you're on the ground, you see how seriously iowans take the process. they are not shy, not starstruck by a ceo, but governor -- they will ask a question and they expect an honest answer. i think it is good for the process. at the fact that the caucuses require some degree of dedication -- it is not a primary where you pull your car up outside of the polling place, you run in and out and go on with your daily life. you are required to sit there and talk about the issues, listen to candidates' speeches -- and hopefully before caucus night you have gone to a couple of town hall meetings. and really study and size, and

it personal field. i do not think we get there if we go to a system where it is just the larger state, national primary, where the only place you see candidates is through tv ads. host: why are you a republican? guest: i believe in the individual and all power really emanates from the individual, and back -- and that of the republican philosophy. that we need to empower individual to make decisions for themselves, and the proper role of government is really to have a society where i am free to make decisions with my money, free to make decisions on how to raise and educate my children, and i don't believe all the citizens -- decision should emanate from the government -- whether it is state, federal. and i believe the republican block -- party best embodies the principles of and powering individuals to make the decisions best for themselves and their families. host: matthew strawn is our

guest. douglas on the democrats' line. you are first. caller: hello, and good morning. host: please, go ahead. caller: my name is douglas. i have just one question. actually two questions. one, the republicans seem to be bent on getting rid of barack obama. they say they want him to be a one-term president. i know that is probably the norm -- just come out ok, we will get rid of this republican or we will get rid of this democrat. but i have never seen them bend so hard on this one at present. i think there is something involved. i even venture to say there might be some racism involved. and secondly, the republicans support big business, these huge companies that make all of this

money. and they make money, yes. they create these jobs. but they would not have any money if they did not have anybody to work. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. we talk about how republicans talk about making barack obama a one-term president. i think america needs to make barack obama a one-term president because when we go into the general election, it will be a referendum on his failed leadership. here in iowa, one thing we are seeing in the caucus process is the prosecution of the failed record. $15 trillion debt that the president wants another $1.50 trillion at it on top of that. we see a private sector economy not creating jobs because of the uncertainty. i know you mentioned big business -- but when you look at a place like iowa, two-thirds of the jobs here are created by small businesses and right now on our main streets and there is tremendous uncertainty with a small businesses that are not

hiring, not investing, not buying equipment manufactured by american workers. that uncertainty comes from financial regulations where we've got tightening lending requirements with our community bankers. it comes from the regulations used to implement obamacare. i talked to one business owner on the eastern part of iowa a couple of months ago, he said he is doing well but he is not expanding the business because its accountants cannot tell and how much obamacare will cost the company. as long as we have uncertainties as well as the uncertainties about the tax structure, as long as we still have the uncertainties, the small businesses that really drive the economy in places like iowa, and i am sure in places like pennsylvania, doug, we will continue to see a economy that is struggling to get i am hopeful when we have a robust debate with a strong republican candidates standing up for republican principles -- because it is not enough to just talk about the failure to barack obama -- but the nominee has to make americans understand why

conservative republican principles are the right ones to address the challenges facing america. host: does it cost to face a caucus? guest: there is no cost to attend a caucus. and just so your viewers understand, any iowa resident who is eligible to vote to participate in the caucus as long as they are registered republican. their two ways to participate. if you are already registered republican, your name will be on the roles that will be provided to the precinct leaders. the show what, see your name, you have a seat and wait for things to begin. if you show up and you are not already registered as a republican and consistent with state law, you have to show either an iowa driver's license or a photo i.d. with accompanying proof of residency such as a utility bill, and then you can register as a republican, so long as you are a resident from the precinct. we do allow outside observers. most precincts allow outside observers. mostly they are given an

observer or visitor badge. they cannot stand or speaker to dissipate, but it is really one of the most transparent process is in politics -- american politics. and even the way the votes are counted. in each precinct, once the presidential preference vote is taken, which usually you just write the surname of your preferred candidate won a slip of paper and drop in the ballot box -- they are usually counted in full view of the entire caucus. each presidential campaign has an opportunity to have one observer to observe accounting. they have the ability to have an observer to over here the phone call: the results. even when my staff calculates and aggregate's the seventh -- 1774 results, there is someone in the room to observe that process as well. it is an incredible process

that is open and transparent, not just to iowana but someone who has an opportunity to visit. host: from page of "the richmond times-dispatch." do you require such a thing. guest: we do not give you disney to be a registered republican and an eligible voter in the state of iowa. host: michigan. john is a republican. caller: i just had two quick comments about american imperialism and hegemony in the middle east. we conducted a coup d'etat in 1953 in iran, killed thousands -- host: i am sorry. that caller just got through in the last segment. we will move on to jackson, tennessee. independent line. caller: i have two points. one is about ron hall. the first one -- there is really

a global and lead people to keep us divided so they can keep us under control -- global elite of people. both parties are pretty much the same, so people have the illusion that is what they are, when they are not. the second one is ron paul. he has been misquoted constantly so he had less of a chance. overwhelmingly the people really follow what he believes in -- which is the constitution. he never said he wanted to legalize drugs, but they said he wanted to give the states the authority to legalize it or not. but people have this fear that people will do drugs. but you have all these thousands of people dying from alcohol because the government gets taxes on alcohol, which is legal. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. since you this is dr. paul, one thing where his message is

resonating is more limited government, reducing spending, talking about cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget. i think that is a message that has resonated with the electorate who believes washington is spending way too much of our money, and the fact we are borrowing money from nations who certainly did not have america's best and just that hard. you talked about a divided america. it is quite disappointing when we look at our current president. if you look at the electoral strategy he seems to be developing, he wants to put americans against each other with rhetoric that involves class warfare, that certain classes of america -- pitting certain classes of americans attend each other. if we are going to get through our challenges, it has to be done together. it is something americans have always done through the years, which is pulled together when the time demanded. i hope as we go to the general election next year, that the president puts the class warfare rhetoric aside, stopped hitting

americans into each other and really show leadership. unfortunately his actions have not matched his words, which is why i'm confident we will see at the end of this republican nomination process, that we will have a candidate who can start talking but the solutions and provide the bold leadership to get americans working together to resolve the challenges facing the country. host: jesse is a democrat from chicago. caller: good morning, a gentleman. i have a question. how do you feel about a lot of the right wing media st. if ron paul won the iowa caucus, the iowa caucus itself is irrelevant. how do you feel about that? if he did win, would you stand by the people of iowa's voices and stand behind him yourself? host: as -- guest: of course as the chairman i will support the gop nominee, and especially a state that is a swing state. iowa will likely determine the

care of the perot vote to the next president is. maybe for the viewers, you should know the chairman of the party has to be neutral. i and neutral throughout the entire process. on caucus night, i will attend my local caucus but i will not cast a vote since my office has to oversee the election. i will not speculate on what may or may not happen. but i talked earlier about the message that ron paul has that is resonating in iowa, and it is on a limited government, reducing spending, shrinking the influence of washington in the lives of americans. but also he has been on the ground building an organization behalf to get your volunteers and supporters out to 1774 precincts' on a cold winter's night -- that is no easy task. a lot of the support you see is not just driven by the message he has in iowa but the fact he has built some organizational machinery behind it as well. host: matthew strawn -- from

politico this morning, moving vote tabulation away from headquarters. i am sure you have seen the story. are you worried about security with the occupy group? and why removing the vote tabulation way? guest: the first is more generally and broadly, of the occupy movement. there has been a small group of occupy des moines protesters involve the past couple of months in iowa, but more broadly they issued a call to arms for occupy people from all over the country to come to iowa to disrupt their is activities, including upsetting campaign events, protesting at campaign headquarters. i believe 10 protesters were arrested yesterday outside of mitt romney's headquarters here in des moines. so, we need to take safeguards and we need to prepare for disruptions. we have done two things.

first, we are working with state and local law enforcement officials to know exactly what our rights are. these are private meetings that we hold that are open to the public to attend. so, if an outside agitator ones to come in and try to disrupt one of the meetings, we have legal rights to have them removed from the premises. and why heavy duty while the occupy folks do have a first amendment right to have their voices heard, it only extends so far it does not infringe on the right of way iowan to peacefully assemble. one, we are prepared for those types of disruptions. but more specifically, to the question you asked, we also want to make sure the results are recorded accurately and timely to not just the candidate's campaigns, but to the nation. we do have an aggregation center where we verify the results from 17774 areas, and traditionally

it has done at republican headquarters but given the headquarters building has been kind of under siege, it seems, with the occupy movement, we will be doing it from a different location. but what everybody should know is that each campaign has an opportunity to have an observer, a senior staff member, and the building with republican officials, so there is transparency and there is no question about the tabulation. it is just something we will do of sight for security purposes. host: the next call comes from daryl, a republican from new jersey. caller: good morning. how are you? yes, i am a republican, and i have to say -- i can appreciate coming on this program and espousing republican constables, but it is important that you tell the truth when you do so. for example, you said something about no job growth under this

president, and the private sector has been creating jobs for 20-straight month or meant something like that and the loss of jobs has been primarily in the public sector, which sort of brings into my second point. you say the president is pitting americans against other americans, but every time it republican comes on c-span and talks about union workers and government employees as if they are some sort of a drain on society -- my sisters are both teachers, they are public sector employees, and they are dedicated, they train our young people. and so, for republicans to come on c-span and-public-sector employees, that is pitting americans of the americans and that sort of makes the party sound like a bunch of hypocrites. host: we got the point, daryl. guest: thank you for the call, daryl. as the son of a school teacher, i certainly salute your family members. i know it is no easy job,

especially these days. when it comes to winning elections, we were very successful in iowa in 2010 winning the governor's office back and a legislative majority for the first time in a number of years, and we did it talking about solutions. i do hope from candidates, that is the key to how we win presidential elections. we will aggressively prosecute the failures of the obama administration, but i still cannot think it is enough to win -- and convince americans our principles are the ones to face the challenges. i do hope you continue to demand solutions from candidate, whether republican or ring democrats, because just pointing out the problems is not going to solve them. host: akron, ohio. carry on in the independent line. caller: iowa republicans, it is almost laughable. when you think that ron pollack is surging ahead with his racist

views -- ron paul is surging ahead, with his racist views, and it seems like republicans are tolerating him. they need to listen to newt gingrich when he said the man was anti-semitic and racist. iowa, i do not think you have any credibility if you go through a process. i hope that the republicans electron paul as their candidate. guest: well, we have five days and the candidates are crisscrossing the state right now. i think iowans have the opportunity to ask candidates all of those hard questions and that is how i will play the role as vetting. people talking about why does iowa have this will when they did not necessarily predict the nominee or bring the president, but there is the winnowing process. as the candidates make their

final case, we will see what happens. host: jody tweets in -- guest: the current calendar right now was passed by both the republican and democrat national committee. they carved out four states to be early, so to speak. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada. what they tried to do is inject some sanity by having just four states go early, and then having the process with the delegate selection -- the delegates though proportionately during the march window, and then from april on, and state -- any state can be winner-take-all. we are operating by the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. there are a few states to decided to upset that, with florida moving up early, going to january 31, which forced i

would to go to january 3. we are operating under the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. host: texas. lawrence, a democrat. caller: i have two statements that i would like to address and some of the previous callers did not get to. i cannot understand what republicans continue to do is blame barack obama for all of the downfall. when you come on and make a statement that we are here to remove barack obama, what do you think american people think? is it the only reason you want to get a republican in there, to remove barack obama? and you have to look at the candidates you have. for america to come back strong, we need the best candidates -- no matter independent, republican, whatever and they

are. that is we need in office. not just put anybody in there because they are republican. i will shut up and listen to what you have to say. guest: sure, thank you for the call. it is not just about replacing a person in the white house but about replacing the principles and policies we have seen from the president. what we have seen from the president is unsustainable spending. we've got a $15 trillion debt. i've got three children -- 6, 4, and 15 months old -- and the fact that when the 15-month-old came into the world, she entered with her own personal share of $40,000 of the national debt. that is one reason. the other is the economic uncertainty our job creators and small businesses see. i talked about earlier. we have a president that the not understand that it is small businesses, and japan ignores, here in iowa is farmers, mainstream merchants --

merchants, that create jobs. what washington does is they can create an environment students and the five people to take risk their capital, buying equipment, hiring americans again. that is what republicans represent, if we get a republican in the white house that stand strong with republican principles. and as i said earlier, it is not just talking about the failure of the obama administration and his policies, but we have to talk about the solutions are. that is what we have seen in the nomination process. we have six candidates crisscrossing the state talking about their plans moving forward. each of them have different economic and tax plans, ranging from bringing capital back from overseas, as we can invest it in manufacturing and start making things in america again. getting rid of some of the special tax loopholes that major corporations are able to use to save money otherwise be put to work on infrastructure, on investing in capital and personnel. so, i hope we will continue to

see it from our republican candidate, but we need to talk about solutions. i agree with you. host: matthew strawn, is this your full-time job or did you have another profession? guest: this is a volunteer job. my family have a farm on the eastern part of the state just west of cedar rapids, and i am also involved in the arena football league -- iowa barnstormers, i am a co-owner. for any of your viewers who are football fans, it is where curt warner got his start. -- kurt warner. it keeps me busy. host: did you have a winning record this year? guest: we did not. we had a rough season. 5-13. we had to make a coaching change. but hopefully things will turn around when the season start and we had to training camp next february. host: market from pennsylvania. -- mark from ephrata,

pennsylvania. caller: i want to give a shout out for the christians to get behind newt gingrich to remind him, remember the jesus picked as disciples, the backgrounds. he picked them because he knew they could get the job done. and i want them to get behind newt gingrich. he is the man. host: go ahead. i wanted to pick up on this point because you talk about some of the individual candidates a little bit, but what about the importance of the christian vote in the iowa caucuses? guest: there is no question when you look at the electorate in the iowa caucuses but the republicans, they are solid economic and social conservatives. mike huckabee, of course, was

propelled by a social conservative evangelical christian vote in 2008. right now that is an electorate that seems to be split by a few different candidates -- congresswoman michele bachmann, senator rick santorum, governor of rick perry, newt gingrich. they seem to be battling over that segment of the electorate that has sort of split that vote like we did not see in 2008. so, i think over the long last -- next five days, you will see each of the candidates tried to coalesce that and to get into the first, second, and third swspot. traditionally there are three out of iowa. host: indiana, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a c-span junkie. retired, 50 -- 67 year old. the lady who represented michele

bachmann was on before you, mr. strawn, made a statement that a congressman left her camp to work for ron paul, and he was offered a large sum of money. is it a common practice for congressman to accept money from campaigns to work and campaign for candidates? if so, it seems very disgusting to me. thank you for taking my call. guest: thank you for the call. just one clarification, i believe the individual you are talking about is and i was state senator as opposed to united states congressman. i did not know all the underlying facts. there seems to be some dispute as to what actually transpired yesterday regarding that particular endorsement. i do know here in iowa, state legislators, at least in the iowa senate, are prohibited from doing exactly that thing. it is not a common practice for legislators. it is a common practice to

endorse and support a candidate, but not a common practice for that to usually involve compensation. host: for worth, texas. susan, democratic live in caller: i have a couple of brief statement i would like responded to. history shows that after every republican administration, there has been a big financial disaster that has to be cleaned up. and another statement is, my understanding is our founding fathers worked for religious freedom, that the pilgrims that came over, came over to get away from religious persecution. and i equate what is going on now as extreme -- compared to extreme islam and other extreme religions. and the debt that was created was created by cheney-bush buy

things they did not put on the books. and president obama did put them on the books. it makes it look bad for him, which is the things that cheney- bush did not put on the books. host: matthew strawn? guest: i think the one thing i will point out when it comes to increasing the debt on not just our current generation but future generations in washington, i think a lot of that, when you look at the debt that has accrued over the last two and a half years will bring three years of your the obama administration is frightening, starting with the stimulus that unfortunately did not stimulate anything. i do hope we can get serious about that. and it should not be about pointing fingers, but it does lay at the feet of the obama administration. but we need to get serious about cutting spending in washington. that is what our republican candidates are talking about and making sure we do it in a way that makes sense, make

government more lean and efficient and identify where the waste is an start returning some of the power back to the states and individuals so we have a government in washington that and live within its means. host: you started this segment by talking about the unseasonably warm weather. what does it mean to you? guest: it means 40 degrees and no snow on the ground. host: is there a prediction of snow before the caucuses on tuesday? guest: there is not. putting on my meteorologist had, there is a prediction for continually mild temperatures with no precipitation. hopefully that will add to a robust turnaround. host: matthew strawn is in our temporary studio in downtown des moines. this call is from davenport, iowa. caller: how is it going to they? they quit -- how is it going today? a quick observation. i and my longtime republican, and when i look at this field

and won in 2008, and also in 2004 or 2002 -- they all seem to be light waves. i hate to say it, but if the choice today was barack obama, any one of the republican candidates, bill clinton, again, as a lifeline -- lifelong republican i would have to vote for bill clinton because he was the real deal. host: matthew strawn? guest: i am confident at the end of this process you will have a republican nominee who is battle tested, somebody who will not only earn but deserve your vote. host: matthew strawn, finally, this tweet -- who are you going to call this for? guest: i will check in but i will not cast a ballot. i need to remain neutral and impartial and make sure every candidate has the confidence of

the state party is free of any partiality so i will not cast a ballot on caucus night. i thank you for that tweet, and feel free to follow me on twitter bank,@mattstrawn. host: what is your schedule over the next 3 or 4 days. guest: doing a lot of things like this. explaining what the caucus process is for those outside of our state. and i will try to around the state and catch some of the candidate event because that is how to get a feel of how they are trending. host: matthew strawn is the chair of the iowa republican party. guest: thank you, peter. host: up next, and look at u.s. ethanol policy which is important in iowa. but first, all this week we will be live in a iowa. you are looking at a video of the state historical society. up next, robert means from the

johns hopkins university energy and climate center. >> what would you say is the purpose of the state historical society? >> our job is we hold the state's interest in terms of development of our history and culture across the state of iowa, and this is -- it is important we are raising awareness not only on what we do but educating iowans about resources we have, not only here but out reach. obviously with the arts council, in the arts side, it is kind of a forced marriage because they are there each their own department but we have a state historical society that owns eight state-owned sites, we also have the museum and the preservation office, libraries, archives, and state records. it is a great opportunity for us

not only to collect the resources of all iowans, whether through donations or people saying, would you please take this, but an opportunity for us to educate iowans for something that is 100 years old or 5 years old that will one day be history. >> above us you have a series of airplanes, a printing press and other exhibits. talk about the diversity of the type of exhibits? >> back in 1987 in december, the governor and others came together and thought it was important that we had a museum to really focus on iowa's history, and that we needed to start collecting and ensuring we were preserving our history starting 25 years ago. as you can see from this over behind you, we have the delegate -- delicate balance, the bio history. we have an exhibit that just opened this past summer that

looks at the history of electric railways in iowa. other uss iowa sterling silver -- it is being renovated as we speak and be moving to the port of l.a. obviously, now it is timely and relevant, the caucus exhibit, which is getting most of the attention. >> this is part of a caucus series you are hosting. >> correct. this was built four years ago. we want to update, to make sure it is relevant and did not just cut off in 2008. we wanted to show what happened in the past four years. also we have held a speaker series to ensure we were able to raise awareness, to make sure people were engaged and able to have an opportunity to come here. folks like mark helprin -- talking about the history of iowa and our role in the

process and how important it is as we continue to take our role seriously and not take it for granted, and you can see sometimes we are in the cross hairs of why iowa should not remain first. --it is they're consistent is there consistency of years? >> the media, a lot of time they will call their respective state parties and even called us to say you have background or larose or videos of jimmy carter or 1982? what is great is i always encourage the media to come in here because really it is a one- stop shop to get a will overview of the caucuses. but we can also provide the elements of research, articles, in addition to obviously other newspapers. we help collect them from all over the state. >> if you look on the outside it is deceiving -- because inside,

it is quite large. >> this building -- we are in the east village, downtown des moines, which was pretty one down 25 years ago and it had been restored and revitalized. the east village is actually rising. you will drive down locust and grant and seeing media doing the stand up because the capitol is to the east of the building. we are part of the capitol flights and are looking to have a visitors center where people would come to the state historical museum first, get a view, and then walk up, not to the capitol, but this building is important not just for downtown but for iowa in general, how to educate iowans, not only the past and present, but their future. >> what have you learned? >> still some much.

-- so much. host: unfortunately we lost pedro because of sound problems but we are pleased to continue our conversation on iowa. but we will take it any different direction and we are joined by robert means, a professor at johns hopkins university, and he will talk about ethanol policy and its importance in the united states. mr. means, if you would, give us a snapshot how big the ethanol industry is in the united states, how many people it employees? guest: i can't give you -- it has become very large and very politically influential because it is concentrated in states like iowa, and the other major agricultural states. surprisingly, agriculture now is a relatively small part of the iowa economy, and the ethanol industry is a major component of the eric holder will economy.

host: how so? what does it take on the agricultural economy? guest: cornyn ethanol uses about 30% of the nation's corn crop -- corn at an all. corn is a commodity so it does not make much difference where it comes from. it probably have become the largest single use of corn, which has contributed, as some commentators as noted, the fact that the economy is not as big an issue in iowa as and other parts of the country because, unlike what i was growing up there, farms and doing quite well. ethanol is a not insignificant part of that picture. host: is the 30% not going to foodstuff for humans or bling animals? caller: -- guest: demand is still being

met. it has had some impact on corn prices. it is difficult to know how much because other factors are affecting those prices. but that much additional demand for any commodity means higher prices. that means some kind of shifts to other commodities. probably the major concern is the high prices for kern will lead to the diversion of land that was otherwise providing foodstuffs, particularly in developing countries. that is one of the major concerns with the use of corn at the law. host: professor, how did the ethanol industry get started and why is it subsidized? guest: it got started -- henry ford's model t ran on a final and that is what he thought would be the fuel for it. a very it's a given level before world war ii, and then after into the 1970's, a bit of

a surge in the 1930's and in world war i. it started being subsidized in the 1980's, but what really caused it to take off was a shift in the nature of the government support, which occurred in 1995. for a few more days, corn ethanol would be supported in two different ways -- one is what we all think of as subsidies, tax credits, money. the more important support if a mandate that a certain amount of ethanol has to be blended into the nation's gasoline supply. it is that mandate, rather than the cash subsidies, driving the growth in the industry. the cash subsidies will and on december 31, but the mandate will continue. the legal obligation to put a certain amount of ethanol in the gasoline supply will still continue for another decade or

bring more. host: let us back of one more step. what exactly is ethanol? guest: at janel is an alcohol. if you do not denature it, you can get drunk on. you can ferment the sugar into alcohol. in the case of corn -- cornstarch is converted into sugar, which is converted into alcohol, and then more steps, and then it can be used as gas and a tank of a car. host: why is it required that a certain amount of gasoline contain ethanol? guest: the original policy was primarily to support the agricultural sector in the united states. what happened in 1995, probably earlier than that, two additional policies -- one is reduced imports of oil. the second policy, which appeared in the 1997 legislation is reduce greenhouse gas

emissions. so, one of the standards for the fuels' that meet this requirement is they have to produce over their full life cycle less greenhouse gas emissions, less carbon dioxide, less greenhouse gases than gasoline. >> does it cut back on our use of gasoline substantially, on imported oil? guest: yes. it depends on what you mean by substantial. less than 10%. the mandate for 2012, i believe, is for corn f and all, about 8% of the total gasoline supply. the impact of less than that because ethanol is not have as much energy than a gallon of gasoline but it is a significant impact on our consumption. host: 202 is the area code if you would like to talk to professor robert means --

we also set a line for iowa, given the impact of ethanol on iowa. in fact, iowa is e the iowa -- i what is the top ethanol using state -- producing state. i ask this in the beginning, if there is another way of asking it, how many people in iowa are employed directly as a result of ethanol? do you know how much the industry is work in dollar figures at all? guest: well, you can view the

3.6 billion gallons of selling someplace north of $2 a gallon, you are talking about closing in on $10 billion. host: you know how many e thanol plants that are in iowa? become a 130 or 140 concentrated in the northern part of the state. it two and towns where i played football against in the southern part of the state. but if you draw an east-waste -- east-west line in des moines, it would be north of the line. host: are they pretty small? guest: the most efficient ones are large. i cannot tell you the cupp point. but the most efficient ones are the major industrial facilities. host: baltimore, we are talking about u.s. ethanol policies. .g

caller: i am an independent and i support the use of public funds to ethanol if it helps us. but it to be paid back once it is up off the ground. i would like to know, too, should a public money be used for a pipeline for canada? i do not support that idea. thank you. i will take my answer offline. guest: the question, if i understand, is should public money be used for the xl pipeline to bring in canadian tarzan's oil? my own view as an environmentalist is, no, because the canadian tar sands produces more carbon dioxide from oil from other sources. it is the mirror image for part of the argument for corn

ethanol, is it reduces the carbon dioxide. host: richard is on the line. where is largewood? caller: 20 miles from sioux falls, south dakota. host: are you involved in the ethanol industry at all? caller: my -- it is alexander hamilton what kind of plants he can put in his or to provide transportation. that is what they're doing with this, forcing a certain amount of gasoline to have ethanol in it. being pushed around by people who have enough money to go to washington, become lobbyists, be paid, make their views known, laws get past to help their position, and they make the money. they need to reduce all government mandates and government subsidies. that is what makes this economy drain. host: robert means?

guest: 1, whether it is appropriate use government mandates to pursue a goal of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. the second question is whether this is a good mandate for those purposes. the first is a basic, a philosophical question. i suspect you and i are on opposite sides of that issue. for the second question, corn ethanol mandate is not the most efficient way to pursue the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. perhaps the principal justification for it is a path towards kinds of renewable fuels that will not compete with food and will have a larger impact on greenhouse gas emissions. host: how is our policy

different from brazil's ethanol policy, it is it? guest: it is different today, fundamentally, will not be in a couple of days. we have this mandate on subsidies. the subsidies will go away, we will be left with the mandate. brazil also has a mandate. their mandate is 25% has cut to come from ethanol, in this case, from sugar cane. they are reducing it because of the poor sugar crop. ethanol has become expensive. both the united states and brazil will be operating with a mandate. the brazilian industry is probably more efficient because sugarcane is slightly more efficient, but they will be operating within similar remarks beginning january 1. host: do we export any of our ethanol?

guest: yes, we sometimes exports to brazil, depending on exchange rates, the price of sugar, corn. one reason to export -- yes, gasoline consumption has flat line since 2007. the people who enacted the statute with the mandates expected it to go up, so there would be plenty of room to blend in ethanol. we are running up to what is called the blend wall. some hot at the mall is exported as a result -- ethanol is exported as a result. so it should be cheaper, if supply is bigger than demand? guest: it should be. a couple of studies suggests uses of the ethanol should reduce the price of gasoline.

that is not the result you would expect from the mandate. that study is from iowa, my all matter -- alma mater, so i assume it is accurate. caller: i have a couple of questions about ethanol. what are the negative effects in that engine, as opposed to gasoline? i have heard a lot of ethanol policy has been pushed by congress members from heavy corn districts, to support their own district. guest: in answer to the second question is, certainly, yes. the proponents of corn ethanol, as with any other industry, come predominantly from senators and representatives where the industry is important. on the impact of the automobile

engine, this is a debating point. the limit of 10% -- there had been a limit of 10% on blending. the epa now allows up to 15% on the vehicle model year 2001 and later. that is based on a finding that it can be used safely. the negative side effect is that it cannot be safely used with a very large concentrations. that is different from brazil, who has vehicles that can run from 100% gasoline to 100% methanol. host: next phone call. caller: with ethanol being produced by corn, roughly speaking, it takes one and have you did going in, too and have units coming out.

sugar cane, you can get up to seven, nine units. also, sugar cane and only needs to be planted once every few years, whereas corn needs to be planted every year. how does that become a viable thing for corn? should we be trying to do sugar cane in the southern part of the country as such? guest: i cannot take to the viability of sugar cane in the southern part of the united states. it would be difficult to compete with brazil, but you are correct on the advantages. all of the energy for the production is divided by the burning of the gas, the waste left by the sugar cane. sugar mills even export electricity into the grid.

host: when the subsidy goes away, how much one new -- money will taxpayers saved? guest: several billion dollars. it is not the no. 1 subsidy. but do not go to the bank on that. host: will we see an increase on gas prices because of the subsidy ending? guest: yes, but people do not believe it will be large. host: john tweets in -- guest: that is absolutely correct. that comes back to the issue raised by an earlier caller, the two questions raised. is the mandate cost justified by the environmental goal, and is this a good mandate? host: what do you think?

guest: is this a good man did? no, although one would not wish to eliminate it completely. on the first, yes. to deal with the global warming issue, the government has to put its thumb on the scale. the choices that we all make to minimize the cost do not deal with the problem. host: would you recommend a higher percentage of at the mall? guest: not as long as we are dependent on corn ethanol. it only reduces the relationship to gasoline, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. there is energy used in processing, energy used to grow it. and it competes with food. host: if we suffer a drought or bad corn crop one year in the near future, what is your

speculation about the price for food and gasoline? guest: it will increase gasoline prices. we will have the same phenomenon that brazil is having because of the bad sugar crop. it will be an additional factor in food prices. in the circumstances you describe, food prices will go up more than otherwise, because of the demand for corn ethanol. host: our next call comes from florida. mark, on the republican line. caller: good morning, professor. nice to talk to you. you touched on a couple of things, as did one of the previous callers. i am very much opposed to subsidizing production of ethanol. i would like to sum up the issue that is being formed here.

first of all, it takes more energy, gasoline, to produce a gallon of ethanol. you look at the production process, transportation costs, etc. secondly, to deliver the ethanol product to the retailer -- because it tracks water easily -- is much more expensive to deliver than gasoline. the third issue, the specific energy of ethanol is lower than the specific energy of gasoline, so a gallon of ethanol does not produce the mileage that a gallon of gasoline does. guest: let me deal with your last two technical points. you are right. a gallon of ethanol only has two-thirds of the energy of a gallon of gasoline.

because it attracts water, you cannot readily use it in the same infrastructure -- pipeline, for example -- compared to gasoline. the proposition that you put more energy into the production of ethanol and the energy produced, there are some respectable studies that reach that conclusion. my sense, looking through the literature, now the output of energy in ethanol is somewhat greater than the input energy. not nearly as good as sugar cane, but there is a net gain of some percentage in the total energy. host: this tweet from rock --

talking about waste, etc. guest: in the 2000 legislation, one purpose was to increase renewable fuels. the other was to shift us away from corn at the mall, to cellulosic ethanol. that is not happening. host: why? guest: it is common to use regulation to push development. you said an aspirational goal. that has worked well in terms of miles per gallon, but that is an engineering task. this requires scientific breakthroughs, and they have not come. the amount of cellulosic ethanol mandated by the 2007 statute, we are not going to get more than 1/10 of that amount, because the epa has the authority to cut back the standard, if it is not there, and it is not there.

it will come monday, but it requires scientific breakthroughs. host: this tweet from matt -- guest: i think i will take a pass on this one. host: fairfield. lavern, good morning. caller: ethanol was mandated as an additive, as opposed to something produced by oil companies, highly carcinogenic. i also understand it takes 5 gallons of water to produce 3 gallons of ethanol. this is not a high-water state. guest: yes, talking about the

mandate to blend ethanol and gasoline. in addition, because of the carcinogenic properties, ethanol is now being used to add oxygen to gasoline in urban areas that have a smog problem. on the second point, the water, that sounds right, but that is one of the issues of ethanol plants. they do have a high demand for water. i do not know the reason, but the common wisdom in the industry is, in the united states, court is the only commercially viable way to produce ethanol on a large scale. the negative implication of that, sugar beets, which we

certainly have, do not meet that criteria. i cannot tell you the reason why they cannot. host: bob is a democrat in madison, wisconsin. caller: i have an engineering degree and a doctorate. i have kept my miles per gallon, for 40 years, with all newly purchased cars that i carry for a long time. my camry this year started to get much lower mpg. cruze and allht a i could get was 31 miles per gallon. then i found out about ethanol in the engine, and it was running at a little bit hotter. when we switched to the only gasoline station in madison,

100% and gasoline, we suddenly got 35 mpg, opposed to 31, on long trips. guest: the first reason why ethanol may produce a lower mileage is inherent. the ethanol part of your mixture only has two-thirds of the energy in an equivalent gallon of gasoline. the second problem, the ethanol engine dong your car's not function properly. host: this is an e-mail --

guest: certainly, the use of corn for ethanol results in higher gasoline prices, higher food prices. the only issue is, how much higher? studies suggest it is a modest addition to the higher prices resulting from drought, rising population, income. on the second, i do not think if you were using the mixture in a recent model car -- needless to say, it is not supposed to blow up. that is the reason why the mixture is limited to models of 2001 and later. this is not to say that it never happens, but they have determined how that could happen.

it is a similar point. adding non-food demand to step that could be used for food. host: is corn a fungible commodity, like corn? the you grow specifically for an ethanol plant, for food? guest: it is a fungible commodity. traded on exchanges, a certain grade for a certain product. host: this is another e-mail -- guest: this is a disputed point. i thing the answer that i gave -- it reduces greenhouse gases

in lots of ways. greenhouse gases from the tractor, the fertilizers use, the fuel used in the plant itself. finally, it may lead to land use changes, cutting down forced to make room for crops. no doubt, it has substantial greenhouse gas emissions. the question is, when you add all those up, is it greater than or less than the emissions from gasoline? i think the majority view today is that it is somewhat less. host: next phone call. caller: it appears to me have ethanol is an answer to some of our energy concerns is not a viable answer. with our economic pact against

the wall, we need a truly effective energy policy. if i remember back to the 1950's, 1960's, when we had under directed -- uninterrupted oil from the middle east, coal deposits, the economy grew, but it grew because we had cheap energy. that is what we need now. host: professor means? guest: cheap, uninterrupted energy would help the economy, but the problem is, energy is probably never going to be as cheap as it was. there is only a certain amount of oil from the cheapest deposits, states that are stable

and friendly to us. we are going to be living in a world in which energy is more expensive than it was. host: dorsett, vermont. henry, you are on "washington journal." caller: there are three subsidies for ethanol. the one that the government takes. the one we pay for when we are told we can have no other gasoline. the third one, we are robbed of mileage. when i was forced to use of ethanol in gasoline, the mileage in my car dropped a number of miles. sometimes four or five. i think ethanol is a con job.

guest: no doubt, it is an inferior product in relation to gasoline. it does not have the same energy content. it attracts water, which makes it problematic for automobiles that are not designed for that process. we are subsidizing an alternative that is not a match for gasoline. the long-term goal is to have it drop in, that is, one that is chemically identical. we are not there yet with corn at the mall. host: another e-mail. -- corn ethanol. guest: the short answer is no. host: this tweet -- guest: hydrogen fuel cells

produce energy more efficiently, but the question is, how you get the hydrogen? one way is to use natural gas, which can be reformed into hydrogen. when you do that, you have the reformation of the energy lost in the gas, and then you go to the fuel cells spinning your car. by the time you have those two things, you have not gained a lot of ground on ordinary gasoline. what would be attractive is gaining -- generating electricity with renewable fuels and then using that energy to spit water into hydrogen. host: here is where the bio refineries are located across the country. bill, you are on the line. fort wayne, indiana. caller: how much co2 is

produced in the fermentation process? i have not heard that included in any remarks about the use of ethanol. guest: i cannot give you the breakdown, but it is included in the -- the epa is determined to require whether a biofuel produces 20% less carbon dioxide, greenhouse gas emissions, for the same amount of energy, in comparison to gasoline. in that analysis, it does consider the carbon dioxide given off in the fermentation process, as well as the fuel and fertilizers required to grow corn for the ethanol. host: harry in pennsylvania. all right.

sorry about that. my fault. caller: i understand we are mandated for 10% ethanol. is it going to 15%? we have an abundance of natural gas in pennsylvania, for that matter, in the whole country. i understand our automobile manufacturers in foreign countries are using natural gas to burn in their engines. why don't we do that? host: repeat your first question? caller: has demanded gone from 10% to 15%? guest: the legislation does not mandate a certain number of gallons.

the problem we are facing, the blend wall, arises from the fact that that number of billions of gallons is reaching the point where it is getting difficult to blend in the gasoline now limit of 10%, sometimes 15% blend. on your second point, natural gas is an alternative to fuelling vehicles. it has its downside for ordinary automobiles. even under high pressure, it has a much lower energy density than gasoline, even and ethanol. cng works best for vehicles, like buses, on city streets that can refill it easily, taxis, for the same reason. host: joseph weets --

guest: yes, that is true. -- tweets -- however, there is value in reducing fossil fuels. getting totally off them lies considerably in the future. host: what are you teaching at john hopkins? guest: we just got finished with the fall term. in the spring, will be teaching a general climate changed policy course, teaching a similar program in the general environmental sciences program. host: a climate course. guest: yes. host: the u.s. is number one when it comes to contributing greenhouse gases. is that correct? guest: right now, china is moving well ahead of us. host: on an efficiency basis,

when you look at it that way, are we more or less efficient than other countries? guest: it depends on how you measure it. if you measure greenhouse gas emissions predominately, we are pretty efficient, if you measu. if you measure per person, we are up there, and well ahead of china. host: because of our production? guest: because of our high living standard. host: palm springs, go ahead. caller: we seem to be headed for the next generation of electric cars, and that should lead gasoline in the dust. in the meantime, should the government mandate that all cars be flexible fuel cars?

would that help the transition? guest: not necessarily. let me think this through with you. early the late 1970's, 1980's -- perhaps there still are -- but there were incentives to manufacture electric vehicles. the problem was, when there survey was taken, most of them were using ordinary gasoline. one problem is to have flex fuel vehicles, so you no longer have to worry about a 10%, a 15% blend. the second issue is to get them to use that blend, instead of gasoline. for a long time, you would have a mixture of flex fuel vehicles that could use 85% ethanol, a majority of vehicles that could