children, how much you love your country, and help people like me figure out how to get the news media and the candidates to understand they should participate in an election where the of our children and our country because we are in real trouble and cannot stand politics as usual. [applause] >> we really appreciate you joining us here in front of all of these moms.

we will talk to the candidates in the coming weeks. keep tabs at momsmatter.2012.com. thank you, speaker. >> thank you. [applause] >> if you all want to come up and grab a photograph or shake hands, here is your shot to do it.

>> in the last iowa caucuses in 2008, barack obama won the iowa caucuses and went on to win the presidency. mike huckabee won the republican iowa caucuses but drommed out of the race just two months later. see what a caucus looks like with video from previous years online with the v-span video library. now through tuesday or c-span cameras are following the 2012 candidates at events throughout the state. every morning live from iowa, political guests are taking your calls on "washington journal." we will show live coverage of two of the caucuses from the central and western part of the state on c-span and c-span2. later on, results of all of the 1800 caucuses and candidate speeches. for more resources, use c-span's campaign 2012 website to watch videos of the candidates open campaign trail. see what the candidates have said on issues important to you and read the latest from candidates, political reporters and people like you from social media sites at

c-span.org/campaign2012. >> our road to the white house coverage in iowa continues with republican presidential candidate mitt romney at a campaign rally for supporters at a local grocery store in des moines. new jersey governor chris christie also spoke. in october governor cristty announced his endorsement of mr. romney. this is about 35 minutes. >> just amazing. thank you, guys.

to be out here in the cold and wind and rain. i brought with my chris christie, the great governor of new jersey. and, of course, i brought the you future lady, i hope, my sweetheart, anne romney. you guys, no one does it better than iowa. look at you out here today, with this rain, cold and wind, over 1,000 people, i guess 1,500 people here. on a morning like this, i cannot take off my hat. i don't have a hat on but i would take it off for the people of iowa, willingness to get out to see who it is running for president and support those you care about and take a close look to get a sense of the character of the people who are looking for the highest office in the land. i believe this race is zoust about replacing president obama, important as that is. it's also -- it's also a race about saving the soul of america. this is a time to decide what america will be over the coming years over this century and there's no one that fought that battle more consistently and

effectively than the governor of new jersey. so i want to welcome the great governor of new jersey, chris christie! >> thank you, mitt. thank you all very much for being here this morning. thank you for coming with me to welcome the next president of the united states of america, governor mitt romney. america is watching iowa. as we always do every four years, we're watching iowa. i was going to be with the folks who will help start this progress to get us going and make sure the republican party nominates the very best person to take on president obama in november. when you look at the stage and you watch these debates, i think you have to come to the conclusion i come to, there is no person better qualified by his experience and his character to take on barack obama and to lead the united states of america than governor mitt romney.

and this election is about our kids. it's about our kids and their future. that's what governor romney talked about all across this country. he and anne and their family have benefited greatly from all of the opportunities america offered to them. they want the same things for their grandchildren. they want the same thing for your children and the fight to take back the white house starts on tuesday night and it starts here in iowa and we are counting on you to get out there. take nothing for granted. elections are decided by the people who show up. by the people who vote. by the people who care about their country enough to be out here on a friday morning in iowa in the rain and cold because you love your country, because you believe this man can help lead your country about to greatness. [applause] now, listen, this is a fight that starts tuesday continue will continue through november. the president of the united states, he's going to be out here and he's going to be trying

to tell you a story. a story that somehow america is doing better after his three years of leadership in the white house. we know that's not true. we know that's not true. the president will try to convince you somehow that he deserves to be rehired. let's be real clear. president barack obama came out to iowa three years ago and he talked to you about hope and change. let me tell you, after three years of obama, we are hopeless and changeless and we need mitt romney to bring us back, to bring america back. so i want to thank you all for being here this morning. i'm thrilled to be in iowa. new jersey is watching. we are watching you closely. listen, i want to tell you something real clearly, i'm in a good mood this morning. i'm feeling happy and upbeat. i love being with mitt and anne.

let me tell you, you people disappoint me on tuesday -- you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back, jersey style, people, i will be back. but i would much rather come back to iowa this fall. i would much rather come back this fall to campaign for mitt romney and to help you help him lead this country. all you need to know is this -- i'm going to be there every minute that i could possibly be to help him because i believe in our country as much as you do. thank you very much for coming out. i appreciate it very much. it is my extraordinary honor to introduce to you the next president of the united states of america, governor mitt romney. >> fighting the battles to take

back america. this morning i have, someone i met in high school with me. i went to a party at stu white's house. i had seen the girl in elementary school but she was in the second grade. i was in the fourth grade. so i didn't pay a lot of attention. when she turned almost 16, i thought she was pretty interesting. i went over to her. she had come with someone else. someone else brought her ride to the party. i went up to him and i said look, i live closer to eanl than you do. why don't i give her a ride home for you? he said ok. we have been going steady ever since. my sweetheart, anne romney. >> we're really just thrilled to see -- see a mic that works. to see you all here. it's cold here, windy. people maybe watching this on television don't know how brave you all are to be here. there's quite a brisk wind up here. thank you all for coming. i want to express something to

you that is deep in my heart, and that is my love of america and knowing that that is why you're here too. you're not here for noir reason except that you -- any other reason except you love america and we're concerned about the direction it's going. and we hear you. we know what you're feeling. and we understand there's someone that is coming, that is going to help you. i haval of the confidence in the world in this guy standing next to me. the parts i can tell about you, tell you about him are the parts you might never hear about and that's how he's been as a husband and father. to me that's what matters. to me it matters. you never know what decisions will be made in the white house. so you really want to understand the character of the man. this is the man that stands by and does the right thing always. he's been with me for 42 years. we have five children, 16 grandchildren.

and i trust him implicitly. i trust he will always do the right thing. will he do the hard thing. with all of the confidence in the world, i can recommend this is going to be one of the greatest presidents ever. the next president of the united states, mitt romney! [applause] >> thank you, sweetheart. now there's an entirely unbiased endorsement. i want you to know there. over there there's a sign. what does it say, in obama we trusted, in our ow economy is busted. you got it right, brother. boy, you put that together. that is something. the other day president obama said, you know, it could be worse. that was his line, it could be worse. can you imagine hearing that from a pessimistic president. that goes down with marie antionette, let them eat cake. he's in hawaii. we're out in the cold and rain and wind because we care about america. he's out there. just finished his 90th round of

golf. we got 25 million americans out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed. home values have come down. median income in america the last four years dropped by 10%. do you want more of barack obama? >> no! >> do you want more of obama care? >> no! >> do you want promises of higher taxs? >> no. >> do you want the mounds of regulation that he's putting on the financial services sector and health care sector and manufacturing? >> no. >> is it time to have a real change in washington? >> yes. >> i represent a very dramatic change from what you have seen over the past three years. i haven't spent my life in washington. i spent my life in the private sector. i'm smart enough to get out of the rain but i still spent my life in the private sector. i know how the economy works. i want to use that experience and skill to get the economy working for the american people again. why do this? why get in the middle of this? it goes back to the early days

of my mom and dad. when i was a kid they put us in the rambler, that was our car. we drove around to the national parks. my mom and dad wanted me to fall in love with america and fall in love i did. i saw the mountains and canyons and amber waves of grain. i love america. between the stops at the various national parks, mom would read to us from books about the founding of the country. dad would talk about the founders. there's a hymn that i love, "o beautiful for spacious skies ecks for amber waves of grain." i think corn qualifies for amber. i will call that part of the amber waves of grain. there's another verse as important, o beautiful for pay treette dream that sees beyond the years. the idea was the patriots and their visions for america was not just for their time but for permance -- perm nance, that for america and foundation of this country would not just be a short experience but something that would last over a long,

long time even to our days. see beyond the years into our times. i believe in the principles upon which this country was founded. i believe freedom and being able to choose our elected representatives is a key principle and i also believe in opportunity. when the founders crafted the declaration of independence, they said the creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights. among them life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. and that pursuit of happiness means we're fear in america to choose our course in life. we can choose to do what we want to do. we're a merit society. opportunity society. by virtue of our education and hard work, willingness to take risk, our dreams, we can accomplish whatever we hope to accomplish. by virtue of our success individually, we lift one another and lift the entire society. america's freedoms and our opportunity nature has made this

the most powerful nation in the history of the earth. but this president and people around him, they have a different vision. they think instead of being an opportunity nation and the merit society we should become an entitlement society. the government takes to some to give to others. where we would replace ambition with envy. they would poison the american spirit with class warfare. we want to return the to the principles that made america the hope of the earth and strength of the earth. i believe in america. i believe in freedom and opportunity and that's what we're going to bring back to this nation. this really is a battle for the soul of america. the question is what kind of america are we going to be. what kind of land will we give to our children and their children. i'm convinced if we stay on the course we're on, you're going to see america hit a wall like they've hit in europe. you are going to see us have the experiences that you have seen in greece and italy.

that's not acceptable to me. we finally have to have someone go to washington to do what chris christie's doing in new jersey, finally bring sanity to the people there, work across the aisle and bring democrats in. by the way, good democrats love america too. i do remember, however, what ronald reagan said. he said it's not that liberals are ignorant. it's just what they know is wrong. so we have to educate them from time to time and make sure they understand to work better to get america back on track. i will do that. a lifelong politician, i didn't spend my life in political world or washington, d.c. you have a choice of a number of people on our panel, our stage, republican stage, who spent their life in washington, d.c. that's fine but i think to get america back on track, you need someone who spent his life outside of washington. who understands how the real world works. who understands how the economy works.

i did spend four years as a governor. four years in government. i didn't inhale, i promise. business guy, father, husband, person who cares very deeply about this country. i think our president takes his inspiration from europe. he thinks europe got it right. he thinks a bigger government, more intrusive government with more regulations, a government that takes from some to give to others. a government that racks up debt higher and higher and higher, that's the course for america. i don't think europe is working in europe. i sure as heck don't think it will work here. i believe in restoring the principles that made america great and i will do that with your help on tuesday night, you guys! if you can get out here in this cold and this wind and little bit of rain coming down, you can sure get out tuesday night. you can sure find a few people to bring with you. on the way to the caucus, tell

them just who you're going to vote for you uncan bring them next to you to make sure they do the same thing. i need your help. this is a real battle. it's a battle for america. it's a battle for the future course of america. i department want politicians running america anymore. i want to make sure we have citizen leaders going to washington, leading this country, fighting for the great soul of this country. thank you so much. great to be with you. thank you! i was born free ♪

>> thank you so much for your thoughts.

>> how are you? long way to go. good start this morning, i will tell you that. thank you. >> how are you? >> i love that.

>> how are you? very enthusiastic. round of excitement. other people want a change in washington. it's bringing in a lot of support and energy across the state of iowa. he's terrific, isn't he? quite a guy. i'm delighted to have him with me on the trial. you don't get better than chris christie.

>> i don't have any idea who will win. no expectations. >> how are you doing? >> i want to get it right for my kids and grandkids. i could care less about re-election. thank you for coming. >> thank you.

>> hi, how are you? it's cold out here this morning. thank you so much. look at that. that's a great idea. thank you very much.

>> we need some room, guys. need some room. >> i want a hug too! >> how are you? >> good. thank you.

thank you very much for your help. you're so kind. thank you. thank you. appreciate your help again.

look at these guys over here. look at this. freezing to death. how are you doing there? hey, guys. we're not sure there. how are you doing? you know chris up here. >> how are you? >> good. >> thank you for being here today. thank you. thank you so much. good to see you. how are you, sir? >> good, good. appreciate your help today. thank you, guys, for being here. how are you buddy? good to see you. you bet ya. >> you're going to win. >> thank you. you make it happen. i'm counting on it. >> thank you. thank you for being here this morning.

your so kind. thank you again. one more time. how are you? your mom? good to meet you. beautiful daughter. beautiful mom. they go together, don't they? hi, how are you? good to see you guys. thank you for being here this morning. you're freezing to death. not even a jacket. >> we didn't know you were outside. >> we didn't either. going to be inside, so many people, we had to come outdoors, so -- sorry to freeze you. thank you. >> we're counting on you, man. >> thank you. good to see you guys. thank you. thank you so much. good to see you. how are you doing? good to meet you. thanks for your help today. thank you. appreciate that. how are you? thank you. i appreciate that. thank you.

this feels wonderful. i will tell you, the crowds and enthusiasm couldn't be more encouraging. thank you. oh, my goodness. you're so kind. thank you. great to see you. thanks for being here. thank you. thanks for your help. you bet i will. you bet. i will take that for you. what's your name? thank you. we have an event we agreed to do there. then i'm going to come back first thing tomorrow.

>> how are you? good to see you. >> four years ago. thiss jacob. -- this is jacob. >> he's wondering why he's so far up in the air. >> j.k. >> jake. >> thank you, thank you. >> don't lose that. >> thanks, you guys. good to see you this morning. how are you? good to see you. thank you. i appreciate your help. thank you. take care. all right.

thank you for being here. thank you. thank you, guys. thank you so much. great to be here this morning. what a crowd. what an audience. oh, you're so kind. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. look forward to seeing you. will be back and forth all day -- all week rather. thank you so much. appreciate that. hi. thank you. how are you? thanks for being here today.

how are you? good to see you. thank you for being here today and helping out. how are you doing? really cold. >> that's ok. >> one more photo here. >> you bet. >> one, two, three. there we go. >> we have to do it, you guys. we have to do it, guys. have to do a live interview, guys. sorry about that. have to get going. sorry about that. thanks, guys. thank you. appreciate it.

>> god bless you. >> thank you. >> we have a live interview, governor. >> go, mitt! >> now a look at some of the latest ads released by the republican presidential candidates. >> obama's reckless agenda must

stopped. but as a true conservative you can really trust? rick santorum, he's fought for conservative values his whole life. father, husband, a champion for life, a visionary that understands the threat of radical islam and proven reformer who took on washington and won. rick santorum, finally, a true conservative we can trust. red white & blue fund is responsible for the content of this ad. >> washington elites are wrecking america, destroying our way of life. rick perry isn't from washington. spending reforms balance the budget. his energy plan frees america from foreign oil. his tax reforms flatten and simplify. that's how rick will put america back to work. stop washington insiders. rick perry, a conservative for president. >> jon huntsman should be a conservative hero. his program is the most

conservative. red states eric erickson, george will, "the wall street journal" agree. huntsman has the best plan to fix the economy. jon huntsman's record is more conservative than newt gingrich and mitt romney combined, has better foreign policy experience. it more pro-life and huntsman would be a more conservative president. jon huntsman, consistent conservative who can win. destiny pac is spom for the content of this advertising. >> our coverage of the g.o.p. presidential candidates continues with a look at a local newscast. this is courtesy of kcci-tv. >> we're now just four days away from caucus night. by the looks of it, it may shape up to be one of the most unpredictable iowa caucuses ever. >> a new nbc-marist shows romney is neck and neck with ron paul,

rick santorum not far behind. we spoke about the caucus frenzy. >> if there's one thing everybody is buzzing about this caucus season, it's the roller coaster presidential candidates have been on. >> can't quite figure out why candidates rise and fall so much. it just seems to change a lot, i guess. >> it's a pretty interesting race. hard to keep up with who's in the lead. >> central iowans and pundits agree. pedro is a host for c-span. >> i think the most interesting thing to see is the changing nature of who's on top as far as polling is concerned. i don't recall specifically any time i think i have seen a round-about change as far as one person being on top one week and another next. >> we also caught up with cnn correspondent jim acosta. >> i think the thing to watch on tuesday night is going to be this ground game battle between mitt romney and ron paul. >> romney's consistent position at or near the top of the polls in iowa has surprised some. >> to me it's astounding that he was only on his eighth trip to

iowa this week and yet he is leading in two major poll that's have come out. >> in 2008, romney spent a lot of time in iowa and tens of millions of dollars. this time he's kept his distance. >> if he somehow pulls out a victory in iowa and goes on and wins in new hampshire, no presidential candidate on the republican side has done that since gerald ford, tchiped of two fer. that will make him really hard to stop in terms of the rest of the pack. >> a clear winner caucus night would come as a surprise to many voters. >> i don't have any predictions. i think it's a tight race between all of them. >> there's a lot to be decided yet. >> carrie gavin, iowa's news leader. >> be sure to tune into channel 8 for your best caucus coverage. starts with news at 5:00, followed by cbs evening news live from des moines and then of course, news channel 8 at 6:00. here you will see the best live reports from eight locations, expert analysis if political expert dennis goldford.

you can also livestream our coverage on kcci.com. newt gingrich met with an all-female crowd in a town hall meeting at java joes in des moines today. they were all moms and the republican candidate got choked up when he was talking about his own mother's illness later in life. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing -- of dealing with the real problems of real people in my family. so it's not a theory. it's in fact my mother. >> about 150 mothers asked questions for an hour about health care, education and the economy. gingrich brought his own two daughters to this event. he told the women he would do the best job making this a better country for their children. the event was sponsored by the internet website cafe mom. >> new jersey governor chris christie stumped for mitt romney today in west des moines and made a tongue-in-cheek threat

for the crowd. >> you people disappoint me on tuesday, you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back jersey style, people. i will be back. >> and when romney spoke, he again touted his outside the beltway status. a former massachusetts governor says he represents a dramatic change from what you're seeing in washington right now. he said said he's the outsider who can use private sector experience to better the economy. >> i did spend four years as a governor. four years in governor. i didn't inhale, i promise. i'm still a business guy, a father, a husband. a person who cares very deeply about this country. >> and only recently has romney stepped out from behind the curtain of private fund raising events and scripted speeches. puppedits guess he's trying to connect to people on a personal level before caucus night. romney was criticized from appearing too stiff rhone botic

even during the 2008 race. >> rick perry focused his attention on swaying eastern iowa voters today. >> purpose in life has never been about being the president of the united states. my purpose in life has been about serving my country and serving my state. our country is broke. >> speaking to a crowd at a waterloo pizza place, the texas governor again told potential supporters he's running to improve the nation's economy. perry, once a front-runner, is currently running fourth in the polls. >> why it's truly an end of an era, morning radio's number one show goes off the air at kggo. >> rick santorum is surging in the polls and this morning he sat down for a private breakfast with what undecided voters. our cameras were the only ones there as they talked poll numbers, the economy and slower days of his campaign. >> this is kcci news channel 58 can the 6:00 in h.d.

we're proud to be iowa's news leader. >> i think every one of these interviews is making it more difficult. >> a few undecided voters, we have been following them for you for weeks, are getting a rare chance to talk one on one with the candidates. this morning they had a private breakfast with candidate rick santorum. >> the same day polls confirm he's making a strong showing in the top tier. emily price continues our exclusive series "dining with the undecideds." >> hello. >> hi, becky. >> very nice to see you. >> much like his week before the caucus surge, rick santorum is right on time, an 8:00 a.m. breakfast at the home of undecided voter becky beach. they're joined by jake the puppy, a couple cameras and our other undecided republican tom. >> look how cute this is. >> with his 20-year-old daughter in toe, he compliments his host and checks out christmas decorations. >> you have another tree?

i'm going to snoop. >> muffins, fruit and coffee await them. table talk starts with a santorum surge. >> congratulations. you're doing awesome. >> our feeling was if we could work hard enough and build up enough support in iowa, just sheer grass root suze port to move us up in the polls as people decide here late, that if we got a little bump in the polls, then that would accelerate because people would say oh, well maybe he can win. >> right. and nothing is better when a plan seems to work out. >> santorum said the plan and polls are contributing to a fund raising week. >> we raised more money yesterday online than we did in our best three days combined. >> it's a far cry from where he was a few months ago. >> there are certain things that stick out. certain events that sort of stick out that it just -- i remember going to algona. we're going across the northern part of the state. we pull in for lunch and we have like 40 box lunches there and

there's like 10 people. >> you're eating a lot. >> we don't have the money to spend on 40 lunches and only 10 people show up. >> let's take the lunches with us. we will eat them over the next few days. we're not wasting anything. >> he wants becky, tom and all undecided voters to know he's a fiscal conservative who will bring his pen question-pinching ways to the white house. the conversation touches on everything economy from manufacturing -- >> i call our plan the made in the u.s.a. plan. >> to the deficit. >> i don't think we're going to ever solve the deficit problem if this country unless we solve the health care problem in this country. >> 90 minutes pass and no one takes a single bite. dining with the undecideds turned into a long talk among new friends. >> thank you for coming. i really appreciate it. good luck to you. >> my pleasure. >> in the process of getting to know all of these candidates individually, they become much more real, much more -- the decision becomes much more personal. >> oh, i was very impressed with senator santorum. >> he spent a lot of time.

>> he did. he was here an hour and a half. very genuine. very sincere. i really enjoyed him. >> emily price, kcci news channel 8, iowa's news leader. >> santorum is someone the two undecided republicans are strongly considering. but they're keeping an open mind until they meet all of the candidates. there's more to come in this exclusive series. look for more of emily's reports throughout the weekend. >> now, a look at the impact of iowa's caucuses on the des moines economy. >> we are south of downtown des moines at the location of cream cupcake. it's a bakery. we are joined by its owner christina and not only does she serve as the owner of the business, she's also the president of downtown des moines's chamber. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> tell us a little bit about small business and how they benefit from the caucuses coming to town every four years. >> i think the best thing about the caucus for us is that january is normally our slowest season.

and as soon as christmas is over, people set new year's resolutions, they spent all of their money. it's normally cold in des moines. people don't want to go oufment with the caucuses coming to town, people are out. spirits are up. people are out enjoying each other. what that means for businesses is more people in our door. >> cupcakes is your trade. how much more business has your shop seen since the caucuses? >> we have seen an influx. we have been very fortunate to have several of the candidates come -- not just themselves but people come through the doors. people are always celebrating birthdays or they had a rise in the poll and want to celebrate with cupcakes. so they come through to pick up. also, we will be doing a big event january 3rd with google for the media to have a location to stop in, pick up a cupcake and celebrate the caucus. >> you have a few employees here at your shop today. tell us a little bit about small business in des moines has faired because of the economy. >> absolutely. small businesses like myself are the ones hiring so we're the

ones that are creating jobs. so i'm able to keep my employees busy throughout the season because of the caucus. >> tell us a little bit then as the president of the chamber, what has it been like for the other businesses? have you seen people leave des moines? seen people transition to new businesses? tell us a little bit about that? >> we have seen a lot of people actually starting businesses and not necessarily because of the layoffs but because of the timing. people are just wanting to try something new. they're wanting to come back to des moines. and this is the perfect time to do it. if we're in a recession, you're only going to go up and not down. we see people stepping out, putting faith and wanting to do what they're good at. >> that's a bit of your story personally. tell us how you started this business. >> it is. my story personally is i had a great corporate job, absolutely. still work with my company. love them. had a passion for baking. and the timing for me is that i wanted to make a leap of faith in january when i knew it would be slow.

and i could actually learn and not just kind of jump into really busy season. but i just wanted to do what i love to do. it's been the best decision i have ever made. >> because des moines becomes a political hot spot every four years, but as a small business owner, how do you look at the caucuses from a business person's perspective? >> for us, you know, we have been renting out, talking about the caucuses since august. what we're going to do and how we're going to welcome the people to des moines, not only from my business but as a chamber. what we want to send out, how we help people get around downtown and know about downtown so we revamped the website for the chamber, making sure all of our businesses are up to date. also i added staff in october knowing the caucuses were coming also for the holiday season. and we just plan to continue to grow. hopefully this puts a hot spot for des moines. >> 30 seconds, what's your best-selling cup came? >> ravishing red rell vet, southern traditional red velvet

case. >> christina moffett, president of the cream cupcake and president of the des moines downtown chamber. thank you very much. >> on c-span tomorrow, live coverage of republican presidential candidates in iowa starting with rick perry in ft. dodge at 11:30 a.m. eastern. later, ann romney, wife of mitt romney, at a coffee house discussion at 1:15 p.m. eastern. followed by rick santorum at 6:00 p.m. eastern. both of those ee -- events are in iowa. watch love coverage here on c-span. coming up next -- our c-span series "the contenders." on people who have run for president and lost but changed political history. tonight, the campaign of george wallace. our road to the white house coverage in iowa continues with republican presidential candidate rick santorum at a town hall meeting in marshall

town. later mitt romney at a campaign rally for supporters at a local grocery store in des moines. >> and now i look at the life of george wallace. >> good evening, and welcome to "the contenders." we come to you live from the governor's mansion in montgomery, alabama, as we look at the life and times of the presidential political candidate george wallace. elected governor of alabama four times, george wallace lived here for 20% of his life. before we begin our conversation on george wallace and his legacy and introduce you to our guest, here is a look at his political style. >> if you cannot distinguish at harvard between honest dissent and an overt act of treason, you should come down to alabama

and we will show you some law down there. >> both national parties in the last number of years have about down to every group of anarchists that have roamed the streets of san francisco and los angeles. [applause] now they have created themselves a frankenstein's monster and the chickens are coming home to roost all over this country. >> i love you, too. i sure do. [laughter] i thought you were a she. you are a he. oh, my goodness. >> in california, a group of anarchists laid down in front of his automobile. threatened his personal safety, the president of the united states. if you elect me president, if i come to california, or if i come to arkansas, and some of them lie down in front of my automobile, it will be the last one they ever lie down in front of.

>> we are joined here in the governor's mansion in montgomery, alabama -- two miles south of downtown montgomery. dan carter, biographer of "george wallace -- the politics of rage." dr. carter, you describe george wallace as the most influential loser of the 20th-century. what do you mean by that? >> in the 20th century with the rise of conservativism, and i cannot think of anyone more than influential, not so much in creating ideas, but in showing there was a tremendous amount of support in the country for what was at that time the new conservatism that ultimately evolved. >> what is the new conservatism? >> it metamorphized over the years, but in the early stages it was very closely went with

the activism of the federal government and, particularly, the flashpoint of the civil rights movement. that is where george wallace got his start, but it was something that was far broader than simply what was happening in the south. >> george wallace was first elected governor of alabama in 1962. where did he come from? >> barbour county, one of the most politically active counties and areas of alabama. as somebody said, there was not much to do except get involved in politics, so that is what george wallace did. he turned out to be very good at it. coming back after world war ii having served as an engineer, b-29 engineer, flying in the pacific, he ran for the state legislature, easily won. he was an up-and-coming figure. he then was elected judge. he was so popular he decided to run for governor in 1958.

the problem was he ran as a moderate. >> what is a moderate in alabama? >> a moderate in alabama in 1958 was someone who emphasized law and order. certainly governor wallace was a segregationist just as much as his opponent, john patterson. there were nuances you had to listen for. when judge wallace, as he was then, emphasized that he was going to uphold the law and criticized his opponent for having the backing of the ku klux klan, that was a way of saying to voters i am a segregationist, but i am a rational segregationist. i am not going up in violence. he lost in the primary, and that was tantamount to being elected. john patterson ran, as he himself said later on, as a

stronger segregationist candidate. that is why wallace lost. at that point, i think he faced a critical kind of crossroads in his career. there was no place for him to go except to tap into the rising tide of anti-government conservatism, which was at that time built around the civil rights movement. then he is elected easily in 1962. >> what did he change? >> he became a much stronger proponent of segregation and essentially -- later on we associate him with a standing in the schoolhouse door. "i will stand in the schoolhouse door to prevent segregation." that is what he did, although he had to back out of the door pretty quickly. >> he ran for president in 1964. after two years as governor of alabama.

when he ran the democratic primary, lyndon johnson had become president after the assassination of john kennedy. johnson insisted he was too busy, so he did not actually run as a candidate. he had a series of surrogates in the democratic primaries. >> when wallace announced that he was going to run for the democratic primary, nobody paid any attention to him. he got about two paragraphs in the "new york times." when he went to a northern state in 1964, the governor predicted he would not get 1% of the vote. he got 33% of the vote. it stunned everyone i think it was at that moment that pundits, political observers realised that the separation in the south, was going on in the south was not just southern. clearly there was a constituency for someone like wallace.

>> george wallace ran for president in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976. in 1968 he won five states and 46 electoral votes. that is the last time an independent candidate has won any electoral votes. here is george wallace announcing in 1968. >> over the past year i have repeatedly stated that one of the existing political parties must offer the people of this country a real choice in 1968, or that i would lead a political effort that would offer this choice. i have travelled throughout our country in the past year, literally from concord, new hampshire to los angeles, california, to miami, florida. the american people are hungry for a change in the direction of our national government. they are concerned and disturbed about the trends being followed by our national leadership. there has been no response by

any of the parties the which showed the american people that they are heeding the growing disillusionment that amounts to the one-party system in the united states. no prospective candidate of the two existing parties or anyone in leadership positions have come forward with any indication that there will be any difference in their platforms. no one has suggested that the wishes of the american people will be heard. so, today i state to you that i am a candidate for president of the united states. my wife, the governor of alabama, joins me in this decision. my wife and i, together, in making this announcement are carrying out our commitment the people of alabama made during her campaign in the year 1966. i will run to win. we will, of course, discuss in depth as time goes on the issues and our solutions to problems that face the american

people. >> dan carter, why was george wallace so successful in 1968? >> his campaign was successful for the reasons he was usually successful. he had an almost unnatural ability to size up both the audience he spoke to and public opinion. a couple of pollsters used to say -- i always listened to what governor wallace is going to say because i knew the next time i poll, that is the way it would poll. that may be an exaggeration, but he was certainly aware that in 1964 he may have seemed like a flash in the pan, revolving around the civil rights act of 1964. that was the main issue then. by 1968 you have riots in the cities. you have the anti-war movement. you had a general reaction throughout the country as

americans realized the civil rights movement was not only having an impact in the south, but the passage of the civil rights act in 1965 was to affect the rest of the country as well. everything from housing to jobs. suddenly there is a constituency -- he knew it was out there -- opposed to the activities of the federal government. particularly the role of the courts, the role of the presidency and johnson and the great society. he knew that as an independent candidate he also had the possibility -- and it was a long shot. he did not think he was going to win, secretly. but he knew there was a possibility they could get enough votes as a third-party candidate to throw the election into the house of representatives, something that had not been done over 100 years. >> was that his goal? >> he was running for president. he always thought he was going

to be elected. but he was pretty realistic and realized it was a long shot in 1968. he was also thinking about 1972. even if they did not win in 1968, he saw himself as stronger by 1972. he was not governor at the time in 1968 when he was running. >> his wife, lurleen wallace, had been elected in his place in 1966 because he could not succeed himself at that time. she practically died in office. albert brewer succeeded her and supported him in that campaign. he was not governor, but he did have the support of the state of alabama pretty successfully. >> what was happening in april, 1968 when martin luther king was assassinated? what was george wallace's reaction? what did he do? >> he made perfunctory remarks

about how tragic it was and talked about it a couple of times. he really did not respond publicly very much. he responded earlier much more to the assassination of john kennedy, despite the fact that he always saw kennedy as his foil for standing in the schoolhouse door, trying to keep out black students in 1963. he really respected him. when kennedy was assassinated, it disturbed him deeply, i think, in part because he realizes that the assassination of a public figure like kennedy could happen to him as well. >> you have a picture in your book of president kennedy touring alabama in 1963. not a picture that jfk wanted to have published.

>> he made every effort to make sure he was not photographed side-by-side with george wallace. for him it was politics. he may have not liked wallace. in some ways, his brother in particular admired his political skills. he did not like him, but he realized that politically this was not going to do him any good to have this picture next to governor wallace. >> there is the picture. you could see it was taken by a a long lens. jfk getting off the helicopter and greeting governor wallace. what was his reaction in june 1968 when rfk was shot? >> he really did not like robert kennedy. they had had a number of disagreements. they had met at some great length in the month preceding the standing in the schoolhouse door. once again, he used it to talk

about the rise of lawlessness in america, but i do not think he was deeply touched by it at all. >> dan carter, in 1968, how serious did president nixon and hubert humphrey take george wallace? >> humphrey worried about him because he saw him as potentially pulling votes. as time went on i think humphrey came to realize that wallace was going to be pulling votes from nixon. he did not worry about him as much. nixon is the one who came to be deeply concerned about him. as the campaign opened, nixon was so far ahead in the polls that it was only by the time you got to late september that he began to realize that humphrey was moving back a little bit, coming up in the

polls, and wallace was pulling 20% of the votes. these were his voters, his political advisers felt. he had to figure out a way to get the support of wallace voters without directly attacking him. >> president nixon won in 1968. 31.7 million votes. 301 electoral votes. hubert humphrey, 31.3 million votes and 191 electoral votes. george wallace received nearly 10 million votes and 46 electoral votes. here is george wallace discussing the 1968 campaign. >> the support we have in at this region of the country gives us an excellent base. it will go forth in the beginning with at least the 177 electoral votes that comprise

the states of the south. when you couple that with just a few other states of the union, then you have enough electoral votes necessary to win the presidency. no new party movement has ever had the grass roots support that our movement has. there are movements that are movements of personalities of some small group representing only a small fraction of the public vote. but our movement does represent in my judgment the majority thinking of the american people at this moment and will represent it november 5. >> we are back live in montgomery, alabama. this is a live picture of the governor's mansion, two miles south of downtown montgomery. dan carper, how is it that george wallace got 10 million

votes and 46 electoral votes? >> all the states he won were in the deep south. to him, that was a disappointment. he had hoped to break into some of the border states. it was close in a number of them -- north carolina and virginia, and particularly tennessee. he was within striking distance. although he was disappointed, it was an extraordinary showing. no political third-party candidate since strom thurmond in 1948 had even carried enough votes in a state to take the electoral vote. he saw it as a strategy that did not succeed, but one that was sound, i think, in 1968. >> we want to get you involved in this program on "the contenders." this week, a legacy of george wallace.

we will get to those calls in just a minute. last week on "the contenders" we talked about hubert humphrey and so much of the discussion was about the vietnam war. can you talk about george wallace without talking about segregation or civil rights? >> he was the first candidate, the first person, i should say, to testify in favor of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing school prayer against the supreme court decision. he talked an awful lot about pornography and the dangers of pornography. but it was a mixed -- you have to remember, this was the 1960's and 1970's. for example, he supported roe

v. wade. he came out in favor of the equal rights amendment when it was first proposed. at this time, yes, there were these social issues, but they did not have that hard edge there were later to have in the 1980's and 1990's. the vietnam one was particular interesting because most conservatives the position that barry goldwater did, the position of victory at any cost. george wallace sensed the people were very ambivalent about that war. he wanted to be up against the hard-liners. he did it by coming up with this formulation. he would go in, win at any cost, or we pull out. that way he sort of had both sides. >> what was he known for as governor of alabama? he was elected four times. >> the support came from the race issue, there is no

question about it. alabamians and many white southerners felt besieged. here you had someone -- governor wallace was their champion. they saw him as the kind of person who would speak up on their behalf, not apologetically, but very forcefully. i think that was part of it. the other part was -- you have to remember, george wallace came out of the 1930's as a franklin roosevelt liberal. he was very liberal in the state legislature. he did have a program, which was often abused, but it was a program which emphasized increases in education, the establishment of community colleges around the state that would be accessible to individuals who cannot afford to go to the university of alabama, but they could attend the community college for a couple of years, maybe get a tech degree or whatever.

education was a big part of it. but i think the underlying force of this passion for governor wallace was, at least in the 1960's, was the race issue. >> our first call on george wallace comes from michigan. you are on the contenders. we are live from montgomery alabama. >> thank you very much. what appeal did governor wallace have to white ethnic and religious groups like jews, italians, irish, etc., outside of the south and the urban areas? also, what did he take from senator goldwater? senator goldwater was also against the civil rights stuff. thank you very much. >> he did have a remarkable appeal to ethnic, particularly first generation, eastern europeans.

he did not have the baggage of being anti-semitic and of being anti-foreign. what he found was, particularly in many urban areas of the north, was he found that the very prosperity of the 1950's and 1960's had created tension between blacks and ethnics in the working-class communities in which african-americans were finally getting jobs, finally getting housing. they're often moving in and conflicting directly with these working-class ethnic neighborhoods. >> dan carter, so much was going on in civil rights in alabama during his first tenure as governor in 1963-1967, including the bombing of the church in birmingham and the killing of the four young girls. what was his reaction to that? >> that was one of the most difficult moments, i think, for him at the time.

i do not doubt one moment that he was genuinely horrified, particularly when it happened. he told al lingo, the head of the state police, do what you have to do to find out who did this. it changed, i think partly because governor wallace reacted as he often did when he felt under attack, and that was to fight back. i think after a few weeks although he continued to insist he was trying to get to the bottom of this, he privately claimed to many individuals that maybe blacks had set these bombs or communist had set these bombs. it showed how difficult it was, i think, for him to have to deal with it, but it was not his finest hour. >> what was his relationship with bull connor? >> an ambivalent one.

connor was a loose cannon. he certainly found bull connor a useful ally during the heights of the civil-rights movement and birmingham demonstrations. he never made any real effort to rein connor in. >> george wallace served as governor of alabama from 1963- 1967 and again from 1969-1971. his final term was 1983, 1989. he died when he was 79 years old. he lived in this mansion behind us for 20% of his life. the next call comes from san diego. >> good evening.

i wanted to know what kind of relationship did governor wallace have with lyndon johnson? apparently lyndon johnson was known to persuade people. when did george wallace finally abandon his philosophy of segregation? thank you. >> lyndon johnson -- the most famous moment between lyndon johnson and wallace came in the midst of the selma crisis in which president johnson brought him to washington, or actually, governor wallace volunteered to meet with him where he got the full treatment from lyndon johnson. he was pretty intimidated by the whole process, but he was not alone in that respect. lyndon johnson intimidated everyone. that was, of course, in the early 1960's. the last hurrah for the kind of

racial campaign came in 1970 against albert brewer, who had been one of his proteges. he replaced his wife as governor. in the wake of that campaign, it was a pretty all out use of the race issue, attacks that brewer was a candidate of blacks. in the aftermath of that, politically, he said to many of his aides that this was the last campaign he would be able to run like this. the public mood of voters was changing and black voters were fully enfranchised at that moment. when he emotionally changed -- that, i think, really comes later on. >> as we discussed with dan carter a little earlier, george kellner was governor in 1968 and lost in 1962. here is a bit from the speeches in 1968 and 1962. >> if i did not have what it took to treat a man there --

fair regardless of his color, then i do not have what it takes to be governor of this great state. today, i have stood where once jefferson davis stood and took an oath to my people. it is very appropriate that from the cradle of the confederacy, this very heart of the great anglo-saxon southland, that today we sound the drums of freedom as the generations before us have done time and again. let us rise to the cause of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer in the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth. i draw a line in the dust and i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.

[applause] >> dan carper, the power of those words from 1963. >> pretty amazing. it really got him the first serious national attention. his aides worked very hard to make sure all the networks were there. it was the first stage in think took him out of a position of being a narrow, parochial, southern politician and put him on the national stage. that speech was written by asa carter, one of his unofficial aids who had been a klansman and became the writer of a number of best-selling novels under the name forrest carter.

people to gather ideas from a lot of other people. it caught people's attention. >> danny in mississippi, you are on "the contenders." please go ahead with your question or comment. >> thank you. my question is as far-fetched as it might seem, but what if george wallace would have been elected president? i know there would have been compromise on both sides, but you think he would have been a good president? would the people have supported him? i will hang up and listen to what you gentlemen say. >> the only time that he even, i think, stood a chance of being elected was not in 1968, being elected was not in 1968, but