another would phase in regulatory requirements for companies that go public. live coverage of the house is on c-span. the senate will continue working on the transportation bill. they will hold a procedural vote tomorrow at noon eastern. live coverage of the companion . on the road to the white house, tomorrow is super tuesday. 419 delegates are at stake. caucuses in alaska, idaho, and north dakota. ahead of super tuesday, rick santorum will be holding a campaign rally at falls river square in ohio. we will have live coverage of his remarks at 6:30 eastern on our companion network, c-span2. yesterday, the former pennsylvania senator was campaigning in oklahoma city. he talked about his energy and manufacturing plants to

revitalize rural communities and the health-care law. this event is about 40 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. we love you back, thank you so much. it is great to be here in oklahoma. we will have a big win on tuesday. it is great to be back here. this is our second trip through oklahoma. we have some audience participation going on, ok. great. i want to thank you all for coming out here again. thank you. >> [chanting "we pick rick!"]

>> thank you so much. ladies and gentlemen -- ladies and gentlemen, people are allowed to protest. we respect their opinion. we just happen to believe that folks who are at public rallies should let both sides be heard. [applause] they are welcome to their opinion. there are welcome to their own demonstration.

let me ask you, do we want to stand up for civility in politics? do we want to stand up for respect and decency for everybody in america? we hear the word tolerance all the time from the left. the intolerance, the intolerance of people who do not want to hear from the other side. they would rather try to have their opinions be shouted out over others. we are here to talk to you about what is important to our country. what is important to our country is to try to get this economy back on the right track. trying to stand up to the radical forces and who have been in charge in washington for the last 3.5 years. [applause]

we need to make sure we have leaders who can stand up to bullies, not just here in this country, but around the world. we need a president who does not apologize to anybody anywhere in this world for the united states. ladies and gentlemen, we are at a critical time in history. you see how this country has been divided by a president who simply wants to pit one side against the other. trying to rally forces of folks who do not believe in the founding principles of our country. who do not believe that this country is a great country. it was built on a foundation in the declaration of independence. we hold these truths to be self- evident. all men are created equal. it is interesting.

when you hear folks call for equality, they call for equality. let me ask, do you see equality in the islamic world for women? the answer is no. where you see real tolerance is in a place that is founded in the judeo-christian principles as this country was founded upon. [applause] where do you think the notion of equality comes from? it comes from the idea that we are created equal.

right? if you have a humanistic point of view, not one that is based on a country that has god-given rights, what you have is the reality that he is not equal to her and she is not equal to him. no two people in america are equal objectively. we are equal, not because we have the same strength, the same intellect, we are equal because we are seen equal in the eyes of god. [applause] when god gives us rights, as recognized in our declaration, he also gives us responsibility. right? we hold these truths to be self- evident.

the idea that our country was founded on this principle of limited government to protect the rights of individuals, to form families and communities, to build a great society from the bottom up. [applause] america was built as a great country not from a bunch of folks trying to impose their values. imposing on people of faith, imposing on people with their economic freedom. no. we are a country that believes in the greatness of america. it is not on an oppressive government.

the greatness of america. it comes from a free people and free-market and free enterprise. [applause] >> [chanting "we pick rick!"] >> thank you. we need a leader that will go out and make the big changes. this is what this race is all about. this is why oklahoma is so important. to send a clear message as to who the strong conservative is. to go up against barack obama. [applause] that strong conservative has to have a vision for america. has to have a positive, uniting vision.

it takes on folks like wall street, right? who stood up and said, when things got tough, and when folks said the climate is changing, and everybody was saying, man-made global warming. different sectors of our economy to make sure we do not have too much co2. co2, according to this administration, is a toxin. go tell that to a plant. [applause] when all of the winds were changing and everybody was running and sitting on couches and passing carbon caps in massachusetts, i did not go with the climate change. it is not climate science, it was political science. i said no.

[applause] when the greatest threats of all hit this country a couple of years ago, when this administration and shoved down the throats of the american people obamacare, i was out there saying no. i have been out there for 20 years. 20 years standing up for free market health care. anybody ever hear of health savings accounts? i was the first member of congress to introduce a health savings accounts 20 years ago. i believed, even at that time, in free markets. i believed in 300 million consumers being able to lower

health-care costs, efficiently allocate resources, be able to get the best quality of care. not from having the government run health care systems. doing as the country has for over two centuries. trust in the american people with freedom. giving them the responsibility to take care of their own health instead of this president, he does not believe you are capable. he believes that he has to tell you what insurance policy you will have, how much you will pay for it, which doctors and hospitals you can see. folks, we need a president, but we need a candidate first for

president who can go up against president obama with a clear contract on the biggest issues of the day. on the issue of health care. why, on the most important issue, the issue of freedom. margaret thatcher said she was never able to change england like reagan changed america. she said it was the british public's addiction to the british national health care system, that dependency that comes with having government provide everybody their health, and the tribute you have to pay to the government as a result. that is the most important issue facing this country. it will crush the very spirit of america. we have to have someone who can say, your policies are wrong. not because they're on the federal level. governor romney advocated to president obama the federal government adopt massachusetts romney-care.

that is bad enough. he has gone out during the time obamacare was being proposed, and he encouraged president obama to adopt an individual mandate, to adopt romney-care for the model on the federal level. throughout the course of this campaign, he has maintained that he did not do that. there is one thing to make a mistake. there is another thing to go out and deliberately misrepresent to the people of this country what your position is. i can tell you, we need someone who the american public can trust. i will go out there and tell you what i believe all the time. [applause] we need a president who

understands what is going to get this economy going and put forth a bold economic plan. the "wall street journal" compared our economic plan with mitt romney's. they called it supply-side economics for the working man. we take the existing tax code and we throw the existing tax code out. we take the tax rate and we reduce it to 28%. we get rid of the tax code and replace it with five simple deductions. children, charities, pensions, health care, and housing. to help people, to raise a family with basic support from the federal government for the tax code. that is what we do. simplicity, low rates. there is a reason -- there are

many reasons why we need to do that. it will stimulate growth and opportunity. unlike the other people in this race, i do my own taxes. i want a simpler tax code. [applause] we have an opportunity to tell the business community that we will make this country competitive again for businesses to start and grow. the corporate tax rate, which is now 35%, the highest in the world, the highest tax rate in the world. what we do with our tax plan is take that corporate rate of 35% and cut in half to 17.5%.

here is the cool thing. thank you. >> we pick rick! >> the corporate tax rate is cut in half and we simplify it. no loopholes, no deductions, no credits. small business pays the same as the large business. 17.5%. if you go to most small towns in america, most of those small towns came about because there was a manufacturing or processing plant there.

as a result, little towns grew up. little towns all across america, they created opportunities for people to live. the small town values that came as a result of that. what you are seeing in america is a lot of those small towns are getting smaller and smaller. the people are forced to come to the bigger cities for the opportunities to be able to make ends meet. most of the population loss in this country is in small towns. that is, in fact, if you look at the map of the united states, looking for the values are better reflect the values of our founders, it is in those very communities. here we are as the republican party and as conservatives, we have not talked to those people in those communities about what we can do to help revitalize

their neighborhoods. there are two big things we can do. manufacturing and resources, particularly energy. [applause] we have a federal government doing more to destroy the energy sector of our economy, the resource sector of our economy, than any president in history. his epa is a job crushing, small town killing agency with a bunch of people in washington, d.c., who think they care more about their community than you do. let me assure you, they do not. we need an energy plan and a manufacturing plant that will

revitalize small town america. give it the opportunity to grow. i take the tax on manufacturers from 35% to zero. we want those jobs back in america. [applause] if you happen to have moved your production offshore, and you made some money, we understand a lot of businesses had to do that in order to survive. we became uncompetitive. the average manufacturer pays 20% more in costs, excluding labor costs, to do business here than in our top nine trading partners around the world. a lot of those businesses moved. now we are eliminating the cost differential under our plan. what we want to do is create a further incentive for them to come back. if you bring the money back,

you have to pay a 35% tax. you bring that money back, you invested and you pay zero attacks. we want that money back. we want that money invested in jobs in america. on the energy front, it is simple. we will have a president who understands the word yes to opening up the drilling offshore, drilling in the water, drilling on federal land, yes to the keystone pipeline. we have tremendous resources in this country. we have the saudi arabia of coal. we have over 150 years left of oil in this country. we're finding new ways to

extract oil every day. this is an opportunity for us to use our technology to affordably get that energy from the ground. the president looks at that energy buried in the ground and sees it as a liability. i see it as an asset. i see it as a job creator. it is increasing our standard of living and reducing our dependency on foreign oil. [applause] we need someone with a bold economic plan, not just to get the economy growing, but understands that this economy will not grow it if businesses and investors around the world look at america and our credit rating getting downgraded and sees america on the brink of bankruptcy. we need someone who has the track record of being successful and making big changes in washington.

someone who did not put forth a big entitlement program, but someone who has a track record of taking on the biggest problems that confront this country. let me tell you what the biggest problem is. the problem facing the federal budget and the deficit, you would think and listening to president obama, is our defense department has grown too big. it is the only place where the president has proposed major cuts. he has cut half a trillion dollars from the defense budget. now he wants to cut another half a trillion. you would think that must be the fastest-growing, biggest area of the budget since the president has such a keen eye focused on defense.

when i was born, defense spending was 60% of the federal budget. today, it is not 60 anymore. it is not 50, 40, 30, 20. it is 17% of the budget. that is the area the president says needs to be cut some more. somebody needs to do some remedial math teaching in the white house. [applause] the area of the budget, when i was born, called entitlements was less than 10%. it is not 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50. it is 60% of the budget. with the president and obamacare, it will grow to 70% of the budget. it is going to explode and

create an entire federal government that will be just a great redistributor of wealth. it will take from some and give to others. we need to take those entitlement programs and repeal obamacare. [applause] i keep going back to obamacare, the central issue in this race because it is about economic freedom. it is about freedom of religion. it is about an exploding and expanding federal government. an exploding deficit. it is one of the principal reasons our economy is not growing today because of the uncertainty of the businesses will have to deal with in the future. why would republicans nominate someone who gives that issue away in the general election?

the exact same place as barack obama. [applause] i am for repealing obamacare. the people of america are going to believe me because i have never been for anything like obamacare. that is the key. secondly, we have to look at all of these entitlement programs. medicaid, food stamps, food stamps at the highest level ever in this country. when i was in the united states senate, we had another program and that was aid to families with dependent children -- welfare. there were many of us who said we want to reform welfare. we want to end welfare as we know what. we want to take that program and give it back to the states. we want to put a time limit on welfare and a work requirement.

[applause] everybody said it could not be done. we had a democratic president, bill clinton, but i went out to the american people and made the case to break this cycle of dependency. to create hope and opportunity. to believe in the dignity of every human person. [applause] even though president clinton vetoed it twice. we do not need someone to manage washington.

we need someone to motivate the american people to go to washington and change washington. we need to do with all these entitlement programs what we did with welfare. even though we are in the fourth year of recession, we cut the welfare by more than half and people went to work. they did not stand in the bread lines. they went to work. they change the attitudes and their families. we did the same thing, put time limits on food stamps, work requirement on medicaid. dependency is not a way of life. we believe in you to take care of yourself and your family. [applause]

of course, we will never turn this country around unless we understand what built this country in the first place. if you look at the founding principles of our country and how this country was built, it was not built by having an all- powerful government and designing things out of washington, d.c. america was built one family, one school, one church, one business, one local library at a time. communitiesgreat that built a great country. that is the way america works best. when you are in trouble, you have a mom and dad that are there to help. if it is too much for them, you have neighbors.

you have the folks at the church. or at the school. or at your place of employment. there are a lot of people out there in america today that are alone. they're out there in a river with a lot of rapids and there's nobody around to help them. so they reach for what is there and that is the government. the more people out there paddling along, the more government is going to get bigger and bigger. when you see, for example, that 40% of the children are born out of wedlock. many of them to teenage moms. when you see large percentages of people not graduating from high school. brookings institute, a liberal think tank, did a study three years ago. in that study, they wanted to analyze what caused poverty in america.

here is what they found out. this is a liberal think tank. they said if you did three things, you were almost guaranteed never to be in poverty. what are those things? work. this was a liberal think tank. ok? to get the liberals to see work is a requirement is a good thing. so let's applaud them. [applause] graduate from high school. number three, get married before you have children. [applause]

if you do those three things in america, the chances you'll ever be in poverty in your lifetime is 2%. 2%. if you do those three things, the chances you'll ever be in the top half of income earners in this country, 77% chance. if you fail to do just one of those things, the chances are that you'll be in poverty is 74%. the chance you'll ever in your life be a top half of income earners, 4%.

we know what works in america. you have politicians going around saying that marriage does not matter. we do not need to encourage moms and dads to stay together. this program that was not put in place by the obama administration and has been underfunded. they came out with new regulations at the end of last year. no longer can you teach abstinence as a preferable way of not having children out of wedlock. you can teach marriage, but you cannot hold it up and single it out as the only alternative.

we are deliberately telling our children to do things that we know are unhealthy for them to do. why would a government do that? why would a government not look and say, if you do those three things, why don't we talk to people about that? we will talk to them about what type of sugared soda you have in a vending machine, but we will not talk to them about things that will save their lives. folks -- [applause] we need to have a president who is going to get up and paint that positive vision for our country, who will not be intimidated by the liberal media to just go around and say politically correct things.

but will stand up and speak the truth. and talk about the limited role that government should have. [applause] thank you. since i am talking about family, let me introduce my family. let me introduce to came on stage with me. first is my wife karen. [applause] karen and i have been married 21 years. we have seven children. three of those children are here with us today. john, daniel, and sarah maria. people ask me why we are doing this.

we have children ages 20 to 3.5. think about all the other people who have stepped forward, defending our freedom is all over the world. this is the least we could do when our country is in a perilous state. it is in a state of great opportunity. this election has to mean something.

it cannot just be an election between tweedle dum and tweedle dee. it has to be an election where there are choices for the american public. if we want to make a big things happen, we want to reduce and balance the budget, we have a plan that cuts $5 trillion over five years and balances the budget in five years. we will spend less money next year than we did the year before. [applause] we need someone who is going to shake things up. someone who does not have billionaires running negative ads. in the general election, whoever the republican nominee is, it is not going to be able to outspend barack obama.

they will have to win this election being outspent. governor romney has never won a state in this country where he was outspent. think about the fact that every state he has won, he has outspent his opponent four to one. what does that tell you about the ability to rally the people of america for the big change we need? you have an opportunity in oklahoma to sound a very clear bell to conservatives. you are the conservative lone star. you could send a very strong message in the state as to what

oklahoma -- [applause] you go out and give us a win. i guarantee you, we will go on past super tuesday. we will go to alabama and mississippi. this race will turn around and we will be the nominee. thank you. god bless you. god bless america. [applause] >> we pick rick! [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪

>> rick santorum is campaigning in ohio today. we will have live coverage. that will be at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span2. there are 419 delegates at stake. primaries and oklahoma, tennessee, georgia, and massachusetts. we will have live results coverage tonight on the c-span networks. here in washington, the american israel public affairs committee continues its coffers of the nation's capital. we'll have live coverage tonight with senator mitch mcconnell, nancy pelosi, and the prime minister. that is at 9:30 eastern on c- span2.

the movie about -- the movie, "game change," will premiere on hbo. the book title this "game change -- obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, and the race of a lifetime." this is a view lasts about an hour. >> we cannot win without our base. it may be the right thing to do, but the wrong thing to win. >> who do we have? romney, paul monti, -- pawlenty, who can we win with? >> none of them. >> we need a game changing. none of these middle age white guys are game changes. >> from the new hbo movie, based on the book "game change."

-- "game change -- obama and the clintons, mccain and palin, and the race of a lifetime." inside the book, they said the plan was always for mccain to shock the world with his vice- presidential pick. his core conviction was that his vice president choice had to be a game changer. joining us from new york, thank you very much for being with us here on c-span. >> great to be with you. >> mark halperin, let me begin with you. why, four years later, are people still talking about the campaign and your book turn into a can -- turned into an hbo film? >> several reasons. the main reason, the life -- the race of a lifetime. you have lots of bigger-than- life candidates. the kind of plot twists and turns that if you brought to hollywood with fiction, they would throw you out that it is too impossible. i could list them off, but the

inflection of sarah palin. the story of john mccain's collapse and the comeback. john and elizabeth edwards and their extraordinary role only revealed far after the fact it was going on in their lives as he was running for president to make a strong plea for president to be the democratic nominee. >> this new hbo film will again caused people to be talking about the race four years ago. >> we have been thrilled to work with hbo on this. they have an incredibly high standard they bring to all the work they do, whether it is episodic tv or these movies that they make. we are honored and gratified when they bought the option to do the book. we knew there was going to up to be some choices made. it is a big book -- 500 pages. it is a big campaign. if you did not want to do a miniseries, you'd have to take a story line. jay roach, the director, there

were very attracted to the sarah palin story. it is about this woman who, for most of her political career, a small-town mayor. and then she was snatched out of obscurity and put on a republican ticket. shed the brightest spot like you could imagine. what that was like for her on a human level. the kind of decisions that went into making that choice and what the ramifications were. jay body could sell a lot about what it is like to be a politician in the celebrity culture you live and and also with the mechanics of how these things go on in the back room. when there were seizing on that story, we said, yes, that sounds great. they have done an incredible job doing performances in the movie as everyone is going to see.

we could not be happier. >> we are going to dig into some of the substance of the book. mark halperin, let me ask you, how they deal for the campaign -- for the book came about, when the two of you decided to collaborate and the lessons from the two dozen aid to the current campaign? >> we were coming back from the annapolis with senator mccain. this was a pretty good idea about what senator mccain should do it this time after he won the republican nomination -- mike huckabee and mitt romney getting out of the race. hillary clinton and barack obama were still very much contending in the spring of 2008 for the democratic nomination. he lived in the united states and try to research it some sort of theme. the execution was pretty bad. he spoke to the naval academy on

an incredibly when the day. it was not the best executed event. when we got back, we were doing something with c-span that day. we parked in front of c-span and you're loyal viewers will be delighted today -- to hear that "game change" was born on at north capitol street in front of c-span as we sat and talked. what we said to ourselves was not about a book, it was about a movie. you look at the characters here, and how cinematic this whole thing has been, and again, this is in the spring. well before sarah palin and the financial crisis. we talk about the various ways of trying to do the story of the campaign. whether it is a great one for a last one. i thought, maybe i can get a book contract out of this.

how we published a political book in a climate where there is some of news. we were covering it every day and there was some we did not know. we did not know the answers to some basic questions. what role did bill clinton play in hillary clinton's campaign? how did barack obama decide he could run? lots of questions like that that we did not know the answer to. we went back and said what if we went back and try to figure out what actually happened? before to the long, we took in the original conversation. -- before too long, we took in the original conversation. there is no reason to tamper with a formula that readers came to light and we think it is a great way to tell the story of a campaign that people are focused on. again, tried to go back and tell

the story to the eyes of the people involved in a way that is impossible to do in daily, weekly, or even monthly journals. >> we have gone back through your book and slept a couple of quotes and moments that may be best reflect what happened. let's begin with the announcement that then-senator barack obama -- you write that colin powell had questions for senator barack obama, but the main one was, why now? >> for the past six years, we have been told that we do not matter. we have been told that the anxiety americans feel about rising health care costs do not matter -- are an illusion. we've been told that climate change is a hoax. we have been told that an ill- conceived war -- and when all

else fails, katrina happened. the death toll in iraq mounts. we are distracted from our real failure. as people have looked away from this frustration, the cynics, the lobbyists, the special interests who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. they write the checks and you get stuck with the bill. they get the access while you get to write a letter. they think they own this government, but we are here today to take it back. [applause] the time for that kind of politics is over. it is through. it is time to turn the page, right here, right now. [applause] >> as you indicated in the

book, it is not a foregone conclusion that barack obama would run in 2008. >> not at all. he was inclined not to run in 2008. certainly his wife was very much against the idea at first. the think you read their from his conversation with colin powell, that theme, the notion that this could be his time to run, that there is a right time for a candidate, was something that was really influential to barack obama. he was hearing it from a lot of people. the conventional thinking about running for president would be, look, you've only been in the senate for a couple of years. the job have enough on your resonate. the to review -- you need to wait your turn and get more experience. what he was hearing from senior democrats and all the others, that in the new era, that might not be true. if you stuck around the senate

for a long time, you kind of waved down all of the votes and with all the positions you had to take on controversial matters. he was a fresh face and the country was sick of the clintons and sick of the bushes. they wanted to see something new. for that reason, coming out of that and coming out of the 2006 election where he had raised an incredible amount of money and then a superstar in the fund- raising circuit for democrats run the country, that he had a magic thing. he had a genie in a bottle. it would be foolish for him not to recognize that so much in politics is timing. in the end, more than anything, there were a lot of factors that went into his thinking. that notion that if he did not go in 2008, he might not ever get a better opportunity. >> yet, during the spring and summer and early fall, he was lacking in many of the polls. many expected that hillary

clinton, at that point, was the clear front runner. and then there was this moment that you outlined the book. the plan was now set, and the following months, senator obama would be appearing with all the candidates in des moines, iowa. that would be the perfect place for the new strategy. >> we have a chance to bring the country together with a new majority. to finally tackle problems that george bush made far worse but that had festered long before george bush ever took office. problems that we talked about year after year after year after year. and that is why the same old washington textbook campaigns just will not do in this election. [applause]

but that is why not answering questions, because we are afraid our answers will not be popular, just will not do. [applause] that is why telling the american people what we think they want to hear instead of telling the american people what they need to hear just will not do. [applause] triangulating and pole-a german positions because we are worried -- pole-driven positions because we are worried about what will be said about us just won't do. [applause] if we are really serious about winning this election, democrats, then we cannot live in fear of losing.

this party, the party of jefferson and jackson, of roosevelt and kennedy, has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the american people when we let not by polls, but by principle. but by calculation. but by conviction. when we summit of the entire nation to a higher purpose. and i'd run for the presidency of the united states of america because that is the party that america needs us to be right now. [applause] >> from november of 2007, this was a turning point for this democratic race, why? >> well, because up until that point, although barack obama had gotten into the race in february

with a lot of excitement, he had not been that great of a candidate. he had not shown he could break away from the pact not just from hillary clinton, but john edwards' as well. at a dinner sponsored by the state party, it was a real showcase and opportunity for a candid it to shine. hillary clinton's speech was really good that night, i thought. but you saw that from some people at that dinner, barack obama's speech was a lot better. it introduced the most prominent way to date this theme that the clinton years had flaws and the democrats should not want to go back to. the same old washington operation personified by the clinton years was something the country did not want and should not turn to. >> i am not sure if you can reveal sources, but how did you go about getting the inside story on that speech on how

barack obama first prepared for it? >> i spoke to a lot of people involved in familiar with what happened. as we did throughout the book, we are very meticulous about talking to people involved. we made sure that we have documentation on hand-written notes, etc., to paint the picture. but in preparation for his speech and how hillary clinton approached the dinner are a pretty interesting tale and a microcosm of how their campaigns operated and how can it its operate in dealing with the clash. >> another turning point, a race in which hillary clinton won nearly. when it was over, hillary marched down a hallway in the backstage, she looked like a quarterback who just completed a

last-second hail mary pass in overtime. >> i come tonight with a very full heart. [applause] i want, especially, to thank new hampshire. over the last week, i listened to you. in the process, i found my own voice. [applause] i felt like we all spoke from our hearts. i am so gratified that you responded. now, together, let's give america the kind of comeback that new hampshire has just given me. [applause]

>> just a little bit of the narrative on that day, that moment, what you were sensing in new hampshire's leading up to her victory and how that also became so important to the obama campaign in 2008. >> well, you remember, after obama had won in iowa, everyone in the national press and early on both campaigns, except for hillary clinton and her husband, they looked at new hampshire as the day that barack obama was going to seal the democratic nomination. he was going to win new hampshire with his momentum. independent voters would vote of there. if that would be big strength for him. the wind was in his back. the polling showed that going into new hampshire, it should have been an easy win for obama. but he decided to campaign in a very different way than he had in iowa. he disconnected from human beings on the ground and voters. she got down, closer to the voters. you remember those couple of moments, one in the debate where

barack obama made the comment about how she was likable enough. and then her incredible moment when she broke down slightly, tiered up, and showed a side of yourself that a lot of democratic voters had been longing to see and have not seen for most of the past year. it was very human, very approachable. one of the things we talked about in the book is how the obama campaign, including hillary herself, in the immediate moment thought it was a disaster. she had shown weakness and that would be the end of her campaign in new hampshire. if the obama campaign looked at and thought, this is a problem, because this is the humanity we have not seen in hillary clinton. they sought immediately something that could change momentum dramatically. and that is what happened. even leading up to the primary vote, most reporters on the ground still thought barack obama would win the primary. people around barack obama but he was going to win.

even people around hillary thought that. off to exception were really bill clinton and hillary clinton. they felt like they could feel something shifting in the electorate. bill clinton knew the politics of new hampshire probably better than anyone on the planet. everywhere he went, he felt like the tide was turning. they were the only ones were not complete surprise when she won that victory and bounced out of new hampshire with one of the most remarkable comebacks anyone has ever seen in presidential politics. people thought -- and it will change shortly -- that clinton is on her way to restoring her rightful place as the front- runner. as you know, things got a lot more complicated after that. >> mitt romney's win in michigan, it is the peril that john mccain faced two months after hillary clinton winning the new hampshire primary.

john mclean clinch the nomination -- john mccain. here's my question in relation to the movie. this was i last minute selection for sarah palin. the nominee was determined late in the summer. >> that goes to the heart of the selection of sarah palin. senator mccain had been around the presidential politics. when through the rituals that the party nominee gets to go through. they went there and begin the process of vetting the backgrounds of potential candidates.

this process was kept relatively confidential in real time. the day we came up for the idea for the book was one john mccain program.imus' that was one of the last times there was a public window into what was going on. they looked into the background of the candidates. some were mentioned in the cl ip you showed at the top. after the did the standard background checks on a number of candidates and considered in a number of others, they let themselves inexcusably with no one they thought would be a good pick and anyone they

thought would be a net plus for them. it was a liberal on most social issues was something they grappled with and they thought was not going to be politically effective. they returned with just a week to go and they squandered many months. they began pretty much from a standing start and with not the kind of due diligence to look at sarah palin's background and to pick her even though there were risks involved. thee're talking with authors of "game change." you write that barack obama wanted to start dealing with the issues he was destined to

confront. >> i have condemned the statements that caused controversy by reverend ri wright. did i know him to be a fierce critic? of course. did i hear make remarks that be considered controversial, yes. did i disagree with many of his political views? absolutely. just as i'm sure you've heard remarks from your pastors or priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagree. the remarks were not simply

controversial. they expressed a distorted view , if you that sees white racism as endemic, that elevates what is wrong with america above all that we know that is right with america. if you did seize the conflicts in the middle east rooted in the conflict of allies like israel. as such, reverend wright's comments were wrong and divisive, at a time when we need unity. anytime when we need to come together to solve the monumental problems. >> that was another defining moment in the race. this was a speech that barack obama had wanted to give for a long time.

>> it was. as he gets closer to being the party's nominee, he knew the question of his race, the first african-american nominee, would be something he would have to deal with. he's a very high-minded guy. i think he thought it was it teachable moment. the explosion by reverend wright -- they felt that because of the delicate map, he was destined to be the democratic nominee. hillary clinton was winning the texas primary. there were states that she would be strong in. there was a chance that if there was a controversy that disqualified obama, that was the

only thing that could knock him off from all tamale gaining the big prize -- from ultimately gaining the big prize. this was the time to do the speech. he was roundly applauded for it. then reverend wright came back on the scene. he did something he hadn't done in the initial speech, to sever ties completely with reverend wright. he did not want to do that. there's a moment where he was standing before the press conference and the goes out and does that and cut reverend wright lose. events it robert gibbs comes in and says, is is how the market sees me -- eventually robert

gibbs comes in. he felt that was the wrong perception. that was part of the motivation. he had to sever ties completely with reverend wright so he could get past that. >> the politics and personalities differed in 201220 we saw in saw-- the politics and personalities differed in 2012 then will we saw in 2008. >> as the countryside, there was an act nature in the battles that made it exciting. what is clear is that both candidates handled it really well, particularly barack obama.

he used a process to build an organization in individual states and around the country to become better as a candidate and to hone his message for the general election. look at the reception that hillary clinton got. she was elevated as well. she is the most respected woman in the country. what is the elongated republican contest, he did not find all those dynamics. i don't think you find improvements in the candidates. i don't think they have been nearly as effective in terms of message and in terms of organization as barack obama and as hillary clinton was quite three years ago -- four years

ago. these candidates in the race now, they have credit factions in the party. he did not find a lot of romney supporters that are enthusiastic about rick santorum. in the case of hillary clinton and barack obama, it was a contentious and the passions were high. once it was clear that barack obama became the nominee, people came on board and the party was energized to win the white house. i didn't see that with the republicans today. this leaves them potentially in much less strong position that barack obama when the emerge from that elongated battle. >> let's go back to the spring of 2008, made in june -- may and

june. >> as we gather here today in this historic, a magnificent building, the 50th will lead to leave this earth is orbiting overhead. if we can blast 50 women into space, will sunday launched a woman into the white house. [cheers] and although we were not able to shatter that glass season -- ceiling, it has about 80 million cracks in that -- 18 million cracks in it, and the

light is shining through like never before. the path will be a little easier next time. >> that was a quotation that hillary clinton made famous. >> that was a powerful image. hillary clinton at that moment, she had to make a decision. there were people who wanted her to fight on all the way to denver. she had senior advisers that did not want her to drop out of the race. that something could happen to obama over the summer and she should maintain her viability as a nominee. she made the decision that she needed for her sake and the

party say. she need to not pursue that path and she needed to give a speech that would be a gracious endorsement of barack obama and one that would serve for interests, one that would touch on -- she ran as a strong commander in chief. she did not have on those themes -- she did not hit on those themes until late and so she wanted to hit on those themes in a strong way. i think she began the process by which -- mark talked about how barack obama and hillary clinton were enlarged by the fight. if she had decided to fight on to denver, it could have

diminished her. she made a wise and gracious choice to get behind barack obama and do what he asked. that was the beginning of her seizing the mantle of self enlargement. she ended up being a bigger figure. that was the result of some important fundamental decisions that she had to make and she made those. you have to apply those decisions. they served her interest in the best possible way. >> this go back to the republican race. john mccain was looking for a running mate. how much of that was a political decision at how much she fell

that sarah palin was qualified to be vice president? >> that is a great question, steve. i am not sure we get to the bottom of that. they had problems they needed to address. john mccain was being tied to george w. bush. they needed a game changing pick. in a perfect world, he would've found somebody that was qualified to be president. most of the other people he considered would have been seen as instantly qualify to be president. sarah palin had a higher bar. she was not known. she had not been governor for very long. senator mccain took into account

the political implications. have the campaign had more time to prepare -- had they been given more time and butter as a maverick and as someone who understood the real lives of real people, i think she would have potentially been a strong political pick and a strong pick in terms of projecting the image of the ticket. but she did have some real challenges that were exacerbated by the fact that she was not afforded sufficient time to prepare. >> lessons for any nominee. you go back to dan quayle. he was not late well-known

figure when he was selected. and what we saw in 2008 with john mccain and his selection. >> i think the lesson is that something that mark alluded to. the best political pick is also the best substantive pick. most voters don't make a decision based on the vice- presidential pick. the first big decision a party nominee is making and they invite the decision and how serious and scrupulous that nominee is being. they want to know has is nominee chosen someone who is qualified to be president? if you need to bar -- if you

-- very fewr,r people to not look at joe biden and say he is not qualified to be presentident. same thing about dick cheney. this says something about the nominees. that they were taking this seriously. i think that is a huge think the voters look to as a question of the judgment. that is the lesson going forward. i think the best way to do that is to have the kind of problem that barack obama and other successful nominees have had -- a serious, rigorous, a well executed vetting process, not

something that is done on the fly. you try to answer every question in advance. give people an of time so that nothing the comes up later turns out to be a surprise on the political level or the substantive level. picks someone in the minds of everyone that disqualified from day one. >> we have two moments from the books. this is sarah palin in 2008. >> i love those hockey moms. the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull -- lipstick. sign up for the pta because

i wanted to make my children's education even better. i knew the voters and their families, too. before i became governor of alaska, i was mayor of my home town. opponents seem to look down on that experience. let me explain to them what the job involves. [cheers] i guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community

organizer except that you have actual responsibilities. >> what was happening behind the scenes in team mccain? >> a lot. the 60-day period was pretty packed. that attracted us to the story. it was a compact narrative of 60 days. sarah palin performed extraordinarily well at the three biggest moments in vice- presidential nominee have to perform. nounced, thewas an ounc convention speech, and the debate. there was a lot going on.

her family was getting new briefings and understanding dealing with secret service. she was being briefed on how to get it ready to do a round of national media interviews and to get ready for the debate. the mccain campaign was starting to realize that there was going to be work that had to be got to get her up to speak to get her through the debate after those initial interviews with charlie couric.nd kiddy aty >> i was thinking about -- they put her out there on the speech up in st. paul on the convention stage to give that speech. she had done well on the speech but this was a much bigger deal.

this was a national audience of many tens of millions. john mccain was watching backstage. she had never given a speech with that kind of focus or the kind of audience. he is watching with mounting excitement as she gives the speech. he can believe how good she is. she finishes the speech and mccain is over the moon. one of his advisers says that partly to the speech, her teleprompter was malfunctioning. the teleprompter was moving too slowly. mccain says, "i hope that doesn't happen to me." imposed onandicappe

her by the technology. the campaign was on tenterhooks. she hit it out of the park. she was an asset for the campaign. for a week or 10 days after that, she was. there was concern in the national polls. people on the democratic side were freaking out on how she injected some much freshness into that campaign. had stumblesshe and the financial crisis kicked him that the game changed again and pick began to of complications. the campaign gave obama to rise to the location.

others felt confident about his abilities. >> you chronicle the preparation process as the campaign process tries to prepare for that debate with joe biden. you say she continue to stumble over her rivals name. >> nice to meet you. do you mind if i call you joe? thank you. thank you. >> mark halperin, take us back to that moment. >> it is a charming moment.

she seemed to a little bit nervous walking out on that stage. she did pretty well and she found her voice. she did refer to him as o'biden in your prep -- in her prep. she did a series of interviews that did not go well and had exposed for viewers and voters, weaknesses in her ability to think under speak and to be knowledgeable about things. for most candidates, it would be seen as a funny gaffe. so they can up with the i.d. to call joe -- so the king up with the idea to: joe. she did once referred to him as o'biden.

it did not get any attention at the time. she made the gaffe there were so concerned about. >> you're laughing. >> it is a funny story. there were not sure. he is irish american and whether she was turning o'biden because of the irish association. she made that mistake and literally nobody noticed. you can go back and watch the tape and you'll hear her do it. it is sometimes they obsess over things. she gave us such a strong performance in that debate. she kind of fought joe biden who

was thought to be an experienced politician and a solid debater. she fought him to a draw. that was a huge win for her. it went over so well. she held her own against joe biden. the media's dynamics are sometimes unpredictable. >> the narrative of this book and now it is turned into a movie. in terms of the style you present to the readers, will you thinking -- what were you thinking? >> mark was talking about the genesis of the book. we have never written a screenplay. there was no question that we wanted the book to of a cinematic feel to would.

it. there is not a lot of back story in it. we did not take people back to the governor's mansion or the hanoi hilton in the case of john mccain. we wanted to tell the story in the moment and try to tell an interior story about what they were going through as human beings. we wanted to read the pace of the book moves from big seen to be seen, not with a lot exposition and not with a lot of history. that was a conscious choice to we made. we wanted a lot of dialogue. we spent a lot of time doing the research and the reporting on the book. we wanted it to be a human scale story.

we ended up with a book that read to us very much like we first imagine on that day on north couple street in front of c-span -- north capitol street. >> are there lessons you take away from this book that you apply to your reporting in the current rates of 2012? >> just to focus on the humanity of the story. we were talking to publishers and hbo. we said, do not think of this as a political story. think of this as a human story about people putting themselves in a competitive environment with a lot of scrutiny and a lot hard-fought competition and pressure, trying to achieve the same goal that there cannot be one winner.

that was our focus. not so much about polling or the process of the accumulation of delegates. like on a human level to do this? you saw a lot of compelling examples of that. you have that in 2012 and we're not done yet. >> that may conclude on that. we're at the midpoint of the republican primary. we do not know how it will end up. we do not know who the republican nominee will be. one of your lessons in 2008 is to expect the unexpected. size up campaign 2012 and what stands out so far. >> i think the wide open nature of the republican race in the context of a tea party movement. on the other side, and occupy movement. it has created a much more in plant environment than any presidential election i have covered. then you have a series of

republican candidates who are going up in some back down. half a dozen people who were seen at one time or another had big rivals are the primary rival to mitt romney who has been a constant all along, the candidates who chose not to run. you have a republican field that has left many republican voters and elected officials and activists wanting, looking for the right person. and a president, proud of his record and his right that he inherited a lot of problems and dealt with them, but it even with the improvement to the unemployment rate, is the most important story, how are we going to turn the economy around and do with the unemployment rate? there is a lot going on in terms of personality as well as the environment. we are not done yet, as you say. we do not know who the republican nominee is going to be. it would be wise to not make assumptions. >> do you have a title for the book yet? >> heilemann and helprin

project. we cannot have a name until we know how it ends. we have some guesses, but no firm title. >> "game change 2." >> your thoughts about where we are in this 2012 race and what we expect moving ahead? >> mark waded out pretty well. -- laid it out pretty well. there has been in the republican party, one of the moments where there are deep ideological and demographic kind of factions within the party, so we have seen this party in the transition. you have the coalition that has been behind mitt romney, which is more upscale type coalition. the coalition behind rick

santorum largely is more downscale, religious coalition. the party is pretty deeply fractured. that does not mean the republican nominee cannot win. but if you think back to where races have been similar in 1976 or 1964, those were hard races to win. when the fight goes on for a long time and their deep divisions represented in the party, it often ends up with a disunited party, debilitated nominee. i think it will be a challenge for whoever gets the republican nominee to overcome that in the face of the difficulties that all we happens when you have an incumbent office. especially when the economy is improving, even if it is a small way. it will be hard. that is not to say it will be impossible. barack obama was in a very bad place politically six months ago when his approval rating was 39%

in the economy look worse. over the last six months, he has improved tick by tick in terms of his approval rating. his numbers are moving a little in his direction. the economy seems to be getting a little better. there are a lot of downsize prices that could happen whether that is a spike in gas prices or bad seen in iran, a collapse of some country or other in europe. very unpredictable. right now, obama's stronger position than he has been in a year. the republicans are in a weaker position than in a year. on both sides, especially in the president's re-election team, they expect this to be a really close election. it is going to be very, very tight. any race like that, it is a deeply divided country we have. both sides will be heavily motivated. it would be crazy to try to predict with the ultimate outcome will be. >> the book is titled "game

change: obama & the clintons, mccain and palin, & the race of a lifetime." the second vote coming up after the 2012 campaign. our guests are john heilemann and mark helprin, a gentleman, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> ditto for me. >> the u.s. house the devils in at 12:00 noon eastern. they will make general speeches and be back at about 5:00 for legislative business. members will be working on any post offices today. those are set for 6:30 eastern. better this week, bureau of reclamation to be developed for hydro power. another would phase in regulatory requirement for companies to go public. live coverage of the house on c- span and about 25 minutes. c-span2, procedural votes

tomorrow at noon. live coverage of the senate c- span2 on our 2. elsewhere in the capital, is republic affairs committeeaipac continues its conference. live remarks tonight from to mcconnell, nancy pelosi, and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. that is tonight starting at 9:00 eastern on c-span2. apipac the ticket spoke at a, it's about iran's nuclear option. remarks are about 25 minutes. >> good morning. thank you, thank you. good morning, everyone. i want to start this morning with a few comments and words of appreciation. a first, i want to say thank you to rosy for europe leadership over these last two years, leading this organization, i look for to

continuing for the next many years to gather here. thank you. i also want to say congratulations to michael katz and in the cast and family. thank you for your leadership, and dedication. i look forward your leadership and our partners to becoming stronger as to work together to strengthen the bonds between the united states and israel. i want to recognize the close to 2000 students that are here with us this morning. [applause] thank you for joining us, taking time away from our families and from school. in particular, i want to recognize the midshipmen better hear from annapolis and the cadets here from the united states military academy at west point. [applause] thank you.

[applause] >> thank you. finally, i want to express what an honor it is to share this podium with our next speaker you here later this morning, senator joe lieberman. he has truly been one of the giants on behalf of the u.s. is relation to the last 24 years is --rael relation last 20 years. i when to say what an honor it is to be here with you this morning. i am here today to talk about the danger to america and to the

world. i am here to talk about a nation that should it become a nuclear power, will present a long-term threat to other oil producing nations in the persian gulf, dominate opec, and drive of the pack -- drive up the price of oil. a nation that should it become a nuclear power, would trigger a race for nuclear weapons that would proliferate across the middle east. imagine, if you can, syria, saudi arabia, tomorrow's egypt armed with nuclear weapons. i'm talking about a nation that should it become a nuclear power, could well provide nuclear know-how and even nuclear devices to international terrorists has the, hamas, a

radical islamic groups. all operating under the umbrella of one nuclear nation. this is not speculation. this nation has publicly declared it is prepared to share this technology with its friends. nor are these dangers distant from our shores or our cities. i'm talking about the nation that should it become a nuclear power, can bring terror here. terrorist armed with nuclear devices here to our own hemisphere. this nation could share its nuclear technology with venezuela, nicaragua, bolivia. its friends are no friends of america.

taken together, these many challenges posed a serious danger to america. i'm talking about a nuclear capable iran. that changes everything. it is not necessarily for iran to even have the to demonstrate beyond doubt that they have crossed the nuclear threshold. iran was simply the capacity to produce a weapon is a risk to peace and a threat to the world. iran as a threshold nuclear state will strengthen our foes and frighten our enemies. we know today and when never even knew before just how close we came to war with the soviet

union during the cuban missile crisis. we were seconds away iran's different from that which of these that soviet leadership was at least operated an attack less about the severe consequences to them about using the world's most devastating weapons. and there is ample evidence that we cannot count on this regime and iran to use the same calculus. and that is why, as president obama stated yesterday morning, containment, a policy that would allow iran to have a nuclear weapon is not the answer. [applause] preventing iran from ever having a nuclear weapons capability,

that is the answer. [applause] a nuclear capable iran means real risks for the united states, for friends and allies. the risk is the greatest, the threat existential for one country in particular -- israel. there is a neat place israel for in iran's ideology. iran says it is ready to have normal relations with every state except israel, which they say should be erased from the map. consider the prediction of the moderate former iranian president. that is row could be wiped out with just one nuclear weapon while the muslim moral would

survive the -- muslim world would survive any exchange. consider the the notion is -- diagnosis that's israel is a cancer that must be removed. some will explain what the statements and other say we should dismiss them as simply the unfortunate examples of this regime's rhetorical style. but iran has gone beyond ideology to action, pursuing a strategy to date of targeting israelis on a global scale. when we say israel faces an existential threat, what precisely does that mean? how does it differ from the threat of nuclear iran posing to other nations? israel is small.

its distance from danger is measured in seconds. israel is strong, but its strength cannot diminish the factors that make it especially vulnerable. these factors, israel's please in iran's ideology, its size, proximity to danger, all of these create a disequilibrium, a divergence about win iran's actions present a critical danger to the united states or to the west, and when they pose a critical danger to israel. so even as we act to stop iran, we must be clear and candid about where we are now that iran has progressed to this very

point. we must start with an appreciation of iran's extraordinary efforts to mask its work, to shield from the world just how close it has come to full nuclear weapons capability. no nation, no nation can gamble its sovereignty and security and perfect knowledge of a clandestine effort by an avowed enemy. [applause] and this is the reality. this is the context in which israel must decide her course of action. if she can put her faith in the hands of anyone, even her closest ally, america, or if she must conduct a strike to press on iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.

israel was created to ensure the jewish people would never have to put their faith in the hands of others. [applause] let us be clear israel, does not want iran to force her to have to strike. for 20 years, israel has sounded the alarm about the dangers of iran becoming a nuclear power. in an attempt to avoid military confrontation by anyone, israel has never treated force as the first resort. it has always been, and still is, the last resort. but israel does not control the path iran is on. if at some point israel or

anyone must act, only iran will be to blame. [applause] but if israel is forced into taking military action that she did her best to avoid, then america must stand with the jewish state. [applause] so what do we do? because despite the danger, despite the hour, there is still time to stop iran without the use of force. but that time is running out quickly.

president obama and his administration are to be commended. they have, more than any other demonstration, more than any other country, brought unprecedented pressure to bear on iran through the use of lighting economic sanctions. [applause] they have built a broad coalition to isolate the iranian regime and brought the necessary military assets to the gulf into iran's neighbors in order to signal that america has the power to act. in addition, this congress has demonstrated strong bipartisan leadership by passing a tough, financial sanctions even on the central bank of iran. [applause] and that was a key element in europe's decision to banned iranian oil imports. not all of these accomplishments

-- all of these accomplishments by our leaders have led to important progress. iran's motives are under severe pressure, the iranian regime is more isolated than it has ever been. the problem ais, progress is not enough. this is a test, but there are no grades. the only measure is passed or failed. [applause] we know when the regime feels frightened, it will stop its nuclear pursuits. history shows us when this regime in tehran was scared, it froze its nuclear program. when the american soldiers entered iraq in 2003 and tehran

feared it would be next, iran stopped work on developing a nuclear weapon. but when the fear diminished, iran's nuclear scientists return to business as usual. they have been at it ever since. the reality today is that the iranian regime is not frightened enough. [applause] so we must increase the pressures to the point where they fear failure to comply will lead to their downfall. that is why we must bring even more pressure to bear. four tracks are critical. tough, disciplined principal diplomacy. tralee crippling sanctions. disruptive measures and

establishing a credible threat to use force. [applause] all four are necessary. all four are essential to _ beyond any doubt that the united states and the west are serious about stopping iran. [applause] all four taken to gather offer the best chance to avoid a war that no one, not the united states, not israel, seeks. and that is why on u.s. officials, all of our officials must speak with one voice so tehran clearly here's america is unified in its determination to prevent a nuclear capable iran. [applause]

our leaders and our allies should always be ready for productive discussions. but for any diplomacy to succeed, iran's leaders must demonstrate in a chance that they are serious about giving up their quest for nuclear weapons. we should demand that they again verifiably freeze their nuclear program as required by the u.n. security council before talks begin. [applause] the best way, the only way to stop iran and avoid the possibility of war is to demonstrate to pteron that we will use every diplomatic,

economic, political and if need be, military tool available. [applause] and that is why tomorrow we will go to capitol hill together as one unified community to make clear to our leaders that we must ramp up the pressure now through a crippling sanctions. together we will tell them that iran, not our ally israel, it is the problem. [applause] and that all options, except containment, are on the table. [applause] to be sure, this is a time of testing. not long ago israeli author who

is here with us this morning -- [applause] he recalled the words of his late father tommy, a holocaust survivor, noted israeli leader and great friend of aipac. in his speech he gave on holocaust remembrance day, his words are relevant at this hour. he said, "the enlightened world advises us to be compromising and assume risks for the chances of peace. yet we ask the online world, we ask the holocaust remembrance day, all those who preached to us, what will you do if we

assume the risk and sacrifice victims and put our trust in you and then something goes wrong?" what if the other side does not act as it is expected to? instead, hurls at as fire and plagues and poisons and possibly even nuclear-weapons. what will you do then? will you ask for forgiveness? you say, "we were wrong." will you send as bandages? we open orphanages for children of survivors? will you pray for our souls? that nightmare vision, that day after must never come to pass. [applause]

israel can never let that nightmare come because israel ponce promise to those who felt the flames of the holocaust, never again. [applause] we have our own role to play. we must persuade our decision makers to ratchet up the pressure so that they cripple iran's nuclear ambition. we must be prepared at any scenario to persuade our leaders that america must stand with israel. [applause] and as we make our way through

these dangerous and difficult days, all of us must remain completely unified. we must recall from any inclination to make the situation or allow others to make this about parties or politics. [applause] this moment can only be about the safety and security of american israel. [applause] it must only be about a world which, but for our leadership and our actions, will be changed forever. that is why we are here. we're here to ensure that on this day in history, and a moment of great decision, we set

forth the principles and paved the way for american and israel to continue their shared commitments to values and a vision. a vision of the world free from the tyranny of the violence, hatred, and oppression. a world where strength and security, peace and prosperity reign. thank you. [applause] >> the american is republic affairs committee continues the policy conference tonight. we will have remarks from it mcconnell, nancy pelosi, and benjamin netanyahu. that is tonight starting at 9:30 eastern. it will be on c-