virginia commonwealth university to conclude today. today is the official kickoff after months and months of actual campaigning. >> before the phones start lighting up with alumni from the buckeye state, i believe there referred to it as the ohio state university, but why those schools and those states? guest: they represent the past to victory. ohio is the old democratic math that senators around three swing states. virginia really is the new kid on the block. obama won it by seven percentage points in 2008, along with north carolina, which he won by 14,000 votes. along

both of the states, which are conveniently clustered close together today represent the two paths he will have to go on. >> kind of old school and new school, i guess. >> yes, but that just goes to show the extent to which things have reoriented themselves since the 2006 midterm elections. without winning the western states, president obama does not stand a chance. i should also point out the fact that for the first time in a generation, but electoral college map advantages democrats this time. when you see the polls -- i believe we will see mitt romney surging ahead at various points. the raw popularity numbers that you see nationally are less

important than the map. both democrats and republicans speaking candidly think the map this time advantages president obama para >> we will talk later in the program with heather smith, the president of rock the vote. tell us why the obama campaign decided to start off this weekend in two colleges, as opposed to other sites, maybe labor organizations or things like that. >> college campuses in 2008 were really the critical nexus points of the presidential campaign, for a couple of reasons. the first is, they really formed the army, the volunteer army and created this massive grass-roots campaign in 2008. i recall being in iowa and busloads of college kids were coming across the border from illinois and overwhelming the clinton campaign in terms of the grassroots.

just as crucially, the youth vote in 2008 went roughly two- one, more than 2-14 president obama. -- more than two-one for president obama. in north carolina, there is a tremendous network of universities. there has been a sharp drop-off in registration. we have seen more restrictive voter registration laws around the country really crimping the obama campaign. in addition, the polls show that you spoke strongly for president obama is not very enthusiastic, killed by a couple of years of recession that has disproportionately hurt young people. they have to create a sense of bus and enthusiasm at a time when young people are not feeling so fired up and ready to go.

>> glenn thrush spent five years with newsday, the last three in washington, following hillary rodham clinton. the last question before we let you go, this marks for the obama campaign marshaling the troops. is there any coincidence to the fact that he is talking at two colleges at a time when college students aren't just getting ready to leave the campus for the summer break, and he is getting ready to send the troops out into the field? >> that is a great point. i had not really thought of it. maybe they are wondering what they are going to spend their time doing. in 2008, they certainly created this culture. it really became a social

activity and i am told that a lot of relationships started. >> speaking of relationships, i have one more thing to ask about. you wrote on may 3 under the headline "the dangerous new obama", reaching out to obama's old friends, classmates, and lovers for the last zero years. this is a dangerous book, you are right, and the white house has been fretting about it in a low great way for a long time, in part because it could redefine the self portrait obama skillfully created for himself in 1995, with "dreams of my father." how does this redefine the self portrait, and talk about some of the friends and lovers we may hear from in this book. >> this is not going to be a blockbuster. there was a book called "first

in his class" in which that there were damaging revelations about bill clinton. this is not going to be that kind of book. the point of that story is, president obama's 2008 campaign was largely fuelled by this amazing life story, and this biography of himself that he was able to control, being the personification of the american melting pot. i remember the hillary clinton folks telling meet they were not running against a man or a resume, they were running against a memoir. again, these are not great and new revelations. because of the credibility as a historian, he is able to challenge the vision that obama has projected of himself as

being this organic force, somebody who was above calculation and politics. the portrait we saw initially shows that he was far from it, that he was somebody who, in the view of the people who were close to him, was somewhat aloof, somewhat calculating, and someone with a steely eye on the future. while that is not a game changer, that does bump up against the perception that obama has projected of himself being a creation of intellectual and spiritual forces. >> glenn thrush's work can be found at politico.com. >> thank you. >> that was an interview from earlier about the obama campaign, which kicked off today in ohio.

as we return you to read rahr resort in las vegas, where the libertarian party is hosting its convention. and nominated former governor gary johnson as their choice for the presidential race. next, delegates will be choosing his running mate. will get 11 minutes to speak. we expect to hear from jim gray, a longtime opponent of marijuana laws. he could see it challenge from jim burns, who had expressed a desire to be considered. also lee wrights, who we saw was gary johnson's main competition for the presidential bid. if you want to learn more, just go ahead and check out our coverage online at the c-span video library.

>> with the report from the credentials committee, emily, if you are in the room, could you start making your way to the front. i would also remind the delegates, please turn off your cell phones are put them in vibrate mode -- or put them in vibrator mode. -- vibrate mode. are you ready? ladies and gentlemen, the credentials chair. >> thank you, everyone. good afternoon. mr. chairman, as of 1:06 today, there are 631 delegates and two alternates registered for a total of 632 votes.

the core of mr. hundred 53, the majority 315, -- on behalf of the credentials committee i moved to have the role of voters include those numbers. >> it has been moved and seconded. beat anyckson's objections to accepting the report? hearing none, so move to reject any objections to accepting the report? >> i move the addition of the following people to the voter roll. from north carolina, a delegate for north carolina, and from oregon, a delegate for oregon. >> is there any objection to adding these three names to the delegate list? hearing none, so move.

we follow the same process for our presidential candidates. -- for vice-presidential candidates. we have already heard from our presidential nominee, gary johnson. he was given his time to select his preference and that has been announced. are there nominations from the floor for the office of vice president of the united states on the libertarian party ticket for 2012? >> mr. chairman, i am a delegate from the state of washington. that is the washington people do not hate with a passion. i move to nominate jim gray for rice president of the united states. [applause] >> jim gray has been nominated. >> and scotty bowman from michigan and i nominate lee wrights or vice-president of the

united states libertarian nomination. [applause] >> i nominate jim burns for vice-president of the united states. >> jim burns has been nominated. further nominations from the floor? seeing none, i will close -- sorry, i see one more. >> i am mary o'connor from minnesota. i nominate sam sloan for vice- president. >> i am sorry, i have been informed by his secretary that he is not eligible. further nominations? >> i nominate jim gray for vice- president.

>> he was already nominated. if you like to nominate someone please come to the microphone. >> i have been informed that nominations are supposed to be in writing, so those who have done the nominating, there are three names that the secretary

is already in possession of. the go-ahead and state your nomination, but submitted to the secretary. >> i am from the great state of florida. and nominate -- i nominate nota, none of the above. >> another seconding for jim byrnes. >> seeing no further nominations, nominations are closed. unless there are any objections,

we will have the nominating and seconding speeches in that order which the candidates were nominated. that nominating speakers come up to the podium and stands in queue, and we will get the show on the road. nominators for judge jim gray, please come to the microphone. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i have a great pleasure of nominating judge jim gray to serve as our vice presidential candidate. [applause] as you are probably aware, jim is a distinguished jurist,

having spent 20 years more as a superior court judge. he is the author of several books including "live our drug laws have failed." i believe that his knowledge of the horrors of the war on drugs, his ability to reach out to young people, his experience as a candidate, at and his demonstrated ability with the media make him a superb choice to serve as the running mate for governor johnson. the second denomination, please welcome 1984 per se libertarian presidential candidate david bergman -- presidential libertarian candidate. >> thank you. it gives me great pleasure to do this job. first, i want to congratulate our presidential candidate,

governor gary johnson. [applause] he was here this morning to tell you what he thinks about jim gray. to me, that is the most important thing. we have to have the very best team we can put out into the field to advance the cause of liberty and to seek the offices of president and vice president. i have known jim graham for quite a number of years. it is a terrific a jurist in orange county, i held him in the highest respect, and i have to say since he got his undergraduate degree at ucla and his law degree at usc, and since i got my eye graduate degree at ucla and my law degree at usc, i figure he is qualified.

gm has done great work as a libertarian candidate. in 2004, he ran against the evil barbara boxer in california. i found jim to be always open to ideas and to learn and to figuring out the best way to do the job of being a libertarian candidate. so it gives me -- i am very honored, and it gives me great pleasure to second the nomination and to introduce jim .rsagray [cheers and applause] >> my name is judge jim gray,

and i am seeking your nomination to be the libertarian candidate for vice president of the united states along with governor gary johnson as president. [applause] i truly thank my friends. there have been a few times in the history of our great land in which there has been a need so strong for third parties to rise up and to become leaders and elected people to office state legislatures, congress, and the white house. i believe deeply that this is one of those times, and i believe deeply that the people of the united states of america are going to agree. in these times, in which prosperity is slipping from our grasp, the need to reestablish

the libertarian principles that made us great in the first place is the enormous. we are the libertarian party. we are not a philosophical debate society. we are a political party. the purpose of the political party is to ensure good and qualified candidates to support those candidates in local, state, and national elections, and then to win those elections. [applause] that is right. in fact, we have a broadening tradition in my home state of california, in which when someone as a libertarian speaker uses a particular word, and those in the audience agree with that word, they repeat it.

and when we win, that is what we hear back. that is right. soon the voters of our country will become a with our help, seeing that it is the federal government that has been primarily responsible for our loss of prosperity. soon, the people of our country will talk with others, like i did this past week, with the manager of a bank. they have money, they do not want money. they are not able to loan money to people with a good business plan, people that have good, legitimate business risks. why? because of the throttling of all these regulations. the federal government is keeping us from that prosperity. i talked to lady who is a manager of a bank. she said listen to this, 30% of her employees do nothing but try to attempt to comply with government regulations. soon the people of this world

are going to learn what it is really like to elect libertarians who will cut back those regulations and bring back this prosperity. [applause] my all-time hero, milton friedman, that noble laureate, was right when he said that we will never bring back the excellence to our schools until we actually have a choice. when we allow the parents to decide where and how their children will be educated, and then we will again regain that choice, regain that excellence in our schools, and then the voters will reach out and elect libertarian candidates to bring back that excellence. i believe that. did you ever contemplate that we, in our country, would even debate whether we should torture

someone in our custody? did you ever contemplate that we would think that someone in our custody the taint that would not be afforded criminal charges against them and a fair trial in a military or civilian court, when the people realize that the rights of liberty's are the soul of the united states of america and our soul is under attack by our very own government. they are going to reach out to us libertarians to change that. [applause] our income tax clearly is unwieldy, unfair, and workable. it punishes people for saving money. it punishes people for investing money. it punishes our goods manufactured here that are traded -- that are exported. it actually gives unfair trade

advantage to those goods that court brought into our country as imports. people who are tax accountants and tax lawyers, and critically enough, who has the biggest vested interest? it is those members of congress to get tax breaks and thereby get back all these goodies that the use for their elections. when the voters see that this failed system works against the interests of all the rest of us, they will rise up and select libertarians to change that system. [applause] in health care, when people -- does anybody note a pattern here?

in health care, p.j. o'rourke was right when he said, as we all know, if you think health care is expensive now, wait until it is free. people are going to realize that the problem in this is having the government control of our health care, and they are going to rise up and realize that we will regain excellence in our healthcare system when we regain competition in that system. they will rise up and vote for libertarians and libertarians will win. [applause] republicans and democrats, with their bipolar politics, are leading our country away from prosperity, from equal opportunity, and from liberty. i stand before you and say that governor gary johnson and judge jim gray will bring us back.

[applause] thomas jefferson, probably the first among many libertarians, said so long ago that in order to protect our democracy, we must have a revolution every generation. it has been so long, it has been such a long time, but we need that to keep the special interest that day, the special interests that will inveigle their way into power and will sap our strength and our vitality. let me say at this time, from texas to indiana, from new york to california, from sea to shining sea, it is governor gary johnson and judge jim gray that are that revolution. [applause]

governor gary johnson honored me by asking if i would consider being his running mate. i can tell you, i was deeply honored, and i can say this minute there is no money -- know what i have ever met that i would rather work with to obtain these efforts. when he said that, said there would be one condition. the one condition is that we would run to win. he vowed to me that that was exactly what he was going to do. in turn, i vowed to him, then and now, that if you put your faith and trust in me, you will never be sorry we will -- you will never be sorry. we will never let you down. i've out to you as delegates, if your honor with the nomination to be your candidate for vice- president, i will never let you

down. you will never be sorry. in fact, i say to the people of the united states of america, the matter who you are, no matter where you are or what your political views are, if you trust and honor governor gary johnson and judge jim gray to be your vice-president and president, you will never be sorry. we will make you proud. [applause] as libertarians, we will bring back to our great country prosperity, equal opportunity, and liberty. maybe so, and thank you. -- make it be so, and thank you. [cheers and applause]

>> will denominator and second year for mr. lee wrights please come to the microphone? nominator andenominato seconder please come to the microphone? >> hello, everybody. you know, when moses said to the pharaoh, this caller is a little tight, could you loosen it just a little bit? and did not say to the pharaoh, what your whipping took me with on your back, it hurts a little bit. maybe you could use plastic. moses said to the pharaoh, set my people freae.

i have to ask a question. what did you come here today? why did you spend a week away from your family? you spent thousands of dollars, you took a lot of your time and you took of time from work just to be here. i don't think anybody came here to be just delivered libertarian. -- just l libertarian people it is just a little libertarian. people are fed up with the two- party system that we have. the people that join this movement have had it. those are the people that we appeal to. we do not appeal to the tea party. we should appeal -- i have a question for you. we have a growth problem in the libertarian party. that means setting up a base.

everybody knows if you set up local bases all across the country, that is where the party should grow. not from the top down, but from the bottom up pitcairn -- from the bottom up. who should be over target audience in order to start building this party? who are the people that really believe this message? the libertarian party's problem is, we cannot get the one group of people we should most be able to target and get involved. who should be our first target audience? that is what i am talking about, baby, libertarians. that is our target audience. those are the people that will help us get this party started. they are the people that get us up and get us moving. if we don't get those people first, we will not have the base required to get him elected.

the problem that we have is that there are anti-war people, pro- pot people, anti-bank people, libertarians. these are the people we appeal to write off the bat. this is the organization of people that we need to bring into the fold. without them, we will fail. so my point is simply this. ron paul, who is a great man, people ask me what is the difference with your party and ron paul? what do you think the differences? besides semantics, here is the thing. ron paul, there are only two reasons he succeeds. it is so suspect -- so simple. what attracts people to that

man, and i can tell you is two things. one is the message, and the second thing is principal. we succeed on the message, but where we are failing is on the principle, of standing straight up for that message. in recent years, and i am not trying to be mr.-, but in recent years, we have made a series of decisions that have caused people to say i cannot believe you guys did this or you have this guy that before you all the time, and we do. and we allow that, and people do not take us seriously. there is nothing wrong with judge gray. that is not a negative attack on judge gray at all. i am just saying that right now, if you wanted to appeal to ron paul's people, you show them

that you let somebody like lee wrights -- that you elected somebody like lee wrights. a johnson-wright ticket surely proves that this party has principles. it will bring in the thousands upon thousands of people that we need to set up the base so that this party can grow. i thought that would have a real .anking thank you guys very much. please, lee wrights for vice- president. he has earned it. the man deserves it. we deserve it. >> i have the honor of rising to

second the nomination of lee wrights for vice-president of the united states of america. in american politics, it is unknown fact that if you choose a presidential ticket strategically, you choose a presidential ticket with balance, you choose a presidential ticket that can reach out to all voters. that is how you choose a presidential ticket. lee wrights is that strategic choice. choice.