every issue between myself and mr. romney. governor romney said let it go bankrupt. i said with 1 million workers and an iconic american industry, i will bet on the american workers. three years later, gm is number one again and american auto has come back. that is the truth of this election. i want to make sure that high- tech manufacturing takes root here in the united states. i want to stop giving tax-free to companies that are shifting jobs overseas. as the money to companies investing in here in chicago, cleveland, pittsburgh. hiring american workers, with

products that say made in america. i am running to make sure that after a decade of war we start doing some nation-building here at home. in 2008 i promise we would end the war in iraq. we ended it. i said we would go after al qaeda and osama bin laden. we did. now we're beginning a transition in afghanistan, making afghans more responsible for their own security. all of this is possible only because of the extraordinary men and women in uniform to protect our freedom every single day at great sacrifice to themselves. the question now is, what country are they coming back to? we want to give them a country

full of opportunity. part of that is making sure we are doing right by them. as long as i am commander in chief, they would get the benefits they earn. if you fought for america you should not have to fight for a job or a roof over your head when you come home. it also means making sure the economy is absorbing the folks who are coming home. i wanted to cap the money we are spending on war and start investing here in our school goals and roads here. let's make sure we are putting teachers back to work. there is so much that we can do with the savings that we had. it will make america strong there. it will make america safer not just for the next five or 10 years of four decades to come. that is the america we want to build. that is the choice in this

election. i am running because i want to make sure we have the best education system in the world. i want to help local school districts hire and retain the best teachers, especially in matt and science. i want to get 2 million more people to go to community colleges to train for jobs the businesses are hiring for. i want to make sure that we make college affordable not only by making sure we continue to expand our efforts in pell grants and loans and making sure the colleges and universities are keeping their costs down. higher education is no longer a luxury. it is an economic necessity. we have to fight for it.

on every issue there is a stark contrast. when it comes to homeownership, my opponent says foreclosures bottom out. that is not a solution. i want to make sure homeowners can refinance the rates, say $3,000. how many people here can use an extra $3,000 t? my opponent says we should go back to the days when folks went broke because they got sick. he want to kill the affordable care act, also known affectionately as obamacare. [applause] i believe it was the right thing to do for young people to be able to stay on their parents' plan, a 6.5 million young people have insurance that did not have it before.

i want to make sure people with pre-existing healt conditions get health insurance. it is the right thing to do for everybody to get preventive care including women who can have the control over there on health care decision. we are not going backwards. we're going forward. we did the right thing to and don't ask don't tell. we're going forward. we helped bout. across all of these things whether we're talking about manufacturing, a strong housing market, affordable college, and education system that works, it has to do with how we create

security for middle-class folks and how we create ladders of opportunity for everyone. that is how we have always growing this economy. that is at the heart of what we believe. everybody who works hard has a shot. everybody gets a fair shot. everybody does their fair share. everybody plays by the same set of rules. everyone plays together so we are not on our own. that is the vision we put forward in 2008. that is the vision we are fighting for in 2012. that is the choice in this election. that is why i am running for president. >> [chanting "four more years"} >> let me close up by saying

this. we have less than three months. that goes by quick. as you go older, like 51, you will find out it goes even quicker. during this time we will see the other side spend more money than we have ever seen ever. they are writing to million dollars checks. they are cranking it out. if you live in a battleground state economic away from their advertising. the reason they have to advertise like this is because economic theories do not sell. we remember what they're selling. it did not work. they are going to repeat over and over the economy is not good and it is obama's fault. they will have a variation of

but it is the same thing. it may be a plan to win an election, but is not a plan to win jobs. theis not a plan to revive middle class are make america strong there. it feeds into the fear of how summoning people feel about washington. it is not a plan for hope. it does not caption america as it best, a bold optimistic america. the good news is we have been outspent before. i have been counted out before. what has always given me faith and has given the confidence is you. it is all of you. it is the fact when the american

people come together and they cannot be stopped. when you guys were out there making things happen, you cannot be stopped. i am going to need your help. we have come too far to go back now. we have too many good jobs to create. we have too many teachers we need to hire. we have too many schools we need to rebuild. we have too many students needing to afford college. we have too much, grown energy we need to create. we have more doors of opportunity we have to open. i am asking for your work. i need your help over the next three months. i do not meet you just knocking on doors. i need you to make phone calls. i need you to talk to your friends. i need you to go into iowa, a

battleground state, and make some calls over there. we have got to get help. you have to get on our website. you have to make sure you are signing up. if you are as passionate and as energized and determined as you were before, then we will not lose. it is true that i am --i said i would always tell you how i thought. i would tell you how every minute of every day i think about you. and fight as hard as i knew how for you. i have kept that promise. i still believe in you. if you still believe in me and are willing to get out there over the next 86 days, we will not just win this election.

we will finish what we started and remind the world just why it is the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you, chicago. bob bless the united states of america. -- god bless the united states of america. ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama there attending five fund-raisers in chicago ranging from $50.10 to $50,000 ones. tomorrow he had to iowa.

wednesday davenport. we will bring him like tomorrow at 12:25 p.m. eastern. you can watch right here on c- span. now a look at the republican message from republican voters from today's "washington journal." host: he is here to talk about what kind of message this sends out to the republican party. welcome to the program. what was going through your mind when you heard about the announcement and saw the two speeches? guest: my reaction is that finally this campaign, which should be an important campaign would be focused on the issues that are supposed to matter.

we should be discussing. we have a trillion dollar deficit. but at 4 trillion dollar deficit in the role. we have no growth in the last four years. we have unemployment still over eight%. what does this president want to talk about? he wants to talk about anything but how we will get out of this mess. issues for the next 90 days that are important to the american people. this in his oped, it says mitt was on the ropes, he andsaid until yesterday nobody accused mitt romney of being bold, romney leaped outside the box for the most important decision he will make as a candidate.

by picking the youthful and brainy paul ryan as his running mate romney passed up controversial options, he went for bold instead of safe. >> again, if old means we're going to force these important issues to the top of the agenda in this campaign to discuss. then it was a bold choice. we have a fiscal cliff that the next president faces after he is elected, even before he's inaugurated. we have so many fiscal issues to deal with and i think it's a very good thing that both candidates are forced to put out their positions on these issues and let the american public make a decision. 3 host: why do you suppose it was going to be bringing ryan on the ticket to bring the issues to the fore there has been more discussion in the last 24 hours than in the prior weeks and months of the campaign. why did it take the ryan decision to bring all this out? guest: i think that's a question you might ask a representative of the obama

campaign. you wouldn't know he's been president for the last three years. these issues are the most important things that our country has faced in three decades, so whatever the reason, we're finally at point now where the critical fiscal issues are going to be discussed. we have two very, very different choices and whether you agree with romney or ryan or not, every voter should demand that both candidates put out their position on how they're going to solve these issues. host: we are talking with frank donatelli, head of gopac, talking about the selection of ryan to be governor romney's running mate and the republican message ahead and convention

coming up at the end of this month. if you want to get involved in the conversation: you can also get in touch with us by a social media twitter, facebook, and e-mail. so as a democratic strategist, what are your 4 thoughts about -- >> a republican strategist. >> republican strategist. guest: no one made that mistake before. host: and i will try not to make that mistake again. as a republican strategist what is the most important thing the romney-ryan team has to do in the next 24-78 hours to get this campaign up and running? guest: i think that the public has decided this president isn't up to the job.

they're prepared to make a change. so that's normally the toughest part, is deciding that you're going to be looking elsewhere. so the public is in that posture. i think the next critical step that the republican ticket has to hammer home is what specific alternatives, why could we do a better job than the guys in there right now. and i think that what ryan does is really give a lot of heft to this ticket, he's been very, very specific, he's talked about lower taxes, he's talked about reforming big parts of our federal budget, he's talked about tax reform. i mean, all of the -- regulatory reform. all of these big elements, paul ryan has been in the forefront of talking about, and as i say, we really haven't had a lot from the other side.

so if we can put together a 5 coherent message that contrasts our position on key issues with what we have now i think that's the number one challenge that this ticket has to address. host: our first call for frank donatelli, republican strategist and chairman of gopac comes from baltimore, maryland from walter on our line from independents. caller: good morning. i don't think the public has decided anything, sir. but ryan, in your first question to him, the first one i heard from you, what is he going to do for the average american? paul ryan's budget does nothing for the average american but cut, cut, cut. i want to know what is your strategy. not lies. but strategy. to help the middle class. you can't help the middle class by cutting pell grants, by cutting the safety net that even your candidate has admitted has holes in it. but my question to you, sir, i'm tired of this us versus them, when poor whites are no better than this poor black guy you're talking to right

now and i have better sense than most of them because i know romney nor ryan cares about me. the question to you, sir, please answer, what are you going to do for the middle. and i don't mean cut everything for the rich, which the ryan budget does. the ryan budget adds $4 trillion to the deficit. 6 the romney tax breaks add over $5 trillion to the deficit. what are you going to do for the middle, sir? guest: frank donatelli, go ahead. guest: thanks for the question, i'll be specific. the middle cannot improve unless we have jobs and economic growth. in the last three years, this president and this administration have the most miserable record on job creation and on economic growth of any president since the great depression. look it up. you can't -- the middle class cannot move forward unless we have job creation.

the middle class doesn't move forward with government programs. i agree, government has a role, but if we're going to grow the middle class and we're going to have a bigger pie for everyone, we don't do that by taking away from one group and giving to another. we do it by growing the pie so that everyone can move forward. and that's why a free market, which the republicans favor, as opposed to the crony capitalism, which is the obama campaign -- which is the obama administration's view, is much better for the middle class, and i predict that if romney and ryan are elected you will see, just because we're going to have some certainty in tax policy and regulation, we're going to see an explosion of job growth in the first couple of years of the new administration. host: our next call comes from renee from houston, texas this morning. caller: i am 61 years old, a republican, very proud to say so and i work in the medical

field and what the people don't understand, obamacare, it will be medicaid for all. doctors are leaving daily because of all the restrictions, because they won't be getting paid, and me, because i fall into a certain income bracket, i'll be forced to buy my own health care, which i won't be able to afford. so i'm very angry about it. i understand that people rely on entitlements but another thing we don't understand is only one in two people have a job and they're working these days and personally i'm offended to support entitlements. we never said we need transportation or shelter, let's get signed up for the programs to get it on our -- we get it on our own. host: renee in houston, texas. mr. donatelli.

guest: unfortunately we're not able to keep the promises with entitlements so far. medicaid is probably one of the worst run programs ever and as the lady points out, provider costs keep going up and the payments keep going down, so doctors are opting not to treat medicaid patients. unfortunately, that's bleeding into medicare right now, which leads to the crisis which i think paul ryan is trying to address. so the important thing here is that we've made promises to many, many people. we have to fix these programs so that they can be available for those people and for the next generation. if we continue to close our eyes and do nothing and say there is no problem, that's when we're going to have the difficulty. we have it within our power to make these changes and that's what paul ryan has been talking about his entire career. guest: next up, livingston, new jersey, you're on the phone with frank donatelli of

gopac. caller: i want to ask mr. donatelli how he accuses the obama administration of crony capitalism, when the whole lost decade was nothing but crony capitalism with tom delay and the defense contracts and halliburton not providing for the troops overcharging the government. also, why doesn't this president, obama, get credit for killing usama bin laden? and he secured this country. he obliterated al qaeda. so i don't understand where they're coming from. and as far as a woman was concerned, well, there's a stalemate you pay for your medicare, how the middle class is supported by privatizing social security after what went through with the financial crisis that we see that they admit wrongdoing, pay big fines and continue to rip off the american people.

host: diane, we'll leave it there. guest: there's a lot of questions. let me pick a couple. first off, president obama deserved enormous credit for capturing and killing usama bin laden, and i think every one of a fair mind would have to give him fair credit for that. i think there's a lot of questions about whether he's tried to exploit that for political purposes, but on the underlying act, he was in charge and he deserves credit for that. as far as the scandals are concerned, the lady lumps together a lot of different incident that is she says were, quote, bush scandals. i don't know quite know how she gets to that. the criticism with solyndra is that barack obama is apparently very free and willing to criticize mitt romney for using private sector money to try to acquire and change companies. but when he's the public sector venture capitalist

like solyndra, he doesn't want to take any responsibility for that. the whole point about solyndra is the government cannot pick winners and losers. government makes distinctions like that based on political factors, not economic factors. at least the private sector will make decisions based on economic factors and if there are losses the investors will bear those losses. unfortunately when the government tries to play venture capitalist the taxpayers loses and that's the scandal of solyndra. >> host: we want to discuss the choice by governor romney to choose mr. ryan to be his running mate but also expand the conversation more to republican politics overall as we head towards november. in politico last week, you wrote about candidates must advance the debate. you write in wisconsin, governor scott walker, a republican, set out to restructure the wall of state government, he faced a huge

and growing deficit and electorate unwilling to pay higher taxes to fund government, he chose to meet it head on, he addressed part of the budget that was rapidly increasing, state workers, pensions and health care. you went on to say the contest was hard fought, walker was candid in discussing and defending his record, everyone knew what was at stake, the continuation of the reforms he instituted to shrink the government. in the end, walker prevailed with a solid 53 percent of the massive turnout in the state that leans democratic. this struggle that governor walker had to go through during the spring and early part of the summer, is this more or less a blueprint or a plan that other governors, other legislators, other republicans, and in fact, the romney-ryan campaign, can use going forward and moving into november?

guest: my old boss ronald reagan used to say let's do what's right and the politics will take care of themselves and that is the advice we would give to any governor or president, for that matter, that comes in under very difficult circumstances. chris christie followed that, do what's right, explain to the people why you're doing it, whatever short term pain might be involved, tell them there will be a better day ahead and that's what happened in wisconsin, some very, very tough times at first, but once people understood that the reforms were not going to result in massive firings or layoffs, and that the schools and the government would continue to function, and at the same time, we could get expenditures down and balance our budget, they understood what governor walker was trying to do. that's what elections are supposed to be about. that's the point of the piece i wrote, that your government

is supposed to do things and to explain to the public why they've done that. then the next election, the people will have a chance to decide whether they liked the reforms or not. my criticism of this administration, they've refused to discuss the issues. you've been president for four years so talk about why you think obamacare is good for our country, why do you think the stimulus, your $800 billion stimulus bill, created the jobs you think they will create. talk about those things. the republicans will probably take the other position. and then the american people can make the decision. i think the point about ryan is now both parties will be forced to address the fiscal issues our country faces so it's a good thing. host: frank donatelli is chair of gopac, previously chairman of the republican national committee during the 2008 presidential elections and assistant to president ronald reagan for political and intergovernmental

affairs. back to the phone, shelby township, sue on the line for the independents. you're on the line for the washington journal. caller: good morning. i think ryan is an excellent choice. i like him a lot better than i do romney. i called in january and said i didn't care for romney and i still haven't changed my mind about him, but my question, i've got two here, how much influence is he going to have on polices in the romney administration and what will his role be. i don't see vice presidents doing much. i think they follow the lead of the president, and i'm not an obama fan at all but i'm not thrilled with romney. i like ryan a lot better than i do romney. my other question is why won't romney show husband tax -- his tax returns for the other

years? why can't he be open about it so the democrats don't have a conspiracy about what he's hiding. host: sue, before he answers your question, you talked two times about how you liked congressman ryan more than governor romney. had the governor picked someone else to be his running mate, would you still be supporting the governor for election in november? caller: i want to hear the debates first. i'm undecided. i'm going to hear what they have to say. romney hasn't given any actual what he's going to do. it's all generalized, so i'm going to hear what he has to say and make up my mind then. guest: it's refreshing to hear from an undecided voter. it means the dollars spent in these coming days will have an impact on some of the voters out there. sue, i'm glad you're listening. i don't know that i can add on the tax issue. he's the candidate and he

says he's complied with the legal requirements and he's addressed the issue again. i don't know that i can add a lot to that. as far as ryan and his role in a romney administration, i think it would be substantial. the age of vice presidents just sitting in the executive office building and never meeting with the president have gone away. in recent years the vice president has come to play a far more integral role in the administration, and i have no reason to believe that paul ryan, when it comes to tax and budget polices will not play a major, major role in a new administration. i might also mention he's going to be unfairly caricatureed. paul ryan is a very likable person, he's very courteous, he works with democrats, he

introduces bills bipartisan with democrats, he works across the aisle, so when you hear these terrible things about been, listen to him first before you might believe some of that. host: alaska d.j. sends us this tweet and says it's critical that the obama campaign and democrats quickly define romney-ryan by the extremist agenda that is the ryan budget. guest: so everything is extremist. everybody that disagrees with obama is an extremist or right winger as if he's not on the extreme left. the interesting piece of the amendment is medicare reform and essentially, that same plan that ryan has adopted was proposed by a deficit reduction commission that president bill clinton set up in the late 1990s. i think former senator john breaux and a former congressman were chairs of

that. this is not radical. it's just a way of delivering important services to our seniors. again, i repeat, medicare, as currently stud, is -- medicare, as curtain -- currently constituted, unsustainable. everybody agrees with that. so if you don't like what ryan is proposing, don't call it extremist. tell us what you would do. that's what this administration resolutely has not done so far. host: paul ryan in his speech yesterday in norfolk, virginia talked about going after the president, and particularly having to deal with issues on the economy. this is what mr. ryan had to say and then we'll get a response from frank donatelli: [video clip] >> let me say a word about the man mitt romney is about to replace. no one disputes that president obama inherited a difficult situation.

and in his first two years, with his party in complete control of washington, he passed nearly every item on his agenda. but that didn't make things better. in fact, we find ourselves in a nation facing debt, doubt, and despair. this is the worst economic recovery in 70 years. unemployment has been above 8% for three years, the longest run since the great depression. families are hurting. we have the largest deficits and the biggest federal government since world war ii. nearly one out of six americans are in poverty. the worst rate in a generation. moments and dads are struggling to make ends meet. household incomes have dropped more than $4000 over the past four years. whatever the explanation, whatever the excuses, this is

a record of failure. host: mr. donatelli. guest: he said it very well. i think that's why he's on the ticket. paul ryan can explain economic issues very well. i think the only thing i would underline in what paul had to say there, this administration itself has said that the recession that he inherited, he inherited a recession, ended in the summer of 2009. now, i didn't major in math, but that's three years ago now. three years, we're into an economic recovery, and we still have unemployment over 8 percent. we have virtually no economic growth. somebody has to take responsibility for this. barack obama has been president for the last four years.

why have his polices not produced more economic growth? i think it's because he relies too much on government, he's never been in the private sector, really, doesn't understand the private sector, and believes that government is the engine of growth, and that's what he's tried to do for three years. government is not the engine. government can help. but it's the private sector, and especially small business, that creates jobs. and it's been his polices that are smothering business and small business, especially. host: the lead item in this morning's miami herald is an analysis talking about how ryan could hurt romney in florida is the headline, the subhead reads paul ryan's plans to retool medicare pose challenges in florida, as does his one time opposition to the cuban embargo, a stance anathema to many americans. guest: when marco rubio, senator from florida, was

running two years ago, his primary opponent tried to tag him as being antimedicare and antisocial security because he has advocated some changes also to the program, and then his democratic opponent in the general election and also, his primary opponent later became an independent and ran against him again, and it didn't work. marco rubio won by an overwhelming majority. come back, rob, to what we were talking about earlier. do the right thing, and the politics will take care of themselves. i believe we're finally at the point now where americans really want to hear straight talk from politicians. they're tired of politicians giving them double talk. and so i think it's a strength. my thought would be go directly down to florida and say i have the only program out there that's going to preserve this critical

program of medicare. the other guy won't tell you what he's going to do. i'm going to tell you how i would preserve this important program. host: back to the phones. phoenix, arizona, on our line for republicans. we've got mark. mark you're on the "washington journal" with frank donatelli, chairman of gopac. caller: thank you sir. host: go ahead. caller: i've been a republican for a while, and i have to say that i am really disappointed in romney. first of all, you can't pin him down on anything. i mean, he's for something one day and against it today. that's why they call him old ethch a sketch. americans are required at one point or another to reveal their tax returns, as many years as that requirement suggests. romney must, as a candidate for the republicans disclose at least five years of tax returns.

he can't hide this. he's going for the highest office in the land. he should not hide his tax returns. he must disclose them to be president of the united states. host: frank donatelli. guest: there's a lot of people that would agree with that statement, mark. i guess the only point i would make is in the hierarchy of things important in this election and the terrible consequences that our country faces, i think a far more important set of issues is what will the candidates do about the fiscal cliff that our country is facing. and so you have two candidates, you're not going to agree with them on everything. i think as voters, we make the best decision we have in terms of trying to line up behind that ticket, that best expresses our views as to what we should do as a country for the next four years. so my thought would be that's probably hopefully where you will look in terms of looking at that candidate and that ticket that's going to be

proposing things that are going to really get our country moving again. host: susan had this piece in the "new york times" last week with a headline young in the gop, erasing the lines on social issues, she writes matt hoblin, leader of a group of north carolina republicans is busy trying to ramp up enthusiasm for mitt romney at the grassroots level so there are a few things he avoids mention to go prospective young voters he wants to woo including hot button issues like abortion, same sex marriage which have dominated campaigns in the past, she goes on, a break from the generation's past and with an eye towards the future, many of the youngest leaders of the republican party are embracing views on some social issues that are at odds with traditional conservative ideology. if they mention such issues at all, according to interviews, experts and some polling, quote, when it comes to what you do in your bedroom, or where you go to church, or where you want to put a tattoo, we just

couldn't care less, mr. hoblin said at a meeting last month of young republicans in charlotte. it sounds like, you know, as far as expanding the tent or bringing more people into the republican party, that some of the young folks out there who claim to be republicans just might not be buying what this team is selling. guest: i sure agree with him on tattoos. i don't know that the government has any business there. a lot of these issues, so-called social issues, really tend to be state issues, abortion is a decision -- should be, we think, a decision at the state level, and the definition of marriage and so forth and so on. so those are mostly state issues. i think in terms of how they become part of the national dialogue is somewhat limited. and again, that's why i'm so enthusiastic about paul ryan, because you said it at the

very beginning, rob. he brings fiscal issues directly front and center in this campaign. and as important as those issues are, and i have my own views on it and i know that republicans and democrats for that matter disagree on a lot of this stuff, but the issue that is most critical, that the country is going to have to face in the next 90 days, is which party can get this economy moving again, get people back to work -- i'm all the way back to the first question that the gentleman asked, what are you going to do for the middle class -- we've got to get growth moving again, jobs created again. that's how we help the middle class. that's the issue that should be dominant in the campaign this year, and i think if it

is, i think that our party has a very, very good chance to win. why else would the president spend $100 million a month, trivializing this campaign and trying to talk about everything under the sun, rather than these issues? host: back to the phones, meridian, mississippi, rose on the lines for democrats, rose, you're on the "washington journal" with frank donatelli of gopac. caller: thank you good morning. i want to state that, since you keep talking about jobs, i want to remind people that ryan was -- one of them that voted against three different job bills sitting there in congress and this congress has signed on the side of the republicans their pledge to the lobbyists. norquist is stopping taxes from being raised and romney himself in the state of massachusetts out of all the states was 47 in job creation, and as far as the ryan bill with the medicare and all, privatizing medicare, where seniors would have to pay up to $6000 more on medicare and people don't recognize to get a voucher like that in the private industry, they probably won't even be able to find insurance and not because of the money issue but because of preexisting conditions,

and maybe they need to take the cap then off of this medicare issue and the tax cuts that bush gave. host: sorry to cut you off, rose. i thought you were finished. guest: two points. ma'am, you don't want to get into a discussion of job creation because obama is dead last when it comes to creating jobs of all the presidents in the post world war ii era. as a matter of fact, i think we still have less jobs now than we did when obama took office. it's pretty close. and that's extraordinary over a four year period that our country hasn't been able to create any jobs at all. second, as far as medicare is concerned, again, number one, medicare as currently constituted is unsustainable. if you don't like romney and ryan, you have the obligation to ask obama what he wants to do on the issue. medicare doesn't cover anything now anyway. i just saw an ad on television the other night

from aarp, who loves medicare, for a supplemental medicare program, and the lead is, as you know, medicare doesn't pay for everything. so it's much, much better, i think, to take an overall look at the program and see how can we strengthen it and how can we preserve it to make sure it's not just for old people like me but for the generations to come. host: we've got a tweet from newt gingrich, a fan of the program, who writes paul ryan is the largest step the republican party has taken towards solving u.s. a.'s problem since reagan and kemp. is there a concern or a possibility that paul ryan could actually overshadow mitt romney on the ticket? guest: first of all, kudos to newt gingrich, he was one of the first chairs of gopac and led this fine organization for about nine years and has done a lot for our country.

rob, i don't really think so. you know, obviously, in the first hours after the selection, the vice presidential candidate will get a lot of ink, but looking through the years at presidents and vice presidents, the choice normally almost always comes down to the top of the ticket, and i would expect once we get the convention and then we get into the fall with the debates, that that will continue to be the case. i think what ryan's continuing relevance will be, will be to have an important policy role in this campaign so that he will inform the speeches of not just -- of all of the surrogates and the position papers and so forth of the republican party to make sure that growth and job creation are front and center. host: the campaign already has an ad out featuring congressman ryan. this is what the ad shows the american people: >> [video clip]

>> over the years, i have seen and heard from a lot of families, from those running small businesses and people who are in need. but what i've heard lately, that's what troubles me the most. there's something different in their voice, in their words. what i hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations, uncertain futures. i hear some people say this is just the new normal. higher unemployment, declining income, that is not the new normal. >> next january, our economy will get a comeback for a romney plan for a stronger middle class, that will lead to more jobs and take home pay for working americans. i'll proud to stand with a man who understand what it takes to cause job creation in our economy, someone who knows from experience that if you have a small business, you did build that. mitt romney is this kind of leader, and together, we will unite america and get this

done. >> frank donatelli,ie, your -- donatelli, your thoughts about the ad. guest: this administration would like you to believe that right now it's the best we can do, that he inherited this terrible situation and we should be satisfied with 8.3% unemployment and no growth over the last three years and unfortunately a lot of the mainstream media has bought into that. what paul ryan would say to that is nuts. balderdash. we can do a lot better than that. we have done better than that. ronald reagan, 30 years ago, took over an economy that was in worse shape than what obama inherited and he was able to turn that around, we were creating jobs, we created 10 million jobs once the recovery began. we have it within our power, with the right economic

polices, to triple or quadruple the number of private sector jobs her month that this administration is creating. americans have traditionally and historically been an optimistic people and i think if we allow our optimism to come through and to understand that there can be -- we can do better than where we are right now, i think that our party will begin to gain at that point. host: your thoughts about this announcement yesterday coming on the deck of a battleship after the bush administration had so much problems when they came on board an aircraft carrier with that sign behind the president, saying mission accomplished during the iraq war. guest: well, i think there, the message was the problem, and frankly, was a little misunderstood. i think here, with the u.s.s. wisconsin, paul ryan is from wisconsin, so you should look at that a little more just from the atmospherics viewpoint.

i think what paul ryan had to say yesterday stands on its own, a very, very strong endorsement of america as an exceptional country and the idea that we can do better than what we're doing right now. host: next up, ellie on our line from independents, calling from syracuse -- from syracuse, go ahead ellie. caller: good morning, i'm sitting here, listening to this gentleman, and i'm angry. this is unbelievable. the republicans -- did anyone ever read from -- >> host: i think ellie is gone. let's go to bud in tallahassee, florida. caller: the american people

are fortunate to have two guys like mitt romney and paul ryan in the driver's seat. hopefully they'll be elected and we'll start moving forward. i think if you look at the past four years, we haven't done very much in the best sense for our country and i think that's the most important thing to think about is what is best for this country, not necessarily what is best for me, but what is the best course of action for our country. as far as the medicare goes, if it's broke, we need to fix it. and now paul ryan didn't say we're going to eliminate it. he said we're going to modify it or do what we have to do to make it sustainable. i just believe that we're on

the right track, these guys have proven experience, both of them, and you know, when you look at the past group, no experience. i mean, they came here with no experience, they grabbed these so called czars as advisers. that won't work. you got to have people that understand the problem. and i think that these guys are moving in the right direction. and i believe, i believe, that smart democrats will vote for republicans. host: bud in tallahassee, florida. what is it going to take, as bud described them, smart democrats to vote for this republican ticket? guest: i think the thing is we've got to explain to smart democrats and independents and republicans that we can do better than where we are right now, that the problem with the economy has been uncertainty and has been the idea of this administration that more government can grow

the economy. i think the republicans have a very separate and distinct message which is in this situation, not in all cases, but in this situation, government is the problem. it interferes with excessive regulations, there's uncertainty as far as tax policy is concerned, entrepreneurs don't know which way the government is going to go because this administration keeps changing its mind. with some certainty and government working with the private sector, not against the private sector, to create jobs, i think that's the essential message that republicans want to deliver this fall. host: in the front page of the oshkosh northwestern, jamesville, proud of ryan's lies to the gop ticket, read about that in the oshko -- rise in the gop ticket, you can read that, and ryan, they spoke to a high school prom date but never spoke anyone from obama's past when he ran.

jim, you're on the phone with "washington journal". caller: hitchhiking on the gentleman who asked about polices best for america, according to my understanding, republicans, since the year 2000, have created 12 1/2 million jobs in china. granting china most favored nation trading status, and i've read that 52,000 american manufacturing operations have relocated to china, along with 6 1/2 million hard core manufacturing jobs and an equal number of collateral supporting type of jobs. how do we know that if you grant all these tax breaks to the so called job creators that we're going to create jobs?

host: sorry to interrupt you, we're running out of time. guest: i'm sure that ryan was a total gentleman at his prom with the girl they interviewed. as far as china is concerned -- i don't know where that statistic came from. what i can tell the gentleman is that because obama has run up our national debt $5 trillion in his first four years, a lot of that was 30 borrowed from china so if you're upset about china benefiting at the expense of the united states, you ought to blame the current president for his deficit and inability to control his spending. look, obviously, we want a

tax code that enhances job growth here in america and lower taxes and less regulation and getting the government out of the way. i would argue is a far more, preferable way to do tha than we have currently by this administration, which is for the government to try to do everything. host: frank donatelli is chairman of gopac. you want to find out more about their organization, go to the web, gopac.org is where you find the details. >> c-span will be bringing you live campaign rally as the candidate visit wisconsin, paul ryan's home state. they're calling it a homecoming rally. it is taking some attention away from the senate candidates there. the state has seen near the endless campaign between primaries, the presidential campaign, and governor walker's recall election. tomorrow, the candidate split up as mitt romney campaigns with marco rubio in miami. you can watch live coverage at 5:15 eastern time. tonight, live coverage of the stopped in wisconsin at 7:00 eastern. let's take a look back at their

remarks in ashland, virginia, yesterday. that is the day paul ryan was announced as the vice- presidential candidate. [cheers and applause] >> thank you for your hospitality. i have good news and bad news.

let's get rid of the bad news first. president obama is the president of the united states. the good news is on november 6, he will not be any longer. [applause] here is why. we have come to a crucial moment in our nation's history. we are at the proverbial fourth in the road. we have a choice of two futures. we know that. president obama with his party firmly in control the first year of years, got almost everything passed into law the he wanted. now we're living under those. we're witnessing a nation in debt, further in doubt, deeper in despair. now we're seeing a country where

the so-called recovery is the worst we have seen in 70 years. unemployment above 8% the entire time. we have had the largest deficits and biggest governments since world war ii. nearly one out of six americans today is living in poverty. that is the worst we've seen in a generation. household incomes are down. unemployment is up. do you know what the good news is? it does not have to be this way. we can turn this around. we can get this right. [applause] do you know how we do that? we elect a leader. right now, we need leadership. we do not need plane. we need leadership. we need someone of principle,

achievement, integrity. that man is standing next to me. his name is mitt romney. he is going to be the next president of the united states. [applause] that is right. take a look at leadership. experienced some integrity. a successful man in business. turned around failing businesses at an astounding success rate. i am proud of that. we are proud of that because when americans succeed, we all succeed. [applause] his country asked him to save the olympics. he did it, and we're all proud

of that moment. when he was governor of massachusetts, the credit rating of massachusetts was upgraded for the first time in history. under president obama, for the first time in history, america's credit rating was downgraded. when he was governor of massachusetts, unemployment went down. under barack obama, it has gone up. when he was governor of massachusetts, household incomes, family incomes, went up. they have gone down $4,000 over the past four years. president obama cannot run on this record. it is a terrible record to run on. he did not change. he did not tax the middle. he did not do things that were centrist. he stayed hard left. if he cannot run on his record

and did not moderate, what does he have left? he is going to divide and distract this country to win an election by default. we are not going to fall for that. [applause] we see hope and change have become attack and blame. we know better. been here in this great state of virginia, a state that all americans are in debt to, the cradle of so many of our great founders. one of the best said that our rights come from nature and nature's god. they do not come from government. that is the idea of this country. [applause] we believe in liberty, freedom. we need to exercise it. each generation has its chance.

this is our generation's defining moment. it does not matter what generation you come from. this is the most important election in your lifetime. we're at the fork in the road. we have a man who is right for the moment. the man right for this moment to get us on the right path is the man who is about to begin next president of the united states. that is governor mitt romney. [applause] >> you stay here. what a crowd. thank you so much. wow. thank you, ashland. you guys are great. olympics. it is an honor being here with you today. people keep telling me this is

the center of the universe. people in washington think that is true about them. that is not true. this is the place. what an honor to be with you and have used in some time with the next vice president of the united states and myself. it is an honor to be with your governor. what a great leader. you are so lucky to have a person who understood what it takes to bring jobs back to virginia. virginia is doing well because of his leadership and skills and also that of his lieutenant governor, a great friend and i hope the next governor of this great state of virginia. one more person, george allen is around here somewhere. where is george. there he is standing above the crowd. governor, next senator, george allen. today is a big day for me. it was a big day for paul and his family. i think it is a big day for

america. we took a step forward in restoring the promise of america. i have selected a person who is a leader. as we look for people to help guide our country, as i look for people to work with me, i want someone who is a leader. leadership begins with character. character and vision. this is a man whose character was formed early. he was in high school when his dad suddenly passed away. he matured quickly with a family that surrounded him and helped him. the community help him regain his footing. he began with interest in public service not because of personal ambition because of his passion and pays for america and the belief that america needed individuals who would put the country first, put the issues of america have their personal concerns. he went to washington. for 14 years, he has been

battling in washington as a leader. he has found extraordinary capacity there. he is an intellectual leader in our party. he really understands how government works, how it can be tamed, how we can restore to the people the rights and powers of the people. states are the places where new ideas are developed and grim. he understands the constitution. he has done something very few in washington learn how to do. he has made friends on both sides of the aisle. he has garnered respect from republicans and democrats. win big issues, like how do we save medicare, instead of cutting it will buy $750 billion like the president did, -- instead of cutting it by $750 billion dollars what president obama did, this man said i will find democrats to work with. he found a democrat to leave a piece of legislation to make

sure we can save medicare. republicans and democrats coming together. he is the man who has great ideas and the capacity to lead, find people across the aisle to work together to make things change for the american people. i am happy today. i hope you are happy. i am happy today. [applause] i know the democrats are working very hard today. they are pulling out all of their books. they're looking at every vote. they are interviewing everyone in the neighborhood. they will not find anything. they are getting ready. their campaign has been all about bringing america's perspective on this race as low as they can make it. this is a man who appeals to the better angels the american people. talk about ao

vision of america. [applause] [cheers and applause] we love america. we love america. we will not besmirch the office of the presidency. we will keep talking about what has to be done to restore the greatness of america. that includes to have faith in our institutions, to restore trust in them. this man and i will not in any way lose your trust. we will honor it with dignity and courage, the responsibility you give us as leaders of your party. [applause]

the reason he is here and the reason i am here is we recognize this is a critical time for america. when you have 23 million americans in the richest nation on earth out of work or who have stopped looking for work, you know something is going on, something critical. when you have more people on food stamps than any time in history, you know there's something unusual and critical going on. when one out of six americans have fallen to poverty, you know something serious is going on. when the debt held by the public, he has added almost a s a step as all presidents before him combined, you know something serious is wrong. we stepped forward not out of partisan passion, but out of love for america to say we want

to do what is necessary to get america back again, to get more jobs for the middle class and more take-home pay. [applause] there are five things we have to do. this country will come running back. we are not like japan that when 310-year time of decline. some are afraid that is what we're facing. they are wrong. they are right if they re-elect president obama. if they elect paul ryan and me, we will do five things that will bring back america's economy. you will see a resurgence in jobs come in our competitiveness. you will see us finally get america on track to balance the budget. we would do what it takes to get america back. we will take advantage of our energy, natural gas, oil, renewables.

we will make sure every american has the skills they need to succeed. training programs that give them the skills for the jobs of today. we will make sure our kids have schools that prepare them the jobs of tomorrow. we will do that by putting our kids, their parents come and teachers first and the teacher'' union behind. [cheers and applause] we will have trade. that is my no. 3. we will have trade the work for america. it is good to trade with other nations. when other countries cheap, we will hold them accountable. we will open up new markets for american goods. we will do something that has only been spoken about but must be done if america is going to be strong in the future. we're going to cut the deficit and finally get us to a balanced

budget. [cheers and applause] we are going to champion small business. [cheers and applause] if we want more jobs and take home pay, we have got to make it easier for small businesses to grow and thrive. that means keep taxes down, keep regulators from smothering them. make sure we keep health costs affordable. one way we can do that is by repealing and replacing obamacare. [cheers and applause]

governor macdonald began by quoting something the president said in virginia. when i heard that ", i cannot believe it. he said if you have a business, as you did not build it. someone else did that. he was talking about government. then he said, you have taken me out of context. i looked at the context. the context is worse than the quotation. he says you are successful because you think you are smart, but a lot of people are smart. you think it is because you work hard. a lot of people work hard. i wonder, where is he going with that? in america, we celebrate people who are smart and try to make themselves smarter and people who work hard to create a better future for themselves and their kids. that is who we are. this is a nation built on people reaching for achievement and excellence. striving, that is the nation of an -- that is the nature of

america. [applause] when a high schooler makes the honor roll, i realize they only got on the honor roll by being taken to school on a school bus, but i do not give the school bus driver credit for the honor roll. i give it to the kid that earned it for himself or herself. [applause] it is the same for someone who gets a promotion at work, who works hard, who goes to a community college and its additional skills and is able to get a promotion. i give that person credit for doing so. if you are lucky enough to take the risk and starting a business and employ people, congratulations. we want more people reading, listening, try to be america.

it tried to be better. that is what america does. -- we want more people reading, listening, trying to be better. that is what america does. when the founders wrote the declaration of independence, and i happen to believe they were brilliant and inspired. they said it was not government that gives us our rights. it was our creator that gave us our rights. [applause] among those rights were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in this nation, we are free to pursue happiness as we choose. we do not look to government to tell us how to do it. we do not give credit to government for what we achieved. we look at our family, friends, associates, we look at excellence in every individual. i love this country, the principles on which was founded. i am watching a president trying to change america. that was his slogan -- change.

he is changing is into something we might not recognize. i do not want to become europe. i want to keep america the hope of the earth by staying america. [applause] usa! >> so this man and i are going to work tirelessly between now and november 6, and hopefully for eight years thereafter, to do everything in our power to get america on the right track again, to help people find more jobs with more take-home pay, to get our schools better, to get us on track to be energy independent in north america.

we're going to do everything we can to keep america strong with strong values, strong families, a strong economy. a strong military, a strong america. showing america is the best ally peace has ever known, we will bring america back and keep it as the shining city on the hill. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] [no audio] >> c-span will bring you live coverage in about an hour of the next campaign rally as the republican candidates visit waukesha, wisconsin, paul ryan's home state.

tomorrow they will split up as mitt romney heads to miami to campaign with senator marco rubio, one of the people thought to have been on the short list to be his running mate. >> it is the idea we are in this together, that regardless of who we are, where we come from, or how much money we have, each of those counts. by working together to create opportunity and a good life for all, all of us are enriched. not just in economic terms, but as citizens and human beings. [applause] >> my opponent will not rule out raising taxes. but i will. congress will push me and i will say no. they will push and i will say no. they will push again and i will say to them -- read my lips. no new taxes.

>> c-span has aired every minute of every major party conventions since 1984. this year, watched the conventions live on c-span starting monday, august 27. tonight, look for our q&a interview on his new release. >> i had no idea about the experiences of many people who were my predecessors as correspondence in berlin. i have not spent a lot of time thinking about what it would have been like to have been a correspondent there in the 1920's and 1930's. how would you have operated? what would you have noticed or not noticed? much less, how would you have acted? >> tonight at 8:00 on c-span is q&a. . .