way that they would understand that being in the republican party is the way to try to go. but republicans are doing a good job of reaching out to minority parties and speaking to them and at least making an attempt toand the tent. republicans have to do a better job of communicating. most believes are more in line with minority groups pro-church. this was a belief was held strongly. we have to make sure we get out there and let them know what it is about. >> he went to the n.c.a.a. meeting. >> bid was. i was pleased.

if you look at what was being talked as the first black president, president obama did not show up. it was a scheduling conflict. it was the democratic party taking the minority vote. you know lugger have to show at the convention to get the vote. it will be that way as long as you have over 90% of the black vote going toward one party. they will continue to take it for granted. i think it is an insult to blackstab. the convention was started by republicans. >> would you have a chance to meet paul ryan or ms. romney or some of these? >> so many people are clamoring

for their attention. i have had the opportunity to meet governor carey. ted crews -- now it is about trying to get close. hopefully there will be some romney people that can give us a quick handshake. >> he did not necessarily does it all the delegations. >> the bad thing about texas is that the national party may not come around as much for fund- raising. a lot of money is not spent in texas.

>> you will be able to check in with you throughout these four days. final question before we sign off. you are used to this. what do you think about the fact that it is being delayed? >> i am getting used to it now. i've been in houston for eight years. i'm used to not being able to enjoy these temperatures. it does take getting used to. it is pretty hot. i am getting used to hurricanes and earthquakes.

so far it has not been as bad as i thought it would be. >> first-time delegate from the state of texas. we look forward to checking in with you. thank you for joining us. >> good afternoon. this is the day before the opening of the republican national convention here. this is under way at 2:00 p.m. eastern. we will have gavel-to-gavel coverage. in a few minutes, paul ryan in an event that was a cent up by his community. speaker gainer will be airing in the event that happened at noon today. we will take you into the tampa

bay forum. we posted a question on facebook. republicans are going to be emphasizing the national debt. we ask people on facebook how concerned you are about the national debt. more than five under people have been involved in the last hour. let's share a couple of the comment that have been posted. and poverty are bigger concerns to him. considering how it got to be that large, i do not think they should highlight it. they need to make knowledge this. the government does nothing to earn its own way. the united states needs to

figure out innovative ways to add this to the live. dangerous to post that without an asterisk indicating how much was approved by george ?f the bush tax caller this is a look at some of the more than 380 comments. you can be part of the conversation on c-span's facebook page as well. ul went to his hometow with thel have a big sendoff. this event took place at the john high school in wisconsin appeared is about 20 minutes.

>> look at this. hey! look at that. hi, and ellen. look at this. thank you. you guys can go ahead and have a seat. thank you. wow. [cheers and applause]

wow, look at this. man. it is good to be home. it is good to be home. it is so good to be home. you know, i think i've recognizes the very face in this room. -- i think i recognize every face in this room. this is my family over here, about half of them. hello, a janesville. it is good to be home. [cheers and applause] you know, now you know i am one of the less articulate members of the bryan family. -- the tyan family. let me just say -- the ryan family. but me just say that we appreciate your outpouring support. it means a lot to us. i have spent a lot of time in the gymnasium.

i never really was as close to center court. most of my stuff was outside with a soccer ball and track. but this is jim means -- but this jym means -- but this gym means so much. it is the kind of community. as we take stock of our community and think we should put in our minds and our prayers the people who have been victims of the hurricane isaac and those who still stand in the path of the storm. [inaudible]

[applause] i also want to thank the janesville police department. those guys are great. they have been phenomenal. thank you, father randy. [applause] i want to thank chief dave maurer. i want to thank mayor levitt. how want to thank our neighbors on court house hill for indulging all of this and for their patients. we really appreciate that. and i want to thank everybody in the broader community. this has put a lot in janesville. i wanted to tell you how proud i am to come from janesville, wisconsin. [cheers and applause] i see answer and uncles and cousins here. the last time we counted it all up, we had 16 cultigens right here in janesville. -- 16 cousins rate here in janesville.

our family's story is not different from most american family stories. back in the 1850's, the potatoes stopped growing in ireland. so our great great grandfather, with the shirt on his back, made his way to boston, worked his way on the railroad to get enough money to buy a farm. and that brought him to the outskirts of jeans the wisconsin. he looked around and it was summertime and he said this looks just like ireland. then came winter. [laughter] and he said, oh, crop. but they made a go of it. and lots of immigrants came in those years. this town has lots of immigrants. there were colons, kennedy's, its urals, holy res, fagins, ryan's.

we all made a go of it. we all raised their families here. we are fifth generation janesville, wisconsin natives. [cheers and applause] and it is not a unique story. it is the american story. the reason our family came here and the reason everybody else's family came here is because of what this country stands for. america is not just a piece of

geography. it is an idea. [cheers and applause] it is the only country founded on an idea. and that idea is precious. that idea -- please, have a seat. i don't make you stand the whole time. [laughter] thank you. that idea is so precious. we believe in free speech. [chanting]

that is the idea. that is right. >> usa! usa! >> thank you. thank you. awesome. [cheers and applause] it sounds like we just went to state, doesn't it? you know, we think about our communities and each generation passes on a better country. i remember sitting here on bob suter days. my buddy ryan masterson coaches over at parker. what we see is each generation sticking up for legacy and carrying on. and what we do in our communities is a look out for one another. that is what is so special. that is what the government cannot replace or displaced. think of the charities that we all work together to raise right here in janesville to make a community's smaller -- communities stronger.

our executives come out of retirement to wage campaigns here in janesville. community nursing homes. we have rotary gardens where people come from all around to see. we have the house of mercy. [applause] we have health net. we have a great boys and girls club. we have a ymca. we have a ywca. these are the things we do in our communities that bring us together. to help our neighbors in need. they call it civil society. i call it janesville, wisconsin. [cheers and applause] and what is important is that

our government respects this. that our government honors this, that our government workers for the people and not the other way around so that we can do this. [cheers and applause] that is what this is all about. you know, we have been hit pretty hard here. you know, we used to always say, as gm goes, so goes janesville. remember that statement? you know what? we have been hit hard. we had a hard knock. but we are a hardy people and we will recover from this. i have a lot of friends who lost their job at the plant. one of my buddies went to black hawk tech and got an hvac contacting degree in now he is doing a great job, has a great career and is happy. one of my buddies lost his job over earlier. he went to whitewater and is on

a path to a brighter verizon in a career that will be there for him for the rest of his life. that is the thing we need to do. pick ourselves up, help people in need, give them the drive for the skills that they have, entrepreneurs and small businesses so that people can get back to their feet. that is what the romney-ryan plan is all about doing. [cheers and applause] friends, family, this is a defining moment for our country. this is not an ordinary election because it is not an ordinary time. we have a big choice to make. we are not just picking the next president for a few years. we are picking the pathway for america for a generation. [cheers and applause]

and what mitt romney and i pledge is to make sure that you get to choose what kind of country do we want to have appeared what kind of people do we want to be? it comes down to that because the stakes in this election are so high. we have seen with the president has offered. we have seen the path he has placed us on. it is a nation in debt. it is a nation in doubt. it is a nation in decline. or we can choose a better path reapplying those founding principles, reclaim the american idea and get people back to work and get the american idea prosperity and opportunity back on track. and that is exactly what we will do.

this is why we need leadership. let me tell you about the man who asked me to join him in this quest. >> you're the man! >> mitt romney -- thank you. [laughter] but me tell you about this man. [cheers and applause] this is a man of faith, a man of honor, in and of family, a man of integrity and achievement -- and a man of family, a man of integrity and achievement. remember the embarrassing scandals? sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? [laughter] they asked this man in boston to utah and he dropped everything he was doing and served in a dutiful way and he saved us and he made us proud

and he revived the olympics in that time. that is leadership. [cheers and applause] it is a man who created literally tens of thousands of jobs. by the way, when people are successful in business, that is a good thing. that is not something to resent. we are proud of that. we lift that up. [cheers and applause] that is what makes america grow. that is what makes us tick appeared that is what creates opportunity and prosperity. he started small businesses. he turned around failing small businesses. he created companies like staples, bright horizon, sports authority. i see an entrepreneur or their

and their and their paradise the business leader here, a job creator there, a job creator there. everywhere i look. there is one right there, too. [laughter] everywhere i look. i see friends. as the community leaders. i see family members who get up early in the morning, who take risks, who work hard, who sacrificed. they don't know if it will work, but it does because they work hard. and you know what? they don't need their president telling them that the government gets the credit. they need to know that they built the businesses and they get the credit. [cheers and applause] that is how jobs are created. just look at the contrast between where we are with president obama and what mitt romney achieved during his four years as governor.

president obama, the u.s. credit rating has been downgraded for the first time in history. under mitt romney, the massachusetts credit rating was increased. under president obama, 23 million americans are struggling to find work today. nearly one in six americans are living in poverty today. it is the highest rate in a generation. unemployment has been above 8%. household income in america has gone down for families on an average of $4,000 in the last four years. when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts, the unemployment went down, household incomes went up by a thousand dollars. he reached across the aisle from he did not demonize democrats. he worked with democrats and

balance the budget without raising taxes. that is the kind of leadership we need. [cheers and applause] every now and then, the president, in moments of candor, tells us what he really thinks. [laughter] he kind reveals his thinking and his philosophy of government. remember when he was talking with this guy joe the plumber? he said we just needed to spread the wealth around? it is this economic school of thought, this belief that the pie of life is somehow fixed, that the economy is static and that it's the government job to redistribute the slices more equitably. that is not the government's job. the government's job is to set the conditions so we can grow the pie for ready so that

everybody in america can get their vision of the american dream. [cheers and applause] remember when he has -- when he was talking with the donors in san francisco? he said people in the midwest, people like us, we like to cling to our guns and religion. [cheers and applause] all i got to say, from a guy who goes to st. john the honey over there -- this catholic deer hunter is guilty as charged and proud of that. [cheers and applause] that is freedom. the last one is the most doozy. when he is thought -- when he is talking with small-business

people, that they don't get the credit, that the government does come it reveals why we are stuck in the route we are in. here's my point. it is not too late to get this right. it is not too late to treat other people with respect. it is not too late to get our spending under control, to get our budget under control, to clean up the mess in washington, to get people back to work, to have an energy policy, to have spending cuts, to a business is growing and thriving, to make more things in a mad and sell them overseas. it is not too late to get people back to work. it is not too late to fix this country's problems. we can do that. [cheers and applause] [chanting] >> usa! usa! usa!

>> usa! >> here is our commitment to you. everywhere i look, i see so many familiar faces. it is very moving. i love you, too. and we want to know that the values that built this country are going to stay in this country. we want to know that those little things in life that tie us together as a community are going to continue to tie us together as a community. we want to know that we are going to reclaim those great ideas and principles with respect for one another and give the country solutions to fix these problems while they are still within our control. here is the commitment that mitt romney and i are making to you, our fellow citizens, my fellow citizens of chains will.

we are not going to duck the tough issues and kick the can down the road. we are going to lead. [applause] we are not going to spend the next four years planning other people for problems. we are going to take responsibility. [applause] we are going to honor the fact that this country was created by an idea from our founders, our rights come from nature and got, and not from government. [applause] our founders secured this and every generation of veterans -- there are the ones that gave it to us to preserve it -- and we thank them for that. [applause]

and the way we will honor their sacrifice, their legacy of our ancestors, our forefathers, who did everything to make it so we could have the opportunities we have. my dad, a lot of you knew him. he said, some, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. he usually says that to me when i was part of the problem. but the solution is that we are not going to try and transform this country into something it was never intended to be. we're not going to try to replace our accounting principles. we will reapply our founding principles. that is what we would do to get the country back on the right track. that is how we preserve the

american legacy. [applause] friends, we can do this. we can get this done, we can turn this thing around. i simply want to say to you, together, we will get this country back on the right track. we will get this done, we can do this. god bless this country, god bless wisconsin. thank you for coming out. we love you all. [applause] ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

x paul ryan and his family in janesville where the family held a sendoff rally as he makes his way here to tampa. we have been here for most of today. we have several more hours ahead of us. this was a really scheduled to be the first day of the convention. there has been a rain delay. tomorrow's convention begins at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. you'll see live coverage. this is coming up within the next couple of hours. we have an event taped earlier boehner.th john painte at 6:30 p.m., are preprogram -- our preprogram. debbie wasserman schulz was to

provide this. you will hear from her and others during the live programming starting at 6:30 p.m. eastern time. we wanted to show a little bit of what it is like inside the forum today. christina will walk you through the experience of what it is like inside the arena. they will begin on the concourse level. let us watch this a little bit.

she is providing as a bird's eye view of the inside of the convention center there were mostly the alternates will be .itting watching th the stages of to the right-hand side of the screen. preparations are underway for the first official wanted to the session. a lot of people inside the arena. they're using these last couple of unexpected hours to finalize preparation. a bird's eye provided to you as though your a delicate. tomorrow we want to get as much as a field to being there. in addition to the gavel-to- gavel coverage, we also have a

second screen experience on the internet available called "convention hub." we will streamed the convention life. it is also useful to get a play- by-play of the delegates by twitter aggregation. you will see tweets advocated by users. joining the conversation. there's also an aggregation of tweet from delegates. they're taking their smart phones and and will be off for commentary. we will show you. we also have a series of google handouts -- hangouts as the talk about the chances for the fall. we're collecting short videos of delegates and others. those are posted online as well. coming up next, is an event with

speaker boehner. he will be speaking tomorrow night. today he was at an event that was hosted by the christian science monitor. they are doing a series of briefings all weeks. this happened at noon in a restaurant in tampa. we're going to show it to you next, the speaker talking to folks from the audience with his use of the party's chances in the far. -- in the fall. >> thank you for showing up. our guest is house speaker john boehner. this is his eighth visit with us. the thank you for coming back. our time is short and there are many reporters with questions. he has led the american dream, and drew up in modest circumstances, and worked his way through a university. the move into leadership ranks.

he was elected majority leader in 2006. since generate 2001 he has been the 61st bigger of the house he is not operational detail. these are being sponsored. our thanks for their support. sponsored or not come in the ground rules change. blogging -- now live blogging or tweeting. c-span has agreed not to use video for at least two hours after our gathering concludes. if you like to ask a question, please send me a nonthreatening signal. i will do my best to call on as

many folks as possible. i will confine myself to one question and ask that you do so as well so more reporters can participate. i will start off by offering speaker boehner to make some opening comments. he will leave promptly at 12:50 but we can continue the talks with dessert. thank you for it joining our busy schedule. >> than me say thank you for being here. this is the eighth time. i am glad you are keeping track. in august, i travelled over 9,000 miles. i did 47 events in about 21 days. you the people were asking before where are the jobs, i can tell you the small business

owners said you did not build that. i made it about 10 times worse. -- it made it 10 times worse. there always be distractions. this election will be about the economy and jobs. there is one word i have been preaching to our members and challengers over the course of the last four or five weeks. republicans are on offense on all the big issues, whether it is jobs, spending, or medicare. we are on offense on the big ones as well. many of the stops i did overall in august were for challenges, the emphasis being on lot of our orphan districts. i think we are in the strong position to keep our majority in try to expand. we have a lot going on.

that is why i am going to continue to get our focus on jobs. in 2009, president obama said he would have the economy fixed in three years he would suggest to one term proposition. based on the objective, it has not fix anything. he promised to fix the economy. he made it worse. 23 million americans are out of work. the worst stretch of unemployment since the great depression. he promised to cut the deficit in half. he made it worse, adding more than $5 to international debt. he promised us health care. he made it work. -- worse. premiums are going up. he cut medicare to pay for the new entitlement program. he promised to solve our energy crisis. he made it worse.

gas prices have doubled. he also promised to change the tone in washington. anyone who watches tv comic the advertisements will tell you he has made it worse. this will give the american people a chance to learn more about mitt romney and paul ryan. they're going to put americans back to work. i think they are poorly qualified. they understand what the government can do to interfere in the private marketplace to make it more difficult to create jobs. they will provide the american people with a solution. the leadership will be deserved. let me answer your questions. >> i want to ask about the divide. the latest poll found that president obama lead governor

romney among women voters by a margin of 51-41. that was before a akin's comment. three aides are of women have a favorable view of republican party -- 38% of women have a favorable view of the republican party. what can the republican party due to fix the gender gap? >> american women's number one concern are the jobs. they are responsible for households. they pay most of the bills. they make 80 5% of the health care decisions. this economy is hurting women more than it is hurting men. that is getting the american people back to work. >> someone is going to bring you a microphone. it may not happen in my

lifetime. >> there we go. this is the second convention in a row that republicans have had to chop a day off because of weather. the democrats decided already to go to a 3 day convention. do you think the four day convention still makes sense? do you think it is the last time we will see a party try for a 4 day 1? >> these are very expensive proposition. i think given as much news as people get today and the way they get their news, i am not sure having a four day convention for the future makes a lot of sense. i am sure that the rnc and the democrat national committee will assess whether this type of convention is worth the tremendous resources that are put into it.

>> back earlier this year you talked about the republican majority that they were doing well. yesterday your office said there raising all kinds of money. what do you put the odds at seeing new seats? how many do you pick up? >> i think our team is doing well. we have spent a lot of time over the last 18 months trying to get our members and as solid position as we could get them in. as a result, many of them are in better shape than i would have guessed. i want to use more of our resources on offense rather than defense. while they are talking of how macy's we will lose, that is not

my -- of how many seats we will lose, that is mnot my goal. in the last election their 10 seats left on the table by a very few votes. we are on offense. i will keep our team on offense through election. >> here comes the microphone. >> given all the facts you laid out about the economy, what is your diagnosis about why this election seems so close? given what he said about one and be motivated by the economy, why the gender gap? >> we have a gender gap between the parties for a long time. sometimes it gets a little mirror were. sometimes a little wider. -- a little narrower.

sometimes it gets a little wider. there's never a war on women. we have had a gender gap amongst men on our side for a long time. the issue is the economy. when you look at the economy and to talk to small business owners, and i talked to a lot of them, it is all the uncertainty coming out of washington. no one knows what the tax rates will be in january. how can you make an investment when you do not know what your tax rates are going to be and what the tax laws going to look at? when you look at all the regulations, whether it is obamacare or dodd/frank or the epa the regulatory environment is as hot style to the private

sector as i have ever seen. -- hostile to the private sector as i have ever seen. you have a very serious debt issue. the president added $5 million to the national debt. until these three big issues and it the national energy policy if decided, we will have a tough time. that is why we have got someone running for president, mitt romney, who understands the interference of government and what he can do to kill jobs in america. [inaudible] >> modern-day presidential campaigns are close. well a lot of us have paid a lot of attention to this election, not many real people half. real people that live in the

real world adjusting to tune in. i think the election is about to begin. i like our chances. >> michael warren, back in the corner. here comes the microphone. >> thank you. you have no paul ryan for a long time. -- known paul ryan for a long time when he was budget chair. can you talk a little bit about your relationship with paul ryan and your history with him? >> 22 years ago i was in congress for the first time. i was in a race i could not win. if they cannot say your name they will not vote for you. i was running against -- i had a

student named paul ryan putting up yard signs for me. i've known him for a long time. i helped him get elected to the house. i helped him become chairman of the budget committee over at least half a dozen others then were more senior than him. paul ryan is a bright young man who works hard, and knows more about the debt crisis and solutions to it than most anybody in the house and probably knows more about economic policies than anyone. i think mitt romney's selection of a paul ryan really says more about mitt romney than it does about paul ryan. for mitt romney to take what i call it is your choice -- a

riskier choice, it showed that he had to be on offense with this election. putting someone as strong with a clear record as paul ryan says a lot about our nominee. i think it has brought energy to the campaign. i think a broad energy to the candidates. i cannot be happier about the election -- about the selection. >> as the highest ranking republican and respected on both sides of the aisle, can you make me love mitt romney? the american people probably will not fall in love with him. what iis it going to take for

people to like him? >> you cannot really properly introduce yourself in the middle of a republican primary while you are trying to. your opponents are busy tearing you apart. that is one of the reasons why i think his speech this week is important. this is his opportunity to reintroduce himself to the american people. i have now met ronnie for a long time. he's one of the most honest human beings you will find. most americans are just starting to tune in to all of this. what you were repeating was a question that a lady asks me somewhere along the campaign trail. i will take you back to this.

there is one issue in this campaign. one. the president's economic policies have failed. they made things worse. he cannot run on his record. he's trying to find every way to slice and divide the american people to try to win reelection. i am telling you. i am from ohio. he was a governor for 16 years. every four years he ran on two issues, politicians who will put money into your wallet and jobs. mitt romney has a solid record on jobs. he has created jobs. he understands it. the present cannot defend his record. i think the american people are going to vote and in the army will do well.

>> you just said that the main issue in this election is jobs. a few weeks ago todd akin made the main issue of abortion. i am wondering how badly that has hurt the republican chances of taking the senate. have you caught him and asked him to step aside? >> i made it clear that i thought his comments were wrong. i strongly disagreed with him. i support what governor romney and others do, calling for him to step aside. this is another distraction. the american people are not asking the question who istodd akin. they are asking where are the jobs? the american people's focus on what is going on with the economy, and the economy is not based on what the unemployment rate is.

to average american voters their view of the economy is how i feel about my job. how i feel about my wife or my spouse's job. that is their view of the economy. >> have you had a conversation with ken? >> i have not. >> can the republican party continue to win general presidential elections if they do not appeal to more voters than they are today in terms of non-white voters? there is a problem with the party in terms of latino voters. a recent poll shows mr. romney had zero%. >> we have never done well with

those group. think about who this economic downturn has affected the most, blacks, hispanics, young people. i think our economic message in this election cycle will help us recruit more of those groups them it would have otherwise. i think it is important for our party. we have to reach out. that means showing up in their neighborhoods. it is a tall order. it can be done. >> has it happened so far ta? >> this election is about economics. these groups are hit the hardest. they may not show up to vote for our candidates, but they will not show up and vote for the president. >> move the microphone down to

the people in the back. >> your than half of the freshmen republicans were elected last cycle and are planning to come to the convention. i am wondering if you could talk about what you might think that mean and what he may have learned in leading the house this year with this robust class that has often challenge the leadership and push the conference here. >> they have campaigns to run. they have family obligations. i do not think it is an issue at all. in terms of our freshman class, i'm they went through a row baptism of fire. ealthey went through a rol

baptism of fire. we went through hundreds of amendments. no sooner than that was over we had to deal with the debt limit. it was one issue after another. we went through a difficult time. as i look at our team now, they have been there a real process. they understand more about their jobs, more about their constituents than they did 18 months ago. i think we are in a much more solid position. 89 freshmen make up 40% of our majority. one of the smartest things we did starting last february was we met with them personally every week that we have been in session over the last year and a half. we can outline for them where

we were going, why we were going there. get their input. most importantly, answer their questions. i feel good about where we are. 89 freshman from every walk of life, trying to bring them into our team. you know the challenges. it does in a high hill to climb. i feel good about where we are. nice haircut. >> even gigabyte of your food. bite of yourake a food. >> if the storm slammed into new orleans? -- if the storm slammed into new orleans, what would you do? >> i think we are clearly concerned about people's safety. we are clearly concerned about those who may be more effective

than we are. i am confident that the rnc and the campaign will continue to monitor this and make the appropriate decision. >> i think it will be up to the rnc and the romney campaign. >> you talked about the need for governor romney to enter self -- introduce himself to the american people. how do you get people to focus? a lot of focus is on the store and people safety. this is coming at a time. this is where it happens. predict motherot nature. you have to make the best of it.

i was chairman of the convention in minneapolis. when the storm was heading the gulf coast four years ago. you have to make the best of it. there will be enough people paying attention. i am certain. >> right there. we will wait for a microphone. >> for the past few weeks the romney campaign has been accusing the president of ending the welfare work requirements, which a number fact checkers pointed out is false. in an interview, he said there is no question in my mind that the president's action was calculated to shore up space. have we gone too far?

would you reject that type of a charge that obama is ending work requirement? >> the president came out and announced that he was going to the work requirements that were required. he is the one that said it. those work requirements have facilitated moving people from welfare to work. in 1996 we knew it was the first step. for the last 10 years the been trying to take the second step. if you that the work requirements, states get credit for increases in employment. most states have never had to impose the kind of serious work

requirements that the law intended. for the president to try to weigh those -- waive wrong for it is really wrong for those people who are on welfare who need training, in need skills, a need to get into the mainstream of american society. the promise to your question i think is wrong. >> do you think that policy he is taking is to shore up his base? oni don't have an opinion why he would. all i know is he did it. why why would he do it 85 days before the election? i will let you answer yourself.

>> the initial four day program had a big chunk of speaking spots for house members. that has been pared down significantly. i wonder if you feel like struggling house candidates are house republicans in general are getting the exposure you would like to see at this convention? would you have like to see more? >> you cut the convention from four days until of that -- to three days -- a lot of people have been cut out of the schedule but i don't think it's going to have any material impact on them getting themselves elected. >> it just to go back to the significance of putting all ryan

on the ticket and. if romney wins, would he have a mandate to enact the romney budget? -- to an act the wry and budget. >> if romney and ryan win, they will have a clear mandate to fix the four big issues i talked about. the debt crisis, tax reform, make our system are far more competitive and our international companies more competitive, clear up the regulatory nightmare coming out of washington and finally a national energy policy. >> but not the ryan budget or ryan medicare plan? >> the issues dealing with the debt crisis are clear to members on both sides of the aisle. the president and i took the bowles-simpson report as a menu

and the president and i added more policy ideas to that menu. the super committee took the menu the president and i developed and added more menu selections in terms of how do we solve the problem? we have a big menu. we know what needs to be done. system matter of having elected officials with enough courage of their convictions to do it. -- medicare is going to go broke if we don't fix it. everybody in washington knows this. paul ryan and others are the only ones who have put a plan on the table to show people how you could fix it. where are the other ideas from the president? they're hiding. i'm sure there will be other ideas about how you save

medicare. this will all be part of a big policy debate come next year. come next year, regardless of who runs -- of who wins the election. >> for a party that seems so defined by the freshman republican class, there is only one freshman republican addressing the convention. do they deserve a bigger role and what does it say about their role within the party? >> i love our 89 freshmen. for the 89 getting elected, i would not be the speaker. the rnc and others make decisions about who is going to speak. i remember speaking at the 1992 convention when i was a

freshman, part of the gang of seven. it was at 2:00 in the afternoon and no one was watching. i don't think it's an issue at all. >> i'm wondering what your thoughts are, worst comes to worse, and president obama wins another term. what sort of mandate do you see he would have and how would you see his relations with congress and what he could actually accomplish? >> i think he will have some big decisions to make if that were in fact the case. there is nobody more open to solving the problems facing the country than me. there is nobody more

transparent about what needs to be done. but it is going to be the president. i'm going to do everything i can to solve the major challenges facing our country and i will sit down with anyone on either side of the aisle. i have a long track record working with people like ted kennedy, for god's sake. we didn't awful lot of good things together. why he has strong opinions and i have strong opinions, we understood our job was to find common ground and it was common ground that we found. i have no doubt if required, i could find common ground with the president. we found common ground in attempting to solve the debt crisis. unfortunately, the president lost his courage. but for those who know me and those who listen to me over the course of the last 30 days, i never give up.

i never give up on the president regardless of who is occupying the office. >> you talked about the maturation process of the freshman class and how they went through a baptism of fire. you have struggled to pass a continuing resolutions multiple times but right before this recess, you and harry reid announced you had an agreement for a six month resolution to pass after we get past this break. i'm wondering if you have seen a shift in the fundamental beliefs of this freshman class as far as the government needs to do, certain basic things that may be one year ago they were not willing to? >> the freshman understand that there are basic things the government needs to do. the issue is how much do we really need to spend?

we came to an agreement during the debt crisis of the discretionary spending number for this coming fiscal year. we told everyone in the spring that if we don't get these appropriation bills finished, we would move a continuing resolution. it has never been over the need to pass. >> when you're looking at appropriation bills, you're trying to go lower than what was agreed to in the budget control act to the consternation of several democrats. >> we went round and round over this all year. everyone understood the numbers. our team wanted to cut more spending and i've got to pat on the back. as these appropriation bills

move through the process, i hope we continue to look for ways to cut spending. maybe we could cut some money out of the gsa budget so they're not wasting so much money on fancy parties, for example. >> mr. speaker, to continue on your conversation about what happens after the election, what is possible in a lame duck and how do these areas look different in terms of the fiscal cliff if you are dealing with day reelected president and a lame duck president? >> let me begin with this -- the house passed an extension of the current tax rates for one-year.

we've got time to real tax reform next year. second, they sequester the president imposed on us, the house is acted to replace the next year or two of that sequestered with a bill we passed in may with $316 billion of reductions in the next 10 years. the house has done his -- the house has done its work and now it's time for the senate to do theirs. i don't know whether they are going to act or not act. but at some point, things like regular order matter and i think it's time for the senate to move a bill that hopefully we can resolve before the end of the year. >> thank you.

the republican platform is circulating about with different copies of online and in print. based on the report you have seen, is this a good document to run on a fully and in particular, the parts about auditing the federal reserve and at the review of government agencies as to their efficiency without calling for shutting them down. are those things you feel republican house members can run on? >> i have not seen that platform but every indication i have heard, i don't see any major changes in this platform from what we have had in the past. if it were up to me, i would have the platform on one sheet of paper. has anybody read the party platform? i've not been ever met anybody. it ought to be on one sheet of

paper. i was on this kick eight or 12 years ago that we ought to have a one page party platform, that way americans might actually be willing to read it. >> you spoke about how the current house freshman class has evolved, but what about the new recruits in the house? are you seeing an insurgency similar to what we saw in terms of the tea party or has that waned a bit? >> our freshmen have been labeled all kinds of names. we have 89 freshmen and 80 of

them are as rock-solid as can be. it's not the same 80 every day. but if you look through that class, you are going to find we've got some really solid people. if you look at our candidates that are out there, you are going to find a pretty impressive lot. i think they saw these 89 freshmen come to washington and have very real impact. look at a guy like tom cotton in southern arkansas. a harvard grad, decorated military hero, a business guy, really solid candidate. >> you haven't really seen a lot of the tea party challenges this

cycle. >> we have a strong class and they've done a good job. frankly, they have been very good to work with and i expect our new candidates out there will be good to work with as well. >> you have talked quite a lot about the deficit and rightly so, but as you go seeking the house, senate and the presidency, why should the american people trust you with the trifecta? last time, you pass health care that was inadequately funded, you cut taxes more than spending produced and turn the surplus and the deficit?

he led the country into a catastrophic recession in 2008. why should anyone be that much power again? how has the republican party changed? >> i think are pro-growth economic policies are exactly the right prescription for this country. i think getting our tax code or reformed will make american companies more competitive and american exports more competitive and help bring the three trillion dollars of u.s. corporate profits overseas back to america to help create more jobs here. if you look at our plan, i think we have a solid plan for getting the economy back on track. the president's policies have failed. i just went through the hole with the earlier. they failed. they made things worse. he didn't do what he promised he would do. i think the american people will hold them accountable. >> we're going to go away in the

back. then we will do one more in. >> it going back to when you said at the national but energy policy. he sought governor romney rollout his energy plan last week and it did not include the wind tax credits of your republicans to like and others don't want to continue. how can you continue existing republicans as the all the above party next to the energy bill if it comes up? >> i think we're for and all the above national energy plan. that doesn't mean we're going to subsidize all the above. i think there's an awful lot of

scrutiny going into how much subsidy goes to oil or gas, when the, solar or nuclear. i believe the marketplace will judge these various forms of energy in a much more efficient way that government could ever adjust them. but there is a lot more scrutiny over the subsidies that could to various forms of energy supplies.

>> do you have a microphone? >> please share in a broad sense your ideas on how to make the american people have a more favorable view of congress. >> congress has been america's favorite whipping boy and i don't think that's going to change anytime soon. we have 435 members. some of them are out doing things they should not be doing on any given day. to say this. i know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and out why a all -- while there may be differences between democrats and republicans, 99% of my

colleagues are decent, honest people, trying to do the right thing for the country. we work in a setting that makes it very difficult for people to see that. people think all we do is fight with each other. they don't realize that 80% of the time, we are working in a bipartisan manner. the only thing they tend to see is an issue where we have a big disagreement. we are all passing bills on a bipartisan way and it is not new. i think americans don't get as big a picture of our body but i am proud of all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the service they do for their constituents and the service they do for our country. >> we have about two minutes left.

>> i want to ask about the farm bill. at 60% of the country is mired in a drought and we are rapidly approaching the september 30 deadline in the house -- do you foresee congress extending the current bill or do you see -- july >> having spent 16 years on the agriculture committee, i know more about this than i should. the farmer programs and nutrition programs contained in the farm bill cover the entire crop. for most farmers, there is no issue for this year. the exception being when the democrats have the house and senate, they moved the farm bill that only had disaster relief

for livestock producers and for whatever reason, it ran out of money. that is why the house, before we left, extended the disaster program for livestock for this year and went back to january. we are waiting for the senate to do it. that's the most critical part to take care of those in agriculture. how we proceed with a five-year bill or 1-year extension, i think no decisions have been made as of yet. >> i want to thank the speaker for being here and sank cavan and corey for helping us cut this up.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> coming up in less than 10 minutes, we will start our republican national convention preprogram. live at 6:30, a conversation with the national journal's white house correspondent. then, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, and that john sununu. first, we want to show you how the f -- how the convention officially got underway. this is just under 10 minutes. >> please give a warm welcome to the chairman of the republican national committee, reince priebus of wisconsin. [applause] >> thank you.

thank you. thank you. ladies and gentleman, by the authority contained in the rules adopted by the 2008 republican national convention, the republican national committee has directed the 2012 republican national convention be held in tampa, fla., started at 2:00 p.m. on the 27th day of august, 2012. it is my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and called to order. [applause]

the chair announces, pursuant to clause 12, the 2012 republican national convention stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. we are in recess, but for this convention, we want to draw your attention to be unprecedented fiscal recklessness of the obama administration has depicted by their real time national debt clock shown here in the arena. for this convention, we have

installed a second national debt clock that will log of the amount of debt that accrues during the course of this convention. we are still in recess, but ladies and gentlemen, i kindly ask for your silence, and if you are able, please stand, and if you are wearing a hat, please remove it. i would like to take a moment to recognize the hard work of all the security personnel, of emergency responders and volunteers working to keep all convention attendees and all of those in the path of hurricane is sick out of harm's way. thank you for all your efforts. now, i am pleased -- [applause] i am pleased to welcome the rev. dr. russell levenson to offer a

prayer. >> ladies and gentlemen copley's bell your head as we pray. almighty god, father of the whole human family, we thank you and ask your blessing as we gather for this uniquely american moment. we think governor -- gov. scott and the good people of florida who have opened their arms of hospitality to welcome those gathering here. for he gives life and health and safety, we pray for those already affected by the hurricane, and for those in its path, keep them safe and to deliver them and provide for their every need and bless those who assist them in this time of trial. we also remember this day, one

of our great american heroes, neil armstrong, who captured the american spirit. as he reminds us, americans have always reached for the stars, and spiry all of humankind. thank you for a guiding our nation's founders for a are in a legal rights that you bestow upon us, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we ask you to guide and direct with your wisdom, our president and congress and the courts, made america a delight to all the nations, enabling those to lead us to dreams, hopes, and aspirations in to reality and to make the american ideal of certainty not just for some, but for all. finally, by your mercy, may we never forget our freedoms have

been one with the bloods and -- the blood and sacrifice are patriots. always remember our industry and in the nation has been forged with the sweat and toil of american men and women, always believe houses of worship are born of the fruit your inspiration and the desire to honor and serve others and it may we never forget we are at our best when we know in our hearts that we are not just one nation, but one nation under god. in the name of our lord, ipod larry -- in the name of our lord, i pray. a man. [applause]

>> a generation of immigrants looked up and saw the statue of liberty for the first time, one thing they knew beyond any doubt was they were coming to a place where anything was possible. as americans, their children would have a better life. i believe in that america. i believe you believe in that america. though each of us come from very different backgrounds, that each of us have chosen to walk a different path in life, we are united by one great overwhelming passion. we love america. we believe in america. >> the best spirit of enterprise, and a nation, a pioneer in can do propelled our economy past any other nation. in the campaign to come, the american ideas of economic freedom and opportunity to take

clear and unapologetic defense. i intend to make it. we stand for freedom and opportunity and hope. the principles that made this nation a great and powerful leader of the world have not lost their meaning. they never will. i mitt romney. i believe in america. and i'm running for president. >> it good evening from the tampa bay times forum, the side of this year's republican national convention. this is day one of the convention. the convention did gavel in, but very briefly. as i sick comes to the gulf coast, depending on the severity of the storm, the speaking program of the leak could be

adjusted. for the next 90 minutes in c- span, we will talk about what to predict. at the top of the our public to expect next week, the democratic response from rep debbie wasserman schultz. later in the program, former new hampshire to cover and from the advisor, john sununu. as we look inside the tampa bay times forum, let's look at the schedule for the second day of the convention. it has been adjusted because the first day has been scrubbed. we will hear from reince priebus and the roll call of states. we will hear the keynote address delivered by new jersey governor, chris christie. speaker of the house john boehner will deliver remarks tomorrow. rick santorum and and romney, originally scheduled to speak this evening, will speak tomorrow. much more coming up at the

moment, but let's go to the floor of the tampa bay times forum. >> the press secretary of the republican national convention joins us now in front of the podium. on your daily conference call when you have been furiously working while we wait for the program to begin, what updates can you give us on the schedule of events? >> we are moving forward. what happens today is chairman reince priebus gaveled us open and moved us into recess. we basically postponed today's events and will start tomorrow in a great convention on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. any changes right now to the schedule as posted last night? >> we posted a new schedule this morning but is essentially the same schedule. >> @ do you get a lot of requests for speaking time for members of congress and senators? how do you manage that? >> the good thing about our

party is we have a tremendous amount of good speakers. it is a process to figure out who would be the most dynamic and the best in telling the story of mitt romney's vision for a better future and who would be best to show the contrast between mitt romney's business and the failed policies of barack obama. >> is it difficult for your team to manage to messages -- the message you want to get out here at the republican national convention and a message of isaac moving up the coast? >> it is certainly a challenge, but what i think we're handling. out of an abundance of caution, we took steps to postpone today's events. we want convention goers and residents and security personnel here in tampa to be safe. now, our thoughts are with those in the path of the storm. >> no other postponements or changes? >> as of right now, we're moving

forward at the convention plant. >> has paul ryan arrived in town? >> i don't know. >> what can you tell us about mitt romney's arrival? >> i also don't know. >> speaker baker said today he did not know whether four days or necessary for a convention. >> we did a three days four years ago and we're doing a three days again this year. it is a debatable topic. >> when did you start working for the convention? >> i moved down here about two months ago and it has been a blur. >> does the planning star before that? >> the planning stretches back about two years. >> when do you start working with the presumed nominee? >> that's a good question. probably after senator rick santorum at suspended his campaign. >> when we see this program for the next three days, will this

be met romney? who has the stamp of this? >> it is an interesting thing. you have the committee on arraignment's, the convention, the republican national committee, the host committee and the romney for president campaign. four different entities working in the same direction, but what has been refreshed is how everyone is working to lockstep admitting toward the same goal, to nominate ms. romney and paul right to be a next president of the nine states. >> when you see these convention halls, what do you think when you hear them described as a giant tv studios? >> i think that's one way of looking at it, but it's more than that. there are several audiences. there are the delegates on the floor who have to do the business of the nomination. there is the television audience, which is massive. probably 80 million will watch on cable. this is the 21st century, was so

we have a new audience out there which is the on-line audience, and we are launching a massive social media effort within every asset of our -- every aspect of our communications plan. i don't know if we can measure how big an audience we pickup of lied, but you get a soldier serving overseas camelot gonad have the exact same experience as a delegate on the floor because they will be communicating with their smart fun than facebook and twitter and youtube pages. it's going to be a big dialogue taking place between folks here on the floor of the convention and people across the country and around the world. >> the best website of people want to see your work? >> bit gop national convention website. >> joined it does on the floor is a familiar face to our c-span

audience, major garrett. he hosted a panel looking at social media. he covers the white house and politics for the national journal. let me pick up what peter was talking about -- a split screen with here in tampa and isaac as the storm makes its way up the coast to louisiana, texas or alabama. >> i think republicans are wrestling with some legitimate fears about a convention in tampa that thankfully was missed entirely by isaac. the weather was tepid to be perfectly blunt. a little rain and wind but not much else. yet the latest projections are for a landfall in a mobile alabama or eight category two hurricane. republicans are wrestling with the optics of a convention here, a political celebration with some part -- some partisan edge and a storm that could drench residents along the gulf coast

and inflict severe damage. there are evacuations in order, those governors, all republican, are getting ready for a big storm. the governor of louisiana was going to have a high-profile speech but is staying in louisiana. the other governors are not going to be here because they are preparing for the storm. that is something the republicans are going to have to deal with. they are cautious with their message of full speed ahead. they may have to reevaluate our right now, they're going to proceed with the schedule but they are bit nervous about what is on one screen, a hurricane, a possible damage and their convention in tampa. >> we will be joined at the top of the hour by someone who knows more planning within the romney campaign. our phone lines are open for

those of the to support their romney and if you're a supporter of the president. the airline for independence and we'll get to your calls in just a moment. let me go back to what the romney campaign needs to do this week. there is a piece this morning to the "wall street journal" the says they want to present the personal side of the candidates, but in a series of interviews, that romney says i am what i am, i business executive, a turnaround guy. >> i don't think mitt romney wants to use this convention or intends to use this convention to try to do something jarringly dissimilar to what he has done on the campaign trail. typically, conventions that don't comport with to the canada already is don't tend to work. these things need to amplify and reinforce what exists in the public consciousness. there is not one of the movement

you can make based on someone like governor romney, let's be honest with ourselves, is not an unknown figure. some of the romney camp believe another interjection might be helpful, but he has been running for president off and on for five years. i don't think he wants to use his convention to do something dramatically different from what he has done so far. the idea that he is a turnaround specialist that has unique skills for this time in american history is something this convention is going to be about. one of the things that was mentioned about the interactive nature of this convention that we came up with our former, the digital space and how social media is changing all of this. on the convention for for the first time, but such is going to be c-span cameras are network cameras, there'll be delegates on the floor with their iphone and their droid devices

probably streamy some sort of video. people are not just going to have the traditional means of looking at the convention, but providing their own up photo and a commentary. it's a completely different world digitally from this convention even from the one in 2008. >> let me point to this article from the weekly standard, andrew ferguson is generally positive but says that his own wedding, he declined to have a photographer take a picture of him kissing his wife. it's called learning to like that. he says he's a good guy, but how does he get beyond the damage to go for the swing voters in the key states? >> my experience covering presidential politics is candidates convey part of who they are the campaign trail and some are better than others. i spent a lot of time and is set

up covering bob dole and found him to be universally affable, funny, and as someone who was at peace with himself and able to make fun of himself. so many people who covered bob dole knew him a personal context wonder why that did not translate of the campaign trail. some of the people close to their romney says the governor is similar in that respect. that he is affable and funny privately but that does not always convey on the national stage or the television cameras. that could be an impediment. a convention can deal with that in some ways. you can try to soften your image but the ability for and to convey more of his persolity on the stump is something all in he can do. if he does that, he will have to live with the results that if you don't -- if he does, he can perhaps gain some advantage.

>> let's go to sandy in peoria. >> i am here, and are you catch me? >> please, go ahead. >> i wanted to say i find it appalling that we don't hear much of the pundits say anything about congress has a 12% rating among americans and the reason why is because they are back to the things. they do absolutely nothing that will help the american people get jobs and change the economy. that is what we should be stressing. the people who are doing nothing. >> i think the latest poll had a congressional approval rating at 12%, and that might be a little too high. >> this is an interesting

dynamic and sandy is on to something. the obama campaign long thought -- and i wrote a piece about this -- david axelrod, the chief strategist for the election campaign for a bubble says everyone believed there romney would pick tim pawlenty, former governor of minnesota. one of the reasons they thought that what happened is they believe that governor romney would not want to tie his campaign to republicans in washington and congress because of this underlying low approval rating. what is interesting about the underlying disapproval for congress is that it has been constant since august of last year. 12 -- after the debt ceiling crisis, it has ticked up and is still historically low and back to 12%. one of the themes at this convention in tampa is that mitt romney can change washington. but many people onstage are

representatives of washington, not all of them. gov. chris christie is not of washington. but marco rubio is. at the democratic national convention, i think you'll see more persistent message. one of the things that has complicated life for president obama has been the house republicans and their unwillingness to compromise. one of the things you here in tampa some house republicans will say we did not compromise and we're proud of it because he's to be replaced not compromised with. those will be some of the tension points that reflect the low approval rating. >> did you talk to party activists keeping an eye on some of the other speakers? gov. chris christie -- there are often one or two individuals who come out of these conventions as new stars. what are you hearing?

>> i'm not sure what to look for and it's hard to predict to can come out of a convention. i have two examples in mind. one not was wrong. some of you may remember then arkansas governor bill clinton's speech on behalf of michael dukakis in 1988 -- a droning speech that went on and on and on. there were calls for him to get off the stage and some thought it would lead to the ruination of his political career. i was on the floor in boston when barack obama gave his speech on behalf of john kerry and it was the most electrifying thing i had ever seen on a political convention from either party and i have attended conventions for both major national policy -- both major national parties. bill clinton looked like he had that his future great harm and a barack obama like catapulted himself and to the national

consciousness and made himself almost an override presidential contender with that speech. you can gain or you can possibly appear to lose and almost gain something back. a speech can catapult shoe. it is your innate political skills that what you do with it that matters most. >> bridget is joining us from new york city. >> i support president obama. i vote for him. >> why is that? >> he is getting the job done. almost everything he said he's going to do, he did, and he did it in such a small time frame considering how this country has been jacked up for all these decades. he has their remarkable job. >> take that sentiment -- what will the democrats be doing with regard to people who support

the president? >> i think many people who will speak on his behalf, and his first two years, they were tremendously active at a tremendous amount of work has been done and promises were made of the campaign and with a democratic house and democratically controlled senate, many of the promises were kept. not all, but many. the president's surrogates will say there was an election that he was restrained and there is an intense battle of house republicans over the future of the country. the president will say if you like the first two years and if you want to preserve that, which means the health care lockable financial reform legislation, if you want to preserve that, you need to reelect me because the republicans will try to repeal most if not all of those first to your accomplishments. if you want to move in the directions i set forth, president obama and is speaking with some will say you have to

reelect the president. while republicans will say is those air brakes applied in the midterm elections succeeded in slowing down if not stopping completely that president's agenda. that was the first step to rejuvenating the american economy. they will save you want to continue that work, you need to elect governor romney and make him the next president. i think here in tampa and in charlotte, you have an intense debate over the next -- over the first two years of the president and it will be a completely different take on america and what needs to happen in the future. >> some facts about this convention -- is the first time since 1972 that the republicans have come to florida. in 1972, to back-to-back conventions. the democrats and republicans are meeting in miami beach.

it florida is a key swing state, but a lot of conversation is to whether or not these conventions should that change and go to three days. we have seen to republican conventions moved up to three days. the question came up today when john boehner was asked about it at a breakfast. >> these are very expensive proposition to put on. given as much news as people get today and the way they get their news, i'm not sure having a four-day convention makes a lot of sense. i am sure the rnc and the democratic national committee will assess whether this type of convention is worse the tremendous resources that are put into it.

>> speaker of the house, john boehner, earlier today. should we see changes to the length of these conventions and the scheduling of them? >> the speaker understands full well that national party is really control list. it is worth pointing out the democratic national committee already decided to make the democrats' convention a three- day one and not a four-day one. the republicans had a four-day one until hurricane isaac intervened. i have a lot of conversations with republicans to say two things. number one, there's a great sense of party expectations. they like a large party and the idea of coming to a city and is celebrating their involvement and last of politics and they don't mind it is spread out over four days. internallso something behind the scenes. john baker alluded to this

somewhat -- there are invested in the process of a four-day convention. that and it's the same people the contracts every four years and there are tremendous pressures applied on both parties to keep that going. i don't want to call it a gravy train but it is something approximating every four years, certain folks get in line and they are benefited by their ability to provide services for a fee at the major national party convention. but the reality is and the parties are beginning to reconcile this. audience share is diminishing at night tonight at network interest is diminishing night tonight and cable networks are evaluating the necessity of providing gavel-to-gavel coverage and i think national parties are wrestling with what to do what they're activists and delegates and those have long benefited from the commerce generated by national

conventions and the the reality that these events are occupying less prominence in the public mind. i have had conversations with republicans -- what if you created a one-night event chocked full of news with the entire process collapsed to three hours -- wouldn't that be a dramatic news event that all the country's attention and create a platform for your message that would be more long- lasting and in tents because it telescoped into one night? they said it would be possible but no one has gone there yet and until they do, we will be sitting in the kind of situation where this format is only going to be changed bit by bit. >> there is probably no better person to talk about conventions that the point person for the romney campaign. i want to get a sense of what the last 72 hours has been like as you sort through the storm and schedule and speaking arrangements. >> it has been interesting.

we were really able to put together our program and a way that we were able to expand without having to lose too much. increasing our hours to about 45 minutes and we've had to cut a few things but not many things. at the end, we were able to put all our headliners and so hopefully nobody will be disappointed. >> walk us through tomorrow, wednesday and thursday. what are at the seams and what do you want coming out of this convention? >> it on tuesday, the theme is ""we built it. government romney and president obama had a major philosophical difference on that front. president obama that thinks government starts businesses and helps people along the way. governor romney thinks it is up to the individual and it is the

individual the propels our economy. on wednesday, it will be we can change it. that will talk about the specific things, but romney is going to do, is middle class tax agenda that will allow him to change the economy and change the way we're going but the country. the last day is we believe and america which will allow us to tell this entire story in a way that may not have been done so far. the big messages governor romney is uniquely qualified at this time to be president of the united states. >> karl rove was on c-span and he compared the importance of this speech to what george herbert walker bush faced in 1988. can you give us a sense of how he is preparing an to is working with him and what he wants to convey to the american people? >> he has been up at his home in wolfeboro, the new hampshire and

has been working on the speech hard for a couple of days. he has a small team of people around him helping him and being part of the process. i know that he likes to write a lot on his own anti has taken to his ipad on several occasions and rights good chunks of the speech himself. i think you can look at speech as being not that different from some of the themes we have been talking about -- the idea that this economy needs to get going and that governor romney is the right person to do this. >> will he get personal and talk about himself? >> i don't want to give it all away. >> any surprises? >> i don't know if there's any surprises. we hope we will have a good convention that will drive that message. also a convention that people enjoy. >> thank you for being on c-

span. it's good to talk to you. i know you have been dealing with the schedule here but there were interesting polling numbers in florida today from cnn. i wonder how you evaluate the situation in florida and how you believe paul ryan's addition to the ticket has or has not changed the dynamic here and how confident you are about this crucial state. when i was in boston, i was able to get a sense of about nine scenarios you have to reach that magic number. if my memory serves, only one did not include the crucial state of florida. >> florida is incredibly important. it is a state that has decided -- that and ohio has decided the last several presidential elections. when the ohio and florida, and

it's going to be hard for any candidate not to be the president of the united states. i think paul ryan's addition to the ticket is good and the people of florida will understand the problems we face are real and serious and the romney/ryan ticket is there to work on the big, serious problems. that is partly exemplified, if you see the two debt clocks in all, we put them up as a reminder that every second that goes by, we are putting our future deeper in debt and putting our children and grandchildren deeper in debt. i think people across the country want to fix it and change it. >> if i could ask one more question -- one more point about the debt clock. arty party republicans who are here who got their activism -- at activism going because of what they saw lack of attendance

to the debt issue under the bush presidency. will there be anything in governor romney's remarks that will address those concerns and say the republican party needs to stay on a different course that was when there were contributions to the debt situation under the bush presidency? >> governor romney has already said that on several occasions. he has said this spending has to stop and unless we do that and come together and republicans and democrats have to agree that you look at the numbers increase and how fast they increase and you realize the situation is untenable. we have to put an end to it and stop it. gov. romney is the only one talking about ways to do that. president obama hasn't addressed this issue. >> there has been so much

coverage about this storm, but is there any concern as it moves to a category 2, you do have what people are calling us split screen of the convention and what is happening to hundred miles north of us? >> we will watch very carefully but it is a weather event. >> will the convention be over on thursday? >> we will gaveled it closed and people stop one of the debt clock's up there and see how much debt has accumulated. >> that we conclude, is the way romney has run this campaign a reflection on how, if elected, he would run his white house? >> i do not want to appear as if i speak on behalf of any candidate, but my experience covering politics is this --

even though there is a sense that political campaigns go on too long and there is much too much time devoted, the only thing i have experienced that gives anyone seeking the presidency and idea, and notion of how about the job is -- and i believe the campaigns and the way they are run and the way decisions are run is a window into how that candidate if he becomes president will take on the rigors of the presidency. that was true for the candidate obama. i think it is one place that the crucible of the presidency is in a small weight replicated, and that is the pursuit of the presidency and the first place. >> i think governor romney has had a touch of that experience in the past. he has managed big, tough situations before, and the

turnaround of felix was something that was not seen as something that was easy to fix, and he turned that around to having one of this most successful olympic games ever. as governor, he took a deficit and turned it into a rainy day fund. his experience in business gives him firsthand business on how to create jobs. you have to take a look at his entire life. his entire life has been his preparation for this particular moment when we believe he can really turn this country around. >> you have been a busy the individual. thank you very much. major, thank you for be part of this coverage from the tampa bay times forum. today karl rove talked about the 3-2-1 strategy in order for mitt romney to get to 270 electoral

votes. debbie wasserman schultz joining us. >> star in with the mccain states, because massachusetts and new jersey and york and illinois it lost electoral college other states one then. there are three historic republican states which obama took, indiana, north carolina, and virginia. they together have 37 electoral college votes. you've got to get those back. indiana is gone. obama has no chance to carry indiana. i said, mitch, is there a white democrat south of indianapolis who is not a college professor? he stopped for a minute and said not that i can think of.

north carolina is gone. they will play like it is not gone and keep spending, and you cannot pull out of a state where you are holding their convention. when you have 20% in the democratic primary voting for somebody other than barack obama, and the party there in disarray and the republican party on the move, there are a lot of new southern independents, who in 2008 said this would be good for our country, let's put the issue of race behind us, and this time around they are saying i liked him and we did the right thing, but he has done a lousy job on the economy. he is not a fiscal conservative. they will not vote for him. i am feeling increasingly good about virginia. none of these are subtle, but those three will pull back and -- will pull back in.

these states in two dozen for, the states in 2008, the swing to obama and florida was less pronounced than the swing in the nation as a whole. he has problems in both states. if you win those five states -- >> what is the most promising? >> hampshire, the home state michigan, the gambling state, nevada, colorado, ohio, pennsylvania, just one. >> comments this morning on c- span, and joining us is that share of the democratic national committee, debbie wasserman schultz. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> as you look at the map and a 270 electoral votes, what is

your response to what karl rove was saying? >> we're focused on making sure we can run the most significant grassroots presidential campaign in history. that is what we have been doing. we know he inherited the largest set of problems of any president since fdr, and the economy at the time was hemorrhaging. 750,000 jobs a month. thanks to his policies, we have had 29 straight months of job growth in the private sector. we have had a resurgence in the manufacturing sector. with all due respect karl rove, that is a nice, rosy picture that he painted of how the elecral map could go their way. for example, in north carolina, we have our convention next week in charlotte, because we were

committed to planting a flag in the south, not ceding any ground in any region of the country, and making sure when it comes to the dramatic contrast that exists in this campaign, one that has mitt romney fighting to increase taxes on the middle- class to pay for budget-busting tax breaks for the rich, and someone who as his full-time job was the ceo of a company that cut and bankrupt companies to make his investors company's edgett jobs overseas, that is not a message resonates so well in a state like north carolina, a manufacturing state that lost manufacturing jobs. president obama's commitment to bringing jobs back to this country and taking away the tax incentives that mitt romney supports, that incentivizes companies to ship jobs to other countries, bring them back to

america so we can make things in america again, that is the messaging we think will appeal to states that are going to be really significant when it comes to who actually wins the presidential campaign. steve, i will ask you to help me, there is a lot of feedback and a sound, getting every word i say back in my own ear perry >> we will try to work at that. next week we will be in charlotte, north carolina, for the democratic convention. i know the podium will be unveiled later this week, but give us a sense of what that things will become of what we can expect, and what contrast you want to draw with but republicans are doing this week? >> as you may know, we had the notion that it was incredibly important after we sat down and president obama sat down with voters across the country and

asked them, what was important to them when it came to hearing from the democratic party and from president obama on how they wanted to go through the nominating process. our focus groups told us that it was incredibly important to make sure we opened up the convention even more. in two dozen 8 we were so proud that president obama accepted and may -- in 2008 we were so proud that president obama accepted the convention in a community in the west when the president accepted the nomination in denver. that was an open to the public event. we took that one step further, several steps further, and we are beginning our week next week with carolina fest, where we are having an open to the public series of events, a festival, that is going to focus and highlight the carolinas and virginia, and make sure that everybody who wants to has an opportunity to participate in

the nominating process of president obama. we will close the week with an open to the public event with 70,000 to 80,000 people who will attend to hear president obama, our other speakers, and enter tainment, accept his nomination again, and talk about what it is so important to fight for the middle-class and working families. you can contrast that with what republicans are doing this week in my home state in florida. they are running the typical open only to the corporate - funded, corporate-infused, invitation only affair threat to become an while i commend them for closing down and not running their first day in the face of a hurricane, i was surprised that they still had

these huge corporate bashes that were funded by special interests. though still went on. it is baffling that they would party while our state is getting hit by hurricane down in south florida. we weathered the storm pretty well, but party and with special interests is not exactly something that middle-class and working families understand. you will see a dramatic contrast this week, particularly as their convention begins tomorrow. they have used words like reinvention is, we do, we introduced when it comes to referring to mr. romney. they might as well have a big hsh -- etch-a-sketch above the podium. of what americans want to make sure they have a president in the white house who understands

what they are going through. not someone who believes that we should go back to the cynthia policies of the past that crashed our economy and got us into this mess and the first place. whetherof the issues is or not the dnc will disclose their founders. >> the host committee actually has had an agreement with -- in which we will make sure we disclose those donors to the normal fcc process . >> but it will not come out before or during the convention then? >> the host committee is committed to following the normal process, and they are under an agreement in which they will follow the process that is prescribed by the federal election commission.

>> margaret is joining us come in omaha, nebraska. margaret, good evening. caller: good evening. how are you today. i was wondering, what resonates in this country cannot become is the truth -- jobs, i am a teacher. the amount of income lost per household, $4,000 per household. the division that your party preaches between -- and i hispanic -- between race and income is terrible. i do not know how you can look somebody in the face, and to talk about romney where you took michigan for what it was, he took the olympics for what it was, and everything that came out of that, and this president

has done the opposite. you can take the money back to bush, if you want to, but look at the deficit, he has not done anything with his money. the investments he has made -- >> margaret, thank you for the call. we will get a response. >> i cannot disagree with margaret more. the president inherited the largest of the problems of any president since fdr, and was hemorrhaging in an economy with seven under 50,000 jobs a month lost. banks to his policies like the recovery act, the stimulus fund that put a tourniquet on that bleeding and we were able to stop the bleeding and begin to get things turned around. the president of the courage to rescue the automobile industry when it from me would have allowed the trip to go bankrupt. that would have been 1.4 million jobs that would have gone down

the tubes. we have saved thanks to that decision in florida alone 35,000 jobs, and added another 7000 jobs, just in florida. in ohio, one in a jobs in ohio are tied to the auto industry, and 80 counties have a manufacturing facility. to say to the citizens of ohio to let the tricked go bankrupt when so many jobs are dependent on the auto industry, it really demonstrates how callous it from me is, and i do not think his brand of economics, from the economics, is bad for the middle-class. it says that it does not matter if everybody plays by the same set of rules, if herrity pays their fair share. just make sure that the wealthiest americans do well and hope the trickle down will help the rest of us. president obama believes that we should pass -- we should

continue the tax breaks he pushed through for small businesses. he believes we should make sure we give college aid so there can be more opportunities for folks to get an education and live the american dream. we have made quite a bit of progress, although we have a long way to go, but not only do i disagree with margaret's premise, i am not sure where she is getting her fax from either. >> comment made by mitt romney on friday, about his own birth certificate. he called that a joke, did you think that was a political swipe at the president? >> that was clearly a political sideswipe at the president. there is nothing funny. i am not sure what is funny about that. what is funny about questioning the president's heritage, his birth? the only reason that would be a joke is in reference to the

extremists in the two-party questioning the president's sergeant and his place of birth. that has long been quest it was never a question, and mitch romney said allied -- said out loud that he was born in this country. it is a dog whistle to the extremists in his party. it was in poor taste. some will chalk it up is all or its of humor. that is another example of how out of touch mitt romney is with everyday folks who simply want to make sure we have a president who is there, understanding that we have to have someone in there swinging for the middle-class. >> we will go to kareem from dallas, texas. caller: hi, good evening.

i'm calling because i want to express the viewpoint of mine. i actually voted for president obama back in 2008. it was kind of a feeling of a revolution that occurred because the whole country was caught up with the direction. after looking through the past 3 1/2 years, i can honestly say i have not seen much change at all. i have been very disappointed with some of the promises that he made that he has not kept, and i am just not happy at all. i am a young man, graduated from college, and as far as with in mentioning the would cut the debt in half by the first t erm, amazes me as far as the

representative says about that special interest groups and the big corporations, where obama is heavily involved with the corporations and a special interest groups as well. his major contributors were -- and people need to understand the economy cannot allow a president -- the reason our economy is of that is is because the federal reserve, which is a private corporation, and is is destroying our country. >> let's get a response from the chairman of our party. that is one of the issues that obama is dealing with, a different campaign than it was four years ago. >> we are running this a campaign that we have always run. this has been a door-to-door

campaign in which we have committed the put forward the largest most civic and, -- most inclusive campaign in history. i beg to differ with that precedent. this is a president who made a commitment early on do not expect contributions to -- accept contributions to his campaign. we do not accept campaigns from lobbyists. our average contribution is about $50. 90% of our conditions are less than $250, and compare that to mitt romney's campaign, which is corporate-confused, and has a much higher average contribution that the president's. that is not accurate, and when it comes to keeping its promises, this is a president who committed as candidate to bring our troops home from iraq

and did. he committed to make sure we begin to get a handle on our deficit, and thanks to passing the affordable care act, we have begun to reduce our deficit. we added a years of solvency to medicare, make sure when it came to reform, reforms like the at affordable care at the entrance companies -- insurance companies cannot drop you. never again could big banks run over consumers. ethnic robbery were able to become president, he would roll back wall street reforms traded i could not disagree with the call or more. president obama has spent a transformational press the, and we need to move forward, not go back to the fell prophecies that got us into this mess in the first place. >> what is your job next week? what would you be doing?

>> i will be doing a whole lot, making sure that our delegations are fired up and ready to go, insuring that the ains run on time. have staff that will be doing a whole lot to make sure those things happen. our job is to nominate president obama, make sure we have our women's caucuses and hispanic caucus and all the different moving parts of the democratic national convention so we can send off president obama as our party boss nominee into the fall campaign and make sure we put a lot of momentum behind him. that is the activity i will be involved in next week, and i am looking forward to it. >> we read an editorial endorsing president obama from

former governor charlie crist. >> appreciate the endorsement of the former governor. he is an independent now. i can tell you having worked with charlie crist when i was in the state legislature, all the way through -- he is someone, while i have not always agreed with him, i have always respected he has been willing to reach across the aisle. that is the important thing, there's so much vitriol in the political process, we need to make sure we follow president obama's lead and continue to across the aisle. right now the republicans and the drug may seem only concerned about one job -- barack obama's -- and we are concerned about

american jobs. we need to work together to do that. if they were not focused on defeating the president and were willing to work together, we could get even more accomplished. i look forward to that after president obama wins a second term. >> what about the issue of security and demonstrations? we have seen some already in tampa. >> the host committee and charlotte under the mayor going to be ready to allow people to freely express their first amendment rights, which we know is one of the hallmarks of our constitution and our american democracy. >> how much of the convention will you be watching this week? >> now that we are in south florida, to the worst of the storm, i expect i will see a

little bit of it, but i expect to be in tampa to in joint with them, because it was we have set up a board room in tampa -- a war room in tappan, and we will make sure that the folks to attend the convention as well as those watching understand a dramatic contrast to we do not allow mitt romney's campaign to get away with what we expected the a convention reinvention. romney has been committed to focusing economic policy on helping millionaires and billionaires do better than they already do, and that would be to the detriment to the middle class. in my state, medicare is important. he wants to turn medicare into a voucher system. he has a vice-presidential candidate who is committed to their budgeting approach, which would actually increase taxes on the middle-class by $2,000 per

family to pay for budget-busting tax breaks for the wealthy. we will make sure both attending the convention and the folks watching at home understand there is a big difference in the two choices that voters will have. >> we will have our cameras in the war room and tap out. we will have republicans and to get their response. debbie wasserman schultz, drawing from -- joining us from fort lauderdale. thank you for joining us. >> that you, steve. >> back to the floor where peter slen is checking in with folks at the convention. >> mayor, you are standing in the center of republican headquarters. >> it is a good thing. it is my city. we are proud to be the host of

the rnc. it is a huge economic to but activity. >> are you done at this point with tropical storm isaac? >> we think so. there will be some bands of whether that gets through, but largely it is moving west. i do not wish ill on anybody, and i am thinking of my fellow mayors. we dodged the bullet. it inconvenienced some because they have to compress the schedule, but it will be a great day tomorrow. rnc will get a nominee, and 10 but will get a shot. >> i have been the mayor for a year and half. the previous mayor was on the selection committee. >> i am a democrat.

i have been actively involved in this, and in and with the rnc. and for folks who want to make this a partisan, it is not for me. what takes inside that building will be partisan. which takes place outside the building is nothing more than tampa's coming-out party. >> what is the initial outlay? >> we were lucky. we struck a hard bargain. we did not have to put out much cash. the federal government came up with $50 million. that cover our security costs. the host committee raised another $50 million. i have up to $4 million in. this was an opportunity to push so much stuff to the pipeline of the bureaucracy to get it done in advance of the rnc that i have got stuff done that

would have taken me three or four more years. >> appreciate you stopping by. joining us is somebody who's or runs a website that a lot of people will be checking out in the next 70 days. it is politifact.com. >> is a fact-checking website, the rate comments on our truth-o-meter. >> we just interviewed debbie wasserman schultz. we want to see if republicans have a close convention. >> we allow hyperbole, and we cannot fact check opinions.

that is largely an opinion. we have back-checked her a lot, back the chairwoman of the dnc. we have raided her on many things, and she has gotten some true ratings and some false. she has even gotten some pants on fire ratings. we checked everybody, and that is viable, because your viewers hear a lot of these messages, these talking points for both parties, and the wonder is that true? that is what we are all about. our goal is to answer people's curiosity paid, if people go to the website right now, they will see a lead story about house republicans and whether or not they have kept their promises. what is the result? >> it is mixed fate we have a similar feature, the gop pledge- o-meter, and we found the house

republicans have made progress on things and they fulfil some promises, where they have run into trouble is the senate, that the democratic-controlled senate has balked and a lot of initiatives. likewise, our other feature, it rates the promises obama has made, at our talent, he has a total of 508 promises, he has kept about 30% of them, he has broken 16% of them, and why so many broken promises? because of the republicans in the house. we have a divided congress, and with republicans in the house, democrats in the senate, republicans cannot get their agendas passed. and president obama has been unable to pass an lot of his promises. we monitor that. we're busy.

>> you also pack-checked the pundits, and what about political commercials? >> we do a lot of commercials. we have a partnership with npr, and we have fact-check dozens of campaign commercials, from the campaigns, from anyone who puts out a tv ad, radio ad, fliers, and print advertising. i noticed something from the other day, we get a lot of true, mostly to, and half-true ratings. they are not all false. there are a lot of things in them that are accurate. a lot of the main points lately have been false. we have given pants on fire ratings to both the obama and romney campaigns for messages recently. that keeps us busy. you'd see an ad and you wonder if it is true, politifact is the

place to go. >> politifact.com is a pulitzer- prize-winning web site. this is a tampa bay times for perry used to be named -- -- >> the st.pete times forum. is normally where the tampa bay lightning plays. we changed the name of the newspaper to print the paper the way we had been for years, which is the newspaper of tampa bay. we are the largest newspaper in florida. it is a special news organization, owned by the poynter institute, which gives us a commitment to break

journalism. it is great to be here in the forum, and it looks different than when the lightning place here. >> bill adair, thank you. >> peter, thank you, and joining us on the floor as the former chair of the new hampshire republican party, john sununu. thank you very much for being with us. let me ask you about new hampshire. it used to be a ruby-red solid republican state, and now it is a battleground. what changed? >> in 2010, we swept the vermin out. took control of the new hampshire house, senate, the executive council. we won back the two congressional seats. the governor managed to hang on

by the skin of his chin. this november, there will be a republican governor harry >> the president has been spending a lot of time. give us a sense of the dynamics of the state. >> it is now a state in which the registration is about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. republicans still have more registrations and the democrats. it is a new england state. we have for months on the west, maine on the east, massachusetts in the south, and quebec on the north, so we are an island of conservative sanity. >> what is the mitt romney that you know? there are people who say he is not express a more of his personal life. tell our audience what you know about him and what he would do as president.

>> mitt romney is the kind of guy you would love to have as a neighbor. he is smart, compassionate, generous. he is mr. fix it. he got a broken fence, he will fix it for you. we also know of his public successes. he has a great family, and he has a wife that is truly his partner, his lifetime sweetheart, five wonderful sons, and i think 18 grandchildren now. this is a man who has success in the private sector, and the democrats like to make fun of the amount of money has made. he did not make money like that but accident in america. this is a man who has created jobs and creating success for people. in the public sector, he left immediately as he was called to go and fix the olympics in utah,

which were in disarray, and falling apart. he made a huge success of that. when he got elected governor in massachusetts, he fixed it. he inherited a huge deficit, turned into a surplus with a $2 billion rainy day fund. he did that without raising taxes. he actually cut taxes, and most importantly, people have to understand he did that with a democratic legislature that was 85% democratic. if anybody in america can cross the aisle and do things on a bipartisan basis, mitt romney is governor of massachusetts proves that. this is the right man for the right time. this country is hurting. we have 8.3% unemployment. we have 25 million people unemployed or underemployed. it needs fixing, and we need him to come fix it. >> a question chris wallace post to mick from a on his taxes.

i question is whether or not it has been a sideshow story that was unnecessary by the romney campaign, had a planned further to release more tax information, because it is something being talked about on the editorial pages. >> it has been made a side show story, but in my opinion, anybody's taxes can be met picked into a dozen sideshow stories or 100 sideshow stories. the more pages you put on the story, the more sideshow stories you get. [unintelligible] >> dishonest and deceptive, those are strong words? >> let's talk about the

soundness. the other day, you know about the game they play in trying to disown the ad that accused the drumming of somehow being complicity in a woman's tragic death on cancer after having been part of the preparation of the individual that was in the ad, the obama campaign denied knowing anything about it. that is dishonest. the obama campaign the other day but on television and try to tell america that in the last 27 months, by creating 4 million jobs, created more jobs than ronald reagan did in his recovery. ronald reagan created 7 million jobs, and 7 million is bigger than 4 million. brunell reagan created 18 million. they are either not very bright deceptive and dishonest. you pick it. >> we will go to odette.

good evening to you. thank you for calling in. are you there? caller: hi. i am proud -- i have three points i would like to speak to. i'm fine. i am sorry, had a delay on my phone. i do not have a question, i have come at st to comments quickly. regarding the ability of romney, the media keeps portraying been as unelectable, but if we were going to marry the guy, that would be an issue. he is running for president. what we care about is his qualification, his executive

experience, and i see he has been very successful and a good father, a very decent husband, and i do understand the bias of the media trying to portray him otherwise. regarding the media bias, we treat the president with all respect. i voted yes i did not vote for him, but the more i see that he is dividing america more than anybody else, i have been here in this country, i have not been watching anything more devi sive that obama has done, rich against the poor. we all came here to this country, we worked hard, we've made our money with a decent wage. i do not see it if you had this

business, you did not do that, because everybody has been working hard to make their dream come true here in america. >> let me stop you there. we're short on time. >> i have to complement the later on her perception. i find it fascinating people want to talk about likability as a reason to vote for the president. i have used the analogy today, if you have a leaky pipe in the kitchen and have a choice between plumbers, one with a public personality, but absolutely incompetent, and the other one who may be dry air in personality, but knows how to fix it, which one will you call in? you will call incompetence over bubbly personality. in november, america will vote for the guy that can fix the problem that was created by the guy with the bubbly personality. >> let's go back to 1988.

you were a supporter and became chief of staff to george herbert walker bush. his speech he gave was a game changer in that election. your thoughts about that speech in 1988. >> the president delivered a great speech. it takes two things. somebody has to put together a great speech, and the candidate has to deliver a great speech. it was a great speech because it had a lot of substance in it. what mitt romney has to do here, and let me get a temporal context. i am a believer that campaigns are like basketball games. it is the last two minutes that has most of the action, and most of the impact. in political campaigns, presidential campaigns, it is the last two months. in america, that part of the campaign does not get started until the kids go back to school.

that is the timing that we are looking at here. what mitt romney is one to try to do is to launch us into this last two-month . with a clear definition of what he wants to do. it will be an uplifting speech. if i were try to help in crafting it, i would urge it be positive and uplifting and talk about how we reaffirm that values that made america great in the past that have been eroded over the last four years, that we talk about what america has to do with him as the leader to fix our country. and what america has to do with him as a leader in reaffirming the strength of this nation as an international leader. when i hear phrases come out of the white house like leading from behind, i feel mr. romney has to make i t clear that is

not a good strategy. >> have you talked to former president bush? >> i know he will be watching it. he is one of my great heroes. he was a great man to work for. if any one understands the were and what we had to do internationally, it was george herbert walker bush. he and barbara are up in kennebunkport, and they are watching tonight. the they are extremely concerned about where this country is. we have had conversations, and they are concerned this country needs to be fixed and the confident mitt romney is the right person to do it. he would love to be here, but it is tough for him to get around nowadays. >> the speech we refer to, part

of c-span's video library. you can check it out, available on our website at c-span.org. a couple more calls for john sununu. wendell is joining us from louisiana. caller: i wish you had a fact checker right out and you can see that that man is lying in. obama wanted to work and get things done, but the congress stopped him. second of all, the republicans are treasonous. bush and cheney ought to be in prison, and people like you, should not even be on tv. i want to let the old folks know that as republicans, will lose your social security. >> what about the issue of social security and medicare, governor? >> this a typical obama campaign

statement. it is dishonest, wrong, and it is purely emotional without any facts. if the gentleman thinks i cited a factor that was not correct, he should have told me. obama medicare package $716 billion out of medicare. it took it to fund 1/3 of " obamacare." the only people talking about how to constructively protect social security and medicare the republicans of mitt romney and paul ryan. it is clear that the seniors of america are beginning to understand that the inaction of the last four years has put medicare in particular on a bankruptcy path, and we need somebody with the courage to speak about this issue and the courage and discipline to propose solutions, even though

they may be politically uncomfortable. >> i do not know how many spent, butave been the polling says that does is essentially a tight race. what about it has not moved the needle? >> it is a tossup, and that means mitt romney is perfectly positioned. when president carter was running and ronald reagan was challenging him, as we moved into the republican convention, president carter was at least 10 to 15 points ahead of reagan. the fact that mitt romney is even means he is ahead of that pact, which was eventually landslide for ronald reagan. let's talk about the ads. the obama team wanted to live up to the strategy that a story was written a year ago this august,

and the title of the story was "kill romney pier " they laid out the strategy that what what they would do to destroy mitt romney's reputation. they were very clear. the author of the story was ben smith, and people can find it on the politico website. frankly they spent $150 billion in the june, july, early august. to try to accomplish that killed-romney strategy but horrible ads, ads that the president will not this about. it is amazing that met from may, but frankly was a little strapped for cash, because he could only spend what is known as primary money in that time, and he had fought a large number of tough primaries against a very worthy and strong opponents, he did not have the cash to spend. the fact that he was able to withstand that onslaught and had

the discipline even beyond the inability to do that, the discipline to hold back the spending, means that come the end of this convention when he is the nominee and can spend campaign money, you are going to see a tough campaign, and i believe a campaign focused on issues coming out of the romney campaign, and i do not think this administration, which has not said -- which has nothing positive in the last four years, will stand that process that the campaign on the romney side will undergo. >> we live in the washington area, and virginia is a battleground state. is there an overkill to the ads? is there a point of diminishing returns? >> there is, and if you want me to talk a non-partisan way about adds, that we do so. i find it amazing that the

media, television and radio, that benefits from all this spending, are the biggest complainers. i can tell you how to cut the cost of campaigns in half -- cut your tv rates in half. would they do that? of course not. my personal pet peeve, my position, i cannot stand the hypocrisy of the mainstream media and particularly the networks who take all the money for the advertising, who take all the spending on these ads and put it in their pocket, and decide that all they are going to let the american people see up with the republican convention and the democratic convention is one hour each night. that to me as i proceed, they are not serving part of their role as being licensed as public television stations, using the public frequencies that they have been allocated, and i cannot believe that all they are wrong to do is tell lies one hour of the conventions each

night. >> we will talk about why conventions -- let's talk with pete. good evening, pete. caller: that is a pretty big joke. that result of failed gop reag anomic, failed trickle down economics, and one more point, the only reason romney did not get that gop's not is because he did not sell his soul to the israeli a pack war machine like the rest of these traders and washington did. these person deserve to be hung for treason. country first.er firs they should be removed from congress. >> in response. >> again, i find it amazing that

the obama supporters want to come on with such vitriolic comments. they are responding to the keys to get from the white house. i would rather let that call just past and move on to something more constructive. >> what do you think that from the needs to do thursday and friday and what do you think the poll numbers will look like the latter part of next week? >> i think that romney will lay out a positive agenda and what he sees as the solution to america's disastrous economic sinless -- its condition. instead of big bumps that people expect out of the republican or democratic conventions, i think we're in a period of time where the polls are going to ooze. i will think it is gone to be a strong romney win in november.

it will be much easier than people are expecting with the polls tied to date. >> another final non-partisan question. >> it is hard for me to be nonpartisan. >> give our audience an idea what it is like to be at these conventions. >> look, the most important thing about conventions is that you get a chance to meet people you have known for years that are part of the republican process around the country. in essence you share and a tree, you energize yourself, you get, and messages, you prepare yourself for what i call the last two minutes of the two months. and you define what is the campaign for most of america, because i cannot think most of america begins to pay attention until the kids go home. there has been a change. it used to get much more coverage on television, including the business side of

what is here, the rules, the platform, and the other aspects of the national convention business. it also had a more generous coverage that allowed some of the, not only the current stars of the republican party or the democratic party, to speak, but there's much more of an opportunity for young speakers to be heard. as you know, bill clinton got a little bit of a launch, although it seemed like a speech was an extra long when he gave its. -- when he gave its. the same thing happened to president obama. these conventions are important traditions, but i think in light of the way there been reported and in light of how complicated it had become, in terms of security, and frankly how expensive they have become to put on properly, i think we will see a slight evolution of this process.

has been an evolution, and that will continue. i cannot tell you where it will end up, but i'd really feel that in 2016, 2020, 2024, the conventions for both parties will look extremely different from what they are today. bell we will be there to cover them. thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate your time. >> you have been a great asset to american discourse over the last 100 years, it seems. we appreciate what you do. >> thank you. the tent up a times forum is now a political stage. -- that tampa bay times forum is now political stage. here is how it has unfolded over the last two weeks.

♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> a sports arena turned into political stage, and you are looking at live pictures. this is a television production , and peter will learn more about how this is coming together and who was watching at

home. >> we have a reporter from "u.s. a today." you wrote an article today in your newspaper called why conventions. >> the question is why do we still have conventions. it is a relic at a time when they mattered, when you had delegates who would be selected multiple ballots for days or weeks of deliberations. we do not do that anymore. we have the primary system to do that. it is a huge infomercial for each of the parties. people watch it. the perception is ratings have slipped, and they are not what they used to be in the golden age of the 1960's and the 1970's. they have rebounded lately. in 2008, they bounced back to

where they were in 1992. that is amazing considering how many different entertainment options people have. it is a unique audience that the candidates have that they will not have anywhere else. this is a one hour in prime time where they had millions of people watching and they get to make their case without being edited, without the filter. >> how many federal dollars go into both the republican and democratic conventions? >> it is at least $50 million just for the security for each convention. that is something that is a special appropriation that convert -- congress gives. that is on top to what the parties pay, the host cities raise. it is easily and hundreds of millions of dollars. >> what cross your eyes today that you were able to cover? >> i am