"washington journal." fourth at 11:00 a.m. we will have jennifer ♪ host: chris christie and anne romney got hot billing last night in tampa. welcome to "washington journal." speakers tonight include members of the senate, for presidential candidates, condoleezza rice, and paul ryan of wisconsin. he will make his case what he should be the next vice- president. we want to hear your thoughts on the republican convention today.

here are the numbers to call. for democrats, 202-737-0001. for republicans, 202-737-0002. for independents, 202-628-0205. you can also find us online. send us a twitter message, twitter.com/c-spanwj. find a conversation on facebook by looking for c-span and weighing in there. or you can send us an e-mail, journal@c-span.org. always the even share your comments with us this morning about the republican national convention. looking at the headlines this morning, big pictures of and romney -- anne romney on the front page of "the washington post." the have a look at the evolution

of the republican party and how it has changed over time. and how it compares to the republican party of 10 years, or 20 years ago. somewhat of a surprise appearance by mitt romney last night, who greeted her afterwards. the story reported in "the wall street journal" says --

host: what did you think about the speeches yesterday and what did you think about the process of putting mitt romney on the ticket? the morning. >> i have three quick comments i would like to make. host: go ahead. caller: i was watching the convention on fox news during meghan kelly's programming. she was interviewing brit hume. they continued to speak over the national anthem. there should be some kind of regulation that prohibits pundits from speaking over the national anthem. it was unprofessional and extremely offensive. the second point i would like to

make is that there is a wonderful book called "the art and nature of workmanship." it discusses the three elements required for fine workmanship. one of the biggest problems in our country, based on the theme of convention we have built in, there has been very little care and no judgment in terms of how our legislation has been crafted and decided. it should be required reading for everyone in a position of authority and power.

since the primary focus of this campaign is jobs, we need to restore the respect for workmanship. without it, no designer, whenever you love constructing would be able to fulfill the vision. >> let's go on to chicago. -- host: let's go on to chicago. good morning. caller: first, on the subject of anne romney, i thought that she was completely phony. she alluded to the average american woman who struggles to make ends meet and sometimes has to work two jobs and are facing ominous situations.

there is no way that she can relate to that, given her financial station in life. you could see at on the faces of the women in the audience. they were wondering -- how could she on earth relate to what we were going through? talking about chris christie, it is so painfully clear that he was promoting himself for 2016. i thought of a stunning that he talked over them. he brought up mitt romney's name. you could see the body language of mitt romney and and romney. they were very displeased. >> let's hear from wayne,

republican, fairfax, va.. >> good morning. i am happy that the republican convention had a great deal of colors on stage. i am happy to be an african- american. it has all been about who was watching. that lady sell the issue is never going to vote for mitt romney in the first place. those that were on c-span this morning were talking against individuals that spoke last night. they are not looking to bring the country together in the first place. i wanted to call and say that i

am proud that the african- americans, the latinos were on stage and showing that the republican party is opening up to show people of color. they did a beautiful job. she did a great job last night humanizing her husband. chris christie did a great job. ted cruz, i did not know that much about him, from texas, but he did a tremendous job. i turned off the other stations last night, because c-span is on an even keel. i wish that more people would watch your coverage, because then they would see a more informed type of coverage, than to listen to the opinions. on nbc, every time someone of

color kinmen to speak how, they went to something else. i enjoy watching you, c-span. keep up the great coverage. >> we will hear more in the program. host: this is it with a message that just came in -- host: let's take a listen to speaking last night. [video clip] >> from the time that we were first married, i have seen him spend countless hours talking to others. i have seen him drop everything

to help a friend in trouble. those late-night calls a panic. helping a friend whose child is in trouble. by the way, massachusetts was only 13% republican. it is not like it is a shock to me. [laughter] let me say this to every american who is thinking about who should be our next president. no one will work harder. no one will care more. no one will move heaven and earth like mitt romney to make this place a better world to live in. host: what did you think about the speeches last night? the nominating process? what are you looking forward to in the convention? what are your reactions to tampa, florida?

caller: i was not listening to chris christie -- i was listening to chris christie and what he was saying about standing up. it takes me back to when barack obama, when the republicans said they would do nothing to help this president. we are still having the same thing, over and over and over again. republicans ran on the economy, then they started this conversation on the abortion thing. mitt romney has been in office for the last 20 years. you can see that he is for the

1%. thank you. host: let's listen to chris christie talking in his speech about leaders actually working together. [video clip] >> they have to stop doing what is popular, our leaders. saying no is what is required. [laughter] [applause] in recent years, we as a country have too often chosen the path of our leaders saying not us, not now, not taking on the tough issues. unfortunately, we have let them get away with it. tonight i say enough. tonight i say together, let's make a much different choice. we are speaking up for ourselves and speaking up. tonight we begin to do what is

right and necessary to make america great again. [applause] we are demanding that our leaders stopped tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing america. tonight we're going to do what my mother taught me. tonight we are going to choose respect over love. [applause] host: that was governor chris christie last night in tampa, florida. here is how one of his note -- his newspapers -- one of the newspapers within his constituency -- reported on his speech. it talks about the big moments of the day, calling the line of the day "president obama has

never run a company, he has never even run a garage sale or seen the inside of a lemonade stand." we are asking how things are going in tampa, florida. we are also tracking hurricane isaac and the rain it is bringing into louisiana and parts of the gulf coast. here are more reports on isaac. host: the latest on this, from the associated press, is that it is beginning to move inland, before dawn, in a slow wrenching slog through an orleans. it was just a few years ago today that hurricane katrina hit. there remained a category 1

storm, it was expected to weaken as it headed inland. they're having issues with water going over top of levees in new orleans. we will be watching that this morning and seeing how it plays out. also, at tampa. for now, we are talking about what you think. the republican national convention, day number three. you can see in inside live shot of the tampa bay form. republican line, good morning. >> good morning. it is hard for me to speak. i am overwhelmed, emotionally. i am getting older now, in my 60's. i have spent my life studying politics and participating as a private citizen. i found the speeches last night to be incredibly inspiring.

i love what they had to say. i found it convincing and engaging. somehow, mitt romney and his supporters have been able to escape the atmosphere hack politics. the presentation last night was very heart fell and it really communicated well, and i especially liked the way they you cover it. you do the gavel-to-gavel stopped and let people draw their own conclusions. had i been sitting at home watching last night, i would have been no less inspired, feeling just as included. your coverage is just as good as being there.

this year i am really a blood and thunder goldwater reagan kind of guy. mitt romney is perhaps a weaker quantity, but after last night's program, the way the party is conducting itself of the program, somethings are offensive to me, but the messages coming across very well. if you cannot respond to what people are telling you, that is a good prescription for helping the country. i saw that movie one week ago, the obama commitment to the anti-colonial view could not be finer. this time we are making a clear choice between free enterprise

and the incentives that are supposed to go with that. me ask you a question. "the washington post" compared to republicanism of today to the republican as some of the past. has it changed a lot? host: are the current republicans different from reagan republicans? host: yes. caller code to a degree. -- caller: to a degree. they were not as sophisticated 30 years ago as they were today. we have been through a lot. the current politics, this idea of having politics for the whole year makes you wearied. we have responded by changing somewhat, whereas before the reagan guys would have stuck

their feet into a particular philosophy. they would have stayed there. host: a strong shift to the right, mark fisher writes, the word abortion did not appear in the party plot form until 1976.

host: here they have a look at the positions on a variety of things, like abortion and how has changed over time. you can see the time line over the years, with richard nixon back in 1960. and how they viewed things like democrats, the role of government, their worldview, the stance of immigration and how has shifted. with abortion rising to become more of a priority in more recent years. c-span will bring you gavel-to- gavel coverage of what will unfold in tampa this week. here's a look at the schedule. 7:00 to 11:00 eastern time,

things get under way with speeches. we will take an in-depth look at who is speaking. tomorrow night, same time frame. the keynote address tonight will be given, but the main address, paul ryan of wisconsin will be giving his vice presidential nominee acceptance speech during the 10:00 hour. condoleezza rice, and governor martinez, of new mexico, will be in the 10:00 hour. you can catch that live on c- span. also, go to c-span.org to watch the coverage there. c-span -- princeton, new jersey. hello, walter. caller: how're you doing? host: fine, how are you doing? caller: i just want to say that chris christie and his speech, he said he did not raise taxes.

what he did was cut off the aid to the local counties. basically, taxes. host: do you think that the speech that he gave last night reflected would you have seen of them as your governor? caller code he was speaking to a partisan crowd. -- caller: he was speaking to make partisan crowd. host: anna, good morning, tucson. caller: good morning to you. finally got through again. the convention yesterday, they did not bash anybody. it was enjoyable. very, very enjoyable. host: who in particular did you like hearing from?

caller: his wife. my husband felt the same way. he did not come across as warm or any hang, but he is not an old teddy bear. i am 73 years old and i really, i know we have to change your in the u.s. ave -- here in the u.s. of a, to help our people. to make them understand. thank you for taking my call. host: thank you for calling in. i hope you have a good morning. let's listen to more from chris christie and the keynote speech that he gave last night. things were delayed by one day

by tropical storm isaac. he tells the gop to stop being the nice guys. that is the headline from "usa today." a tough love message to the party leaders, telling them to choose respect over love. host: let's listen to more of what he had to say. [video clip] >> i am here to tell you tonight that it is time to put an end to the era of absentee leadership in the white house. america needs mitt romney and paul ryan, and we need them right now. [applause]

we have got to tell each other the truth, right? look, there is doubt and fear for our future in every corner of our country. i have seen this myself. these feelings are real. this moment is real. some people wonder if american greatness is over. can we meet greatness with this challenge? looking around and saying yes, me? i haven't answered tonight for the skeptics, the naysayers, i have faith in us. i know.

i know that we can be the men and women that our country calls on us to be tonight. i believe in american history. we need leadership. the kind you do not get from a poll. real leaders do not follow polls, they change polls. [applause] host: that was governor chris christie speaking last night, the keynote speaker of the republican convention. more on yesterday's events -- host: "the former massachusetts governor went over the top at

5:40 p.m.." host: it does get more into what happened with the delegates who had supported ron paul. there was a brief battle with texas delegates and supporters of congressman ron paul, the only primary opponent who remained in the race.

"delegates shouted from the floor in opposition." lewis, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. first of all, i am a democrat, 100 -- 100% at heart. what i have noticed is john boehner in the beginning, we wanted to make him a one-term president. the republican party has been nothing but obstructionist. he is not the man to put

anything into oblivion. they brag about having more democrats than republicans in new jersey. but the democrats could not get themselves together. they have issues. this has been a ploy from day one. this convention cannot be won with money. that is what i would like to say. thank you very much. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i am from scotland, where fred is blew and blew is read. this is all rather strange.

i was very impressed with romney last night. she spoke of something that is strange in the modern world. the man has never cheated, never strayed. he has raised young boys and done his best to make sure that his family will help to form companies. they have worked together and brought prosperity to a huge number of individuals. romney did a fantastic job. of chris christie, it was

commented that he was preparing himself for 2016. he suddenly stood and said -- this can be done. this cannot be fixed. that is why we are sitting in this country with a $16 trillion debt, looking to make it $17 trillion by next year. mitt romney, in massachusetts, they were able to balance the budget. chris christie has been supportive of mitt romney all along and will be continuing. host: we have a twitter message

coming in with the hash tag cspanrnc. saying that the low of women is very childlike. that we are not children. caller: there was dissonance there, for myself. he spoke over the top of her. but these things go together. people, we have to work together proper. besides, me doing anything about helping someone, i do things because i think someone needs help. i do not need a pat on the back from the american media. the two of them appeared in different talks in different places.

host: let's take a listen to ann romney, speaking about women. here is our message from last night. [video clip] >> i love you all women. [applause] and i hear your voices. [cheering] you are the ones that have to do a little bit more, you are the ones that have to work harder to our respective work. then you come home and you do more, because he now has to be done. you know those long weekend drives to see how your elderly parents are doing. which doctor answers at night? i know all about that. you know what it is like to sit in a graduation ceremony to wonder how many -- how the long

days and years went by so quickly. you are the best of america. and [applause] you are the hope of america. there would not be in america without you. tonight we salute you and signor phrases. host: the headline from "usa today" is "ann romney appeals to women in her speech." before she spoke about her husband, she made a strong pitch for the support from women that has eluded ms. romney and his republican party." our next caller joins us from phoenix. michael, hello. caller: how are you this morning?

host: fine, how are you? caller: i agree with everything you showed us about and romney. one caller said that women could not relate to her, but i think just the opposite. i think that women can relate to her more than laura bush, who was fantastic. ann romney, they were virtually penniless. he followed and went for the american dream. after 40 years of marriage, i can see that she is genuinely happy with him. which says a lot by itself. host: here are the winners and losers from last night, according to "the washington post." they say the one of the losers

was the crowd. that with the exception of the ann run the speech, they seemed more polite than excited. even during the chris christie speech, they said it felt restrained somehow. "it felt less like a supportive crowd and more like an audience who were not sure how much they could jump around." among the winners, he catalogs ann romney. "she is not and has never been a politician, making her performance of the more impressive. was she nervous? yes, but nevertheless she did exactly what her husband's campaign needed her to do.

other winners? governor nikki caylee of south carolina, with all the women touted as rising stars taking the stage and tuesday "the governor of south carolina was the best, bringing the crowd to their feet with the mention of the palmetto state voter id laws." runner up for best performance was ted crews, "although i do not know about his decision to wander around the stage." what do you think of that speech from last night? here is some coverage of what he had to offer in "the wall street journal." it shows the candidate for senate addressing the convention and tuesday, speaking about the danger of people becoming dependent on the government. let's take a listen to his speech from last night.

[video clip] >> many seemed content to saddle our children with a crushing debt and limited future. and we are going broke. i am here today with a word of encouragement. millions of americans are standing up and saying -- we want our country back. republicans, democrats, independents, we will i go down the path of a brief. we will not go quietly into the night. [applause] president obama is immensely talented and a man of deep conviction, and yet his economic agenda is perilous indeed.

this election presents a stark choice. we can continue down the road of the obama democrats, more and more spending, debt, government control of the economy. or we can return to the founding principles of our nation. free markets, fiscal responsibility and individual liberty. [applause] unfortunately, the obama campaign is trying to divide america. to separate us into different groups. telling seniors that medicare will be taken away. telling hispanics that we are not welcome here. host: that was ted cruz last night, speaking in tampa. charles, good morning.

caller: good morning. how're you. host: i am good. your thoughts, charles? caller: theepublicans talk about themselves mostly, and their accomplishments. ann romney knocked it out of the park. i like that. chris christie talked mostly about himself. most of them did not hardly talk about mitt romney until the end. they should have been there, talking about him and what he was going to do to help the economy. then i looked at how they were talking about obama and how he was not this, not that. how he had failed policies.

how can you accomplish policies without a willingness to cooperate? this is a mess. the only thing i liked from chris christie last night was he talked about meeting to work together. it is racial, they do not like this man. they say that he accomplished something when he was president. these people did not want this happen. host: independent, hurst, n.c.. caller: first i must commend c- span for your marvelous covers last night. i watched you all day, all

evening. i did not watch any other channel. i am very glad that i did. i am glad you cover the conventions so well. but i will say that i also feel that the other speakers were also very good. it is a shame that the national networks did not cover this. you gave a very balanced coverage. i thought that mrs. romney did a good job. i thought that chris christie did a good job. people who are complaining that no one wants to work with obama, maybe if president obama was willing to work with the republicans and the independents -- he seems to feel that because he won, it is his way or no way.

he is always blaming someone else. i will watch the other conventions. i will be very interested as they are coming to north carolina, and i will keep on watching only your channel and not the other networks. i do not want to be told how i should think. i can make up my own mind. thank you very much. at oneet's take a look of the speakers who will be taking the stage tonight. john mccain, john film, and rob portman. they were all men who were talked about as potential candidates for president. john mccain was dropped -- the nominee four years ago. portman will play a role as a

stand in for president obama during the republican debate. we will find more about that in a upcoming story. you can catch all this on c- span. we are bringing you live, gavel- to-gavel coverage of the convention. we will watch the convention in charlotte, north carolina next week. illinois, karen, republican caller. caller: i have waited quite a while to be on air. my original call was to comment on the washington post article that you were reading earlier. i have expanded my list since that time, as well as taking the phone away from my year a time or two, because i give very apoplectic about some of the commentary at times.

the lady before me and what she just said, the expansive speakers, i also tuned in throughout the day for the full gamut of speakers. it was a great, wonderful variety. we may have missed a whole other range of people, or they were there and they did not want to cover them. i think that many other people would have enjoyed and been inspired by that. with regards to the article from "the washington post" first of all someone needs to a understand the majority of the media, going back to the 1970's, when they broke through on radio

and television in the 1980's, the response was received and very real. the washington post is a left bias, but something that does not come out, which is sad, because we need the whole picture of we the people, in the 1960's the democrats were hijacked -- my language -- by lot -- by radicals. the democrats began moving radically left in the 1960's. the republicans were the same republicans. they had to respond. i was there, by the way. i graduated from college in 1963. i went off and joined the young republicans of that day. i registered to vote just after

i graduated, after president kennedy was assassinated. at any rate, the republican party began to respond to these issues that were extreme, even in some cases, for the democrats. i am hearing more and more democrats saying that this is not my party or my grandparent'' party. and it is not. people have to learn to put things into study. study and gleaned from it. host: let me show this to viewers to remind them what we are talking about. "a strong shift to the right. some positions hailed as traditional in the gop are relatively new." we will look at another newspaper that covers a similar

story here. the sharp turn to the right, " leading conservatives cheering." back in 1980, through 2012, it shows us how the republican party platform has shifted. it looks at a comparison of how things were on issues, including abortion, elections, the use of english, gun rights, immigration, marriage, the family, and urban transit. it shows how the stances have changed over time. let's go to california. turn down your television for us, so that we can hear you. host -- caller: ok.

host: what would you like to say? caller: and ronnie -- ann romney, she was very nice. i wonder if mitt romney -- does he not have another wife? host: no, he does not. caller coach lou, pennsylvania. -- does not. lou, pennsylvania. caller: thank you for letting me speespeak on your show. i believe that ann romney did what she did, it was she was -- it was what she was supposed to do. it was a good speech. of course, it has nothing to do with what is spurring the

individuals going to the polls. i do not believe that she really related to the average woman because of the fact that she is married and wealthy. anyway, it was a good speech and she is to be commended for doing. host: were you able to catch the other speakers? not just the final two? what did you watch some of the others? caller coach a little bit. i do not quite remember all of them. unfortunately, i still work. i was not able to catch it all. most of the time, they were excerpts. that was good. at least you got in the key points. as far as chris christie

speaking know about certain things and getting respect rather than love, that is a bit in my opinion hypocritical. i know that in the past he has lambaste the the obama for his stimulus money, yet he has given millions and millions of dollars to a casino in atlantic city that is failing. but tough talk did not turn me on or impress me. as an independent, i feel i need to put certain things together. i think one of the best points you're making on your show is that the republicans have moved very far to the right. i had been a reagan republican. i have seen the changes.

now that i am a senior, it may be that i moved to an area where i would vote for the right man. believe it or not, i voted for john mccain in the last election. i think that he was more down to earth than what is going on now. but this time i will be voting for obama, a democrat. host: you can find the speeches online, on our website. we have a convention of the set up for the republican -- hub set up for the republican convention. check out what is on the dock at for the coming day. one of the speakers last night was a former congressman, artie davis. here is a story from "the washington times." four years after seconding his nomination and four months after

leaving the democratic party, davis vouched for mitt romney at the republican convention. let's listen to what the former congressman had to say. [video clip] >> america is a land of second chances. i gather that you have room for the 6 million of us who got it wrong in 2008 and want to fix it. maybe we should have known that night, in denver, that things that began with styrofoam and artificial smoke do not end well. maybe the hollywood stars and the glamour brought -- blinded us a little. you thought it was a glare. some of us thought it was a halo.

in all seriousness, do you know why so many of us believed? we led with our hearts and dreams that we could be more inclusive than america had ever been. no candidate had ever spoken so beautifully. but dreams meet daybreak. the jobless know what i mean. so do the families who wonder how this administration could avoid recovery for three years and counting. host: that was former congressman davis, speaking last night. here is what it says in "the washington times." "the audience targeted here is independent voters, who might respond to the type of message delivered by mr. davis."

what did you think about the republican speeches last night? also, the official nominating process for mitt romney. tonight, we will hear more speeches from the man who hopes to become the next vice president, representative paul ryan of wisconsin. you can see there a live shot from inside the form, where all the action is unfolding. let's take a look at the line of the speakers tonight. condoleezza rice, susanna martinas, and paul ryan. "usa today" asks if paul ryan is ready. "he has become the brand name for conservative economic policies, all wrapped up into a budget plan with his name on that. as he prepares to give his most

important speech in his career tonight, the 42-year-old congressman from wisconsin has a different proposition -- his own readiness to become president of the united states." we will be following that live as the congressman's speech this evening. dustin, good morning. caller: i have a question about the nomination proceedings at the convention. according to multiple media sources and the delegate leader, ron paul's name was placed into nomination but refused by the rnc with only the mitt romney numbers being announced. increasing the requirement from five states to eight states, though that was only to take

effect at the next convention. what is the explanation for the refusal to put his name up for nomination. host: sounds like you are a ron paul supporter. no. -- caller: i am. host: will you support mitt romney going forward? caller: i will not be supporting mitt romney, i will continue to work for the republican party in indianapolis. host: "the washington post" talks about how things were kicked off and got under way, but there was a conflict between ron paul supporters and mitt romney supporters, with shouting on the floor, it was a protest as they pushed through the adoption of the rule.

henry, good morning. caller: how are you doing? from what i heard last night, the problem i'm having as the republicans have been lying for the longest time. when they came into office, they were not even talking about jobs. president obama came out with this plan. they thought that no matter what he did or said, any time you hear a person come out on tv -- i was saying this yesterday, a one-term president. if someone tells you that, that should make you think more about the statement. basically, we are not going to do anything to help this guy.

host: matt, democratic line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think that the most important things here, i cannot believe that independent voters are even considering a run for president. it is so ridiculous that obama has done more work in three years than george bush did in eight years. republicans say -- why is obama not doing more. i cannot believe that people are looking at his term in the last three years and thinking that he did a worse job than bush. host: we will be hearing more about charlotte next week. we will talk more this morning about the republican convention. we will go down to tampa, live, to hear from our guests down

there. right now we are going to open " politico." -- "politico." ♪ >> mitch mcconnell, what is your number 1 mission? >> by biggest concern at the moment, the nats in a five-game losing streak. this is a big opportunity to introduce a mitt romney is. nobody could have done that

better than ann romney did last night. it was a stunning speech, the best i have ever heard among spouses. that was important. most people do not know anything about governor romney other than what they have seen in attack ads. americans, before making a decision to go in another direction would like to know something about the individual personally, as well as where he wants to take the country, and i am sure we will hear that from paul ryan tonight and mitt romney tomorrow night. >> this is our hub and we are grateful to have our "politico" live stream audience and global audience on c-span. welcome to you, and joining us on twitter at playbook breakfast. last night we heard speeches from mrs. romney, and governor

christie. tell us what it was like in the hall? >> to be in a room full of that many people there was -- there is always a murmur, and you could have heard a pin drop during ann brown me and i did not hear any shuffling around during governor christie. -- ann romney, and i did not hear any shuffling around during governor christie. it was very quiet. you could listen to the whole thing. >> have you talked to your top supporters, other leaders that are here, what is the buzz among republicans? where they worried about, focused on? >> you have a handful of political junkies looking at polls every day, like your audience. the feeling going into this convention with three different

published polls showing this as a dead even race, given the pounding that governor romney has taken, as the other side tries to make him an unacceptable alternative over the summer. that appears not to have worked. in addition -- >> it has taken a toll. mitt romney was interviewed and he said that the advertising tried to feed the idea that he is not electable has weighed on him. >> it might have had some effect, but at the end of the day the question is will he win or not? there is no evidence that they created a candidate that is not a viable, which is what they hoped to do before he had a chance to introduce himself, which is happening at this convention and will go into the

post-convention perio. d >> what do you expect from -- period. >> what you expect from paul ryan? >> paul is the idea guy. he is been a leader in looking down the road for the prescription to the direction of america. the democrats thought that would be to their advantage. people say you do not want to be too specific in a campaign. i do not think that will work for them. the american people are ready for an adult conversation. you cannot have the america that we have had if we do not address the debt issue. the other side has not been specific to say about reducing the amount of debt and deficit other than raising taxes on as they say, people, who make $250

,000 a year, which is including small businesses. they are really not discussing anything serious about where they want to take the country. we know what the president did the last four years. we've not heard what he intends to do for the next four years. >> mr. leader, you have worked with paul ryan, what would you say is his hallmark style? >> paul is frequently the smartest guy in the room without letting you know that, without the arrogance that typically goes with people that are really smart who cannot resist the temptation to let you know that they know they're smarter than you are. he is a nice blend of the really bright, thoughtful guy, as he would say, a policy wonk without

any of the arrogance of individuals that are that bright. >> there are two super bowls in washington. people are almost as interested in a lame duck and what will happen with the fiscal >>. let's assume a mitt romney victory. -- with the fiscal cliff. let's assume -- assume a mitt romney victory. does anything happen with the fiscal caught in a lame duck? >> -- does anything happen with a lame duck? >> it all depends on who wins the election. i do not know whether our friends on the other side will be any more interested in doing anything more than they did last year, which would have been the time to do a bipartisan agreement on the entitlement side, which we know has to be done to save the country. we could not get the president

to budge. if you have a change election, are they willing to do anything before the president is sworn in? i hope so, but i doubt it. >> you are practical. it is a election. assuming an obama victory, what does a lame duck -- is a 50/50 election. assuming an obama victory, what does a lame -- lame duck looked like? >> my assumption is we get starting -- started talking about it. despite the patty murray speech at the brookings institute which could be best described as "del monte and les" economics, take the -- 'thelma and louise"

economy, take the country of the clique -- cliff. if you remember, joe biden and i negotiated the last extension in 2010. i went to the signing ceremony. it was almost an out-of-body experience. the president made a speech that i could have made. it would have been dead to raise taxes on the -- it would of been bad to raise taxes and anyone at that time. the right thing to do is to extend the current rates for another year, at least come and get busy about the kind of comprehensive tax reform that we know we need to do. as the number of one-quarter of a century since ronald reagan and tip o'neill did the last one. >> but to most interesting words you said this morning are at least. you could see an extension longer than one year? >> we need a comprehensive,

bipartisan tax reform. can that be done in a year? i hope so. i think we ought to stick with current tax rates until we get through the comprehensive tax reform. >> mr. leader, would you favor a two-year extension? >> i would favor at least one year and get busy on the comprehensive tax reform that both sides know we need to do, and that is how i would deal with this -- tax side of the fiscal cliff. >> you are optimistic, you say, that it could be done in a year, but practically, can it be? >> i think so. we are not starting from scratch. dave camp, chairman of the house ways and means committee has done a lot of work -- committee, has done a lot of work already. the senate finance committee has looked at tax expenditures,

revenue given away promoting one cause or another, and i think we are ready to get busy. we have not done much the last year and a half. it is time to get serious and get to work. i think we could do it in a year. my view is we ought not to cut one penny less than we promised the american people we would cut in the budget control act of 2007, but having said that we did not craft that legislation with the sequestration in mind. we did not expect the president to leave town and not address the issue again. after we set up a process, a super committee to get an outcome, he was not there. you could not do the major deal without the president. you could not have done the deal

without reagan and tip o'neill. he could not have balanced the budget without clinton and the republicans. the difference here is the president was a wall. he went hard left and decided not to get the kind of outcome that the country needed. so, the fall back was let's get at least $1.2 trillion in spending reductions over the next 10 years. i do not think we ought to cut one penny less. you could get almost all of the revenue we need to cut simply by addressing the federal work force. it is massive. we have added 150,000 new federal employees in the last three and a half years. there are other ways to get reductions. i do not think we ought to cut any less than we promised the american people we would. >> mr. leader, if you and harry

reid switch titles, and to become majority leader, what will your view be? >> we will have a new president, so i doubt he would disagree with me. we owe it to the american people to get rid of obama-care, the single worst piece of legislation passed in modern times. it is not fully kick in, and even though the supreme court upheld the law, seven out of nine said the medicare mandate has to be optional. making it a tax mix of eligible for reconciliation. we feel we have -- makes it eligible for reconciliation. we feel we have an obligation to

keep this monstrosity from inflicting our country if we possibly can. that will be job one. we will do the basic work of government again. after the november, 2010 election, the national restraining order, stop doing what you are doing, stop taking over health care -- that was the term for the november, 2010 election -- it was clear will not going to do more in this explosion of government, but we were not going to do nothing. basic work. pass a budget. past appropriation bills. do the defense authorization bill. this is the third year with no budget. not one single appropriation bill. that is how you fund the

government. we are not going to pass the defense authorization bill for the first time in half of this century. the senate is dysfunctional because the majority will not do the basic work of government. if-setting the agenda, we will try to do -- if i am setting the agenda, we will try to do big stuff, but we will at least do the basic stuff upon which there should not be a lot of political debate. >> to what degree do you think the presidential race and the senate majority are linked? >> it obviously would be helpful. there are at least four opportunities to gain republican senators where the presidential race is not competitive. hawaii, north dakota, montana, nebraska, missouri. i do not think the current

president will be competitive in any of those states. i think we have in three out of four a good opportunity for a pick up and we will see about the fourth one. there are other places where the presidential election is competitive -- wisconsin, ohio, virginia, florida. then, we have terrific candidates in places where the president is likely to be successful, but we have all- star candidates. >> hawaii, connecticut. >> that is why, new mexico, and a surprise so far is how competitive the senate race is in connecticut. nobody expected that. we are competitive in a lot of places. keep an eye on the state of maine. a three-way race. when susan collins was elected in 1996, she did not get a majority of the vote. she got a plurality of the vote.

so, there are enough places on the board to piece together a majority. it clearly would be easier if governor romney is winning the presidential race, which it looks like he has a good chance of doing. >> is there a route to the majority without missouri? >> yes. i named a lot of places. by the way, we won the blues incumbents. scott brown, for those that are -- we are not going to lose any incumbent. scott brown, for those that are nats fans in washington, he is bryce harper, a phenom, and i'm

confident he is going to win. i do not we are going to lose any that we currently have. we are on offense just about everywhere. >> how does george allen lived in virginia? >> that has been a neck-and- neck race for two months. two well-known figures. we are optimistic george is going to win the third >> from your home state, to -- win. >> from your home state, kentucky, rand paul will speak tonight, and we have a story on p saying there was -- "politico" saying there was controversy about ron paul, who has left the convention and said he is not a supporter of mitt romney. >> well, you are mixing yor --

your pauls. rand paul is supporting mitt romney. he announced that four months ago. he is the next paul, and what you would call the libertarian leader of the republican party. i believe his support for governor romney is significant in -- extremely significant. in our state, he is well-known and very successful. he is the next generation of the call family. we are pleased to have his support and it will make a difference. i think we will get the best majority of those that are enthusiastic about ron paul. after all, they do not want to elect barack obama. >> how do you bridge the gap? there's a lot of unhappiness? >> i think rand paul's support is the way to bridge the gap. he appeals to a large number of

people that supported his father. we might not get every single one, but i bet there is not a single ron paul supporter in america that will vote for barack obama -- obama. >> is the tea party still -- lacking? >> i think it is still a force these citizens are concerned about the deficit and debt, like all americans, and those who are not come they should be, because it is the single biggest impediment to the long-term viability of our country. we have short-term problems. we've talked about that. texas, sequestration. the mega--- taxes, sequestration to the mega- problems, looking down the road, unless you begin to tackle that, unchanged the trajectory of our entitlement so that if -- and change the trajectory of all

entitlements so they fit the trajectory of america, you cannot change america. if that is what motivated this spontaneous movement that grew up around the trillion dollar stimulus. it was fashioned by the obama- care legislation, and i think there is a coalition to change the country. >> taking on the mega-problems, mr. leader, if there is a president romney, he will have to support a tax increase as a part of more revenue, as a part of it seemed that problem. with your knowledge of him, do you -- part fixing the problem. with your knowledge of him, do you think he has the stomach for that? >> i can give you my view without knowledge of his view.

we do not have a tax problem. i do not know a single member of the senate republicans that thinks there were sent to washington to raise taxes, but i would remind you that the most conservative guy put on the super committee, pat toomey, offered increases over and above what you would get by rationalizing the tax code on high-income people. we stepped over all kinds of trip wires, things we really do not think we need to do because we know the democrats are going to demand a ransom to deal with the real problem, yet we got nothing in return. >> spell out the ransom, mr. leader. >> providing tax revenue when you know you do not need it. this is not a taxing problem. it is a spending problem.

we all know that. if we were willing to go that extra mile to do things we really did not think we needed to do in order to get the president to tackle the entitlement side, and as i said earlier, until you change the entitlements -- remember, when social security was passed, the average male live to be 61. today, the average male lives to be 79. the average female, 81. that is the average. the conversation we need to have with american people is if you're 55 and older, you can tune this out. this is about your children and your grandchildren. you have a choice between having no problem at all, and changing the program to meet the demographics of the country. the single biggest signal we could send to foreign

countries, lenders, to everyone, that the americans will get their act together and not become spain, greece, italy, or even france, is to put this on a trajectory, like reagan did, gradually taking up the age for social security. everyone has a time to go to the chart and say i will be eligible when i get to that age. that is the adult conversation we need to have with the american people. which could not get this president to do it. we need a new president, -- we could not get the president to do it, and we need a new president to get this problem fixed, and we're prepared to make the compromises to do it. >> mr. leader, i feel like you are saying that you think a reagan-tip o'neill type of solution is possible, and washington is not as broken as

people think. >> i just gave you examples within the last year of the flexibility we have shown in simpson-bowles and in the super committee to entice the president. the president is the missing person here. there is only one person out of 360 million that consign something into law. there is only one person that could deliver members -- that could sign something into law. there is only one person that could deliver members of his party to vote for something. 40 democrats voted to extend tax cuts two years ago because the president said he was for it. at a critical moment last year when we had divided government, the time to do big things like reagan and clinton been, -- did, he was a wall. was responsible, and i hope the american people conclude we need

to go in a different election. >> if there were a totally republican government, house, senate, president, something like simpson-bowles could be signed? >> i will tell you, the problem will not wait. no matter who wins the election, republicans have shown flexibility and an issue that is deeply important to us. i do not have a single member of my conference to thinks america is under-taxed where things we have to raise taxes on anyone or anything, yet when the moment came, and the process was in place, the super committee process, lower the threshold from 60 to 51, we gave up our advantage, that was my idea, and then we stepped over all of

these tripwires that we do not think we ought to do in an effort to entice a very, very left-wing president into doing what the country needed. i feel like we understand the biggest threat to the country. we are willing to work and a bipartisan basis to do it. all of this stuff about deals are impossible to be made in washington, it might be true, but it is not because of us. we went way out to try to get the right thing for the country. >> if you were to put a headline on governor christie's speech it was the american people can handle the hard truth. >> i think so, and governor christie is the best example of that. talk about a tough state for a conservative governor, that is it. he has been a straight talker

extraordinary, and was again last night. paul ryan has the same view. let's have an adult conversation, and let them know this is about their children, their grandchildren, and what kind of country they are going to have. marco rubio, in a state that has more seniors than any other state in the country, won a senate race in 2010 talking openly and candidly about the same issue i have been talking about -- how do you make the entitlement programs fit the demographics of the country? i rest my case. i think the american people are ready for an adult conversation. the president's approach to getting reelected is to promise everyone somebody else's money. margaret thatcher, in talking about socialism -- i'm not suggesting the president is a socialist -- margaret thatcher said in talking about socialism

the problem is sooner or later you run out of money. that is the president's approach, buy something for this group or that group with somebody else's money. we are out of somebody else's money. look at the balance sheet >> looking ahead at the 2013 agenda, it has been said glass- steagall should be reinstated. is that a real issue? >> i did not given thought to that at all. >> another big issue for 2013 is whether there should be another look at outside money in the elections. we found on the republican side, really on both sides, roughly about $1 billion spent on each side outside the campaign. what do you make of that? >> the days of "the new york times" and big corporations dominating the elections are over. the supreme court said that. the decision was about corporate

speech. wealthy individuals have been involved in politics for a long time, predating the last couple of elections. the court said no longer is their parental treatment for corporations that own media all its. everyone -- preferential treatment for corporations that own the media outlets. and corporations can engage in the same free speech that corporations that own media companies can. a big step in the right direction, but most of the money spent is spent by wealthy individuals on both sides. i do not think america has a problem because we have had too little speech, but we had too much of the speech concentrated in too little hands. what we have now is a society where everyone can have a fair

state. in 1976, the supreme court decided the core holding that they have never changed that free speech means not only the ability for mike allen and mitch mcconnell to have a conversation, but the ability for us to amplified our losses, which you do for politico reaching a larger audience than what you would do sitting here talking to 20, 30 people. that is a corporate law. it is an advantage that more americans are able to get involved. the government big enough to spend $3.5 trillion a year is big enough to take away everything you have. people have the right to support causes they believe in, to lobby the government. of that is part of the first amendment. i think it is terrific, and i like it better than where we used to be. >> we are getting the hook here,

and usually at the playbook breakfast we try to end on a lighter note, but today i will end on a hard ball. stephen strabourg should be cold or not cold? >> i will leave that up to -- pulled or not pulled? >> i will leave that up to davey johnson. i am concerned about this five- game losing streak. the braves had a losing streak, and now the nationals have been losing. i hope they can handle prosperity. >> thank you for the conversation. thank you so much. [applause]

have a good convention. thank you, leader mitch mcconnell. now we will welcome the former governor of mississippi, haley barbour. [applause] having a word with the leader. we will let them check. good morning, governor. very kind of you. welcome to "politico" playbook breakfast. welcome our lives stream and c- span audience out there. you were in the hall last night. >> i was. >> we are grateful to have you. what was it like in the hall? >> high-energy. i thought the feel of the place changed when ann romney came on. i had expected it, but it was

clear. >> how much can she help? >> millions watched on tv knowing what we all know, a wife knows more about her husband than anyone else in the world times 10, and i thought she in a very easy-spoken way gave people a view into what the values, the views, the religion, the family, the philanthropy of her husband is. i thought it was positive and very helpful. >> you have a great doubt about the american people. >> a great -- gut about the american people. >> a great gut, you have that

right. >> will they buy mitt romney in this day and age? >> sure. mitt romney has withstood sneering at attacks and he has been carpet-bombed from april all the way to now, yet he is even in the polls. that speaks volumes of somebody that could withstand that. everybody knows the president. the president is in your living room every day. you could lead to more not like him, since he has been president you know him. mitt romney is not really well- known. there are relatively small numbers of people in the primaries. for the challenger, this is really the launch pad for

getting the american people to really know you, and tomorrow will be very important for him. so, he has been painted in a way by the obama campaign, and this has been their strategy from day one, that whoever they nominated -- we nominated they would try to make not acceptable. obama can not run on his record. if this is a referendum on obama's policy, he can go home now, back to chicago, and start organizing, but they are trying to keep it from being a referendum by saying obama has done -- has not done well, but the other guy is worse. it is very similar to -- it is not a unique strategy. mitt romney has withstood it so well answers your question. >> earlier in convention week

you joined a fascinating presentation by resurgent republic about some of the trends in the american electorate. you are concerned about how demographics will effect the party going forward. >> the demographics of the country is changing, and i'm not one of those that worries that young people are going to be voting democrat like they did in 2008 for hope and change because they have been hoping, and all of the change was for the worst. i think a lot of young people will come back to the republican party. you saw a lot in 2012. a very important player is the hispanic or latino population. republicans, in my opinion, have huge opportunities, and always have. when i was chairman of the party bighe early-1990's, we made

efforts to retreat hispanic candidates all over the country, and we have had great role models in recent years like marco rubio, like suzanne a martinas -- susanna martinez. the truth is start with prop 187 in 1980 -- 1994, there became a sense among many latinos that republicans were not anti-illegal immigration, but were anti-immigrant, and we need to be extremely careful about that. the latino population is family- oriented. they are entrepreneur hours --

entrepreneurs. they are christians. they are hopeful for the future. they came here to work. just like my great granddaddy, they came here to work, and that is what we need in america, more of people that want to work and build themselves up and make their families successful. we have, because of the very common-sense idea that we should not reward people for breaking the law, we have allowed ourselves to be pitted as anti- immigrant. i do not think that is any kind of permanent thing, but we do have to make more of an effort. >> governor, i will push it to be a little more precise. somebody who heard your remarks about that would say this this mean african-americans are not family-oriented, entrepreneurs,

christians? >> the african-american vote in america since the 1960's has been monolithic we -- monolithic for democrats. when i was chairman of the party, there was a black think tank in washington, a well- established, well-respected, and they said 37% of the african- americans are conservative, but almost all of them are democrats that has -- democrats. that has been a hard nut to crack. i have 20% of the african- americans in my reelection. to get 20% of the black vote in mississippi not only took a lot of effort, but it was tripling almost. i was in the high single digits

the first time. that, too, will change, but it will change more slowly. >> governor, talk about the effort you made. what was the winning message? >> i had been governor for two years, and a newspaper page me a great compliment when they said to their readers i do not know what you are complaining about, he is just doing what he said he was going to do, and that was my message. i talked about court reform -- tort reform, not raising taxes -- mitt romney said what everyone knows is true. our problem is not that we tax too little, it is that we spend too much, and when i and in mississippi, nobody comes up to me and says you did not spend enough money and my taxes are too low. that is not what americans

think that african-americans do not think that either. they saw -- think. african-americans do not think that either. they saw results. they saw in katrina that this was a color blind effort where everyone worked together to help each other. that was more the reason than some special program. >> we would love to bring you in the conversation if you have a question. governor haley barbour, you made the point yesterday that democrats have been briefed beating in elections for some time. there is a story yesterday that ironically race has become more of an issue in the 2012 cycle that it was in 2008 when we elected the first african- american president. what do you make of that? >> i suspect hillary clinton

would not agree with you on that. >> do go on. >> i think that sums it up pretty well. [laughter] >> to talk about 2012, are you worried about where we are at on that? >> i live in the state with the highest black population in the united states. any time people try to inject race in anything, to me, it pushes us backwards. it would be awful in the united states if we had a white party and a black party. we need two salt and pepper parties. in my state, or any other state, if 37% of the people are not going forward, it holds back the other 63%. we are all in this together. so, i do not like it when it happens, but i am used to it.

there is a 100% chance that the democrats will inject race into this campaign. it is as certain as they will say the republicans want to cut medicare. you have here the last time the did not have been in a presidential campaign -- hair in -- the last time the that did not happen in the presidential campaign. >> some people have complained about welfare ads. is there a thin line for republicans there, too? >> it is offensive to say everybody on welfare is black. most of the people on welfare are white. there are some people that want to inject race in everything. do not get me started. i will put my foot in my mouth, my black shoe in my mouth. >> governor, haley -- governor

haley barbour, mitt romney will win if white, barack obama will win -- if what, barack obama will win if what? if barack obama runs on his record, -- >> if barack obama runs on his record, he will lose. if they do not disqualify mitt romney, he will win 10 >> disqualify him how? >> -- quinn. >> disqualify him how? >> since they have already spent attack ads, if they put another 200 billion in tax -- in attack ads, that is what they will try to do. you talk about pulling. place as many americans think --

twice as many americans think the economy has gotten worse under obama than they think it has gotten better. the campaign slogan is forward, and the american people think we've gone backwards. twice as many people say the financial situation in the government has gone backwards in this administration. finally, twice as many people say that the ability of the government to solve problems, to get things done, has gone backward. what is left? >> governor, you have another commitment, so i will ask you 30-second questions. >> 30-second questions, or 30- second answer is? >> yen we could do both. you're helping american crossroads. what do you think is the effect of that group?

>> it is to offset what the labor unions do. "the wall street journal couple had a piece, about one month or so, -- journal" had a piece, about one month or so ago, that they had to file with the labor department what they have spent on politics. $4.4 billion, including $800 million in the 2008 election. we cannot raise that much money, but we could offset some of what the unions have put in. >> is that the main reason you're helping american crossroads? >> yes. >> we usually do not tell a guest a question we will not ask them, but yesterday we heard a

question that we should ask governor haley barbour, not about your workout, but i will ask you about your -- about pie. >> i like sugar, whether it is in bourbon or pie. -[laughter] >> thank you for sharing your time. thank you, the letter haley barbour. up next, we have a fox news to to better and perhaps future center, liz cheney. we appreciate you coming. host: "politico" playbook breakfast, we'll be back with them tomorrow morning, to hear what they are working on in tampa, but now "washington journal" continues with a live

shot of the tampa bay forum, where the republican convention is unfolding this week. speeches begin at 7:00 p.m., and we will bring that live. let's go to our c-span studio and hear from mary ellen klas, the tallahassee bureau chief act "miami herald." mary ellen klas, did ann romney succeed in making her husband more personable, warmer and more acceptable to the american people last night? guest: i think she did a very good job. it was evident that last night's speech really energized the crowd. i was on the floor, standing around delegates who admittedly were enthusiastic about hearing her, but everyone expressed to me that sheet exceeded all expectations. she came across as genuine.

she even had a little bit of nervousness that was in during almost. i think she came across as exactly what they wanted to do. she succeeded in achieving in making mitt romney seeming more approachable. host: here is the headline in "miami herald," our guest " of newspaper. marion -- at mary ellen klas, will you be watching for come and give a sense of the themes that are unfolding day-by-day in tampa. guest: today is paul ryan's big day. he will be the keynote speaker. we'll get a sense of what he is like, and we will get a chance to see him portrayed.

it is also the day where we will hear more from the elite in the republican party, several governors, john mccain, condoleezza rice, and we will hear more of what their platform does, what they're planning -- hoping to do as they move forward in endorsing mitt romney. some of the things that have emerged that was very clear last night with a series of speakers from across the country which it several governors -- several governors, john kacich from ohio, for example -- each speaker introduced a small business person to bring home the "we built it" a thing that they have used to counter barack

obama's statement a couple of months ago. it is one of the scenes they will continue to pursue, i think -- themes they will continue to pursue, i think. we also had a video last night that took barack obama's statement out of context and i had individuals saying i am not a bump in the road. i think we'll continue to hear that again because in the same speech at barack obama made he basically said that sometimes there will be bumps in the road. i think they were unemployed people in the video. host: if you would like to join the conversation with mary ellen klas of "miami herald" here are the numbers to call.

our guest mentioned the lineup of speakers. in the 10:00 hour, condoleezza rice, governor susana martina's of new mexico, and vice presidential nominee paul ryan. we'll also hear from senator mitch mcconnell, top republican in the senate, and senator rand paul of kentucky. mary ellen klas, center ron -- rand paul of kentucky reminds us of ron paul. did you get a sense of the disputes happening on the floor yesterday as they went through the actual nominating process? there was some dissent from ron paul supporters. what does it mean to have rand paul speaking tonight?

guest: i think it is reaching out to the ron paul supporters as they hope to mend some fences, but there is no doubt that the ron paul supporters have not been happy. they have been surrounding the convention center. there is not a huge number of them, but they have been persistent. they're not happy with the treatment they have been getting. they also do not trust mitt romney. many of them who i have spoken to have said they think the republican party has not listened to them. they were hoping for more time for ron paul. i know that there was initially a plan to do a tribute to ron paul. that might still be on the schedule in the middle of the afternoon when there is no television time, and that original schedule was supposed to happen yesterday before the storm. it might have been adjusted.

the bottom line is the ron paul supporters have not been happy. they were drowned out by the other delegation announcements as the nominating process went to the lineup of each state. host:-what is our first call with mary ellen klas, an independent in anderson, tennessee. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a supporter of libertarian. i cannot say that -- i can say that ron paul's candidacy is not over. if he chose to run as an independent or a libertarian, i believe it will be a windfall the three. my second comment is i would like to see the media report on

what we know about alien anthropology. host: let's get back to ron paul. rand paul will be speaking tonight, son of ron paul, does that make a difference to you? caller: not really. he is kind of the wing of the lobbyists and wall street. host: ok. let's go to another republican, frank in ohio. caller: yes, i am upset with the results, how they blew off ron paul. we are not going to back mitt romney, but we will not vote for barack obama, and that means less votes for mitt romney, and barack obama just won the election. host: mary ellen klas, you talked about the ron paul

supporters. talk about the process yesterday and if it is a change of how conventions happened in the past. are we getting a sense of the different nominating process? guest: i guess i am not quite sure what you mean. in the past -- in their recent past, there have been -- nominations have always been through acclamation. it really has been a very long time in this country since the nominating process on the convention floor has mattered. there have been people earlier in the year when we had so many republican candidates -- they thought this might be the first brokered convention in over 40 years -- is just not going to happen. the way the primary process

works, the idea that the nominee is determined so early and that states come to the convention process, and many of them have to give their votes based on who won the primary, and there is not the scramble for getting the marginal number of votes that you needed back in the 1960's. so, i think the fact that we have such a strong primary process, where the winner comes up and is acclaimed over, you know, so many months, has pretty much meant that the winner is determined and there is no guessing anymore. there is no brokering for who is going to be the final nominee. host: another big story in the news is what hurricane isaac is doing. here is the front of the "times

picayune." how is the hurricane looking to defect things today? it has passed tampa, -- effect things today? it has passed tampa, but are republicans aware of a home and an atmosphere they need to take into consideration? -- tone and atmosphere that they need to take into consideration? guest: that is a good point. yesterday, the television coverage was partly on the republican convention, but so many people were watching the storm, and try to get a sense of how bad it would be hitting an area hurricane katrina hit at almost the same time of the year. there has been hovering over this convention is concerned that they do not want to have

such a celebration that they have disregarded the problems that are happening because of the storm. as we know, with these big storms, it is not just the fact that it had landfall. that is not the end of it. in florida, we have some of the biggest problems after the storm because of the huge amounts of rain and flooding. reports have shown that in louisiana and some of the areas that have been hardest hit flooding is a tremendous problem. people are stranded, in many cases, and i think that will be an ongoing story. the republican leadership has indicated privately earlier in the week that if they needed to completely curtail the convention, they would consider that because of the potential to show that they would put

their priorities in order. that is exactly why they and so he is the official nominee. if they needed to, they could accelerate the rest of the schedule. i do not think that is what they are talking about. it is still day today thouwo ths another day and a half left to go. host: what do you have to share with us, gerry? caller: everybody tells a story it their way. why is the news when they all are talking about obama not passing this and that, he is not helping unemployment. he tried to put a bunch of

tradesmen to work and the house stopped them. everything the house does has nothing to do with passing anything that he recommends, even if it is good for the economy. i'm getting tired of the news and everybody talking about the president doesn't do anything. if the house and senate could send a bill to sign it. host: how much is barack obama a part of this convention? present.'s ever the interesting thing is his name does not come up that often but he is the whole motivating factor for why everybody is here. there is a tremendous amount of

antipathy. there is a negative theme that comes through in almost all the speeches. it is almost like a negative message. "we just want him out." everyone from chris christie last night to all the people that preceded him with the exception of ann romney have focused on how we need to change who is in office. i think the caller raises a point that is something that republicans are starting to be more aware of and that is the negative tone is something that is turning off a lot of voters. people think that nothing is going to get done. it is one thing for the

president to advocate for programs and ideas and if he sends it to congress and congress does nothing, that is the kind of stalemate that is frustrating voters, and that is a perception that republicans are hoping to change. jeb bush has been out there saying, let's change the tone. let's not be so negative. we have to have a message and it has to have a positive message. i think that if there is a positive message, it is, here is what we would do instead. this is why you should vote for us. i have not seen much of that in the first day. there doesn't seem to be a, " here is what we will do with any specifics." "we oppose obamacare."

"this is what we do not want." thtey hope people will support them just to get rid of the current administration. host: a current story in politico. host: the president will be making remarks today. let's hear what is said in iowa yesterday. [video clip] >> my opponents will offer you their agenda. it should be pretty entertaining

show. have somevideo wonderful things to say about me. >> we do! >> but -- but what you will not hear from them is a path forward that meet the challenges of our times. it will be an economic plan that says if you give $3 million or more another tax cut, then jobs and prosperity will magically bring down on everybody else. [boos] some of you may not remember but we tried this for 10 years before i was elected. it didn't work out so well. it didn't work out then and will not work out now. host: mary ellen klas, we sought

a former democrat turned republican and spoke at the convention four years ago. he took to the stage last night for the republicans and gave a speech supporting mitt romney. what kind of an effect did it have on the crowd? guest: the evening was interesting. they had a a long list of speakers. many speakers gave pretty subdued speeches, i would suggest. when he came up, his speech started to increase the enthusiasm in the crowd. i would say the hall is relatively warm. people were kind of sleepy. he spoke and he energized the crowd. he gave kind of a fiery address

and it made people get excited. the interesting dynamic is that as a former democrat, he has become a republican endorsing mitt romney. "they are not solving any problems and we want a change." that is a theme republicans want and are open for these democrats who were unhappy. they have been running a television ad and this is part of their strategy to showcase the democrats that are unhappy with obama. when the democrats go to charlotte, they will be doing the same thing. one of the people they know will be highlighting is the former governor charlie crist from florida who left his party and

became no party affiliated in a senate race in 2010. he wrote an op-ed piece in which he said the party has gone too extreme, they are abandoning the majority of americans. he was endorsing barack obama as a result. in exchange for that kind gesture to help obama, he now will be getting a speaking slot at the democratic convention. we do not know what time it will be. but we're seeing a little bit of a tit-for-tat over the war of these disaffected voters. host: good morning from memphis. caller: i wanted to say to all

of the reporters including miss klas, sometimes referred to president obama and you say obama or mr. obama, and i never remember anybody saying bill clinton or mr. clinton or bush or george bush. i do not understand what that is. i just think it takes away from the office. i just think if people would be more aware of it in might go over better. sometimes the viewer sees it as you are sliding the president. that office should be respected .o matter who is in it i don't think anything they due in washington is going to change my life. washington can help a little but

they cannot dramatically change your life. i'm not a republican or democrat but i think we should respect the office itself. guest: thank you. i do not mean that in any disrespect if i just mentioned the president's name. it is probably i think the way i write. as a first reference, you say president obama and the second reference is the last name or the president. it is the same thing now matter what public official we are speaking about. in the haste of a conversation like this, sometimes you sure hand and speak the way you write. host: and that is what you've done for past presidents, mary

ellen klas? guest: absolutely. it is the style and tone and it does not mean any disrespect. she raises a good point, though. host: how are the republicans trying to motivate those voters who do not feel much of a connection to washington to support them? guest: that is going to be the biggest task. this week is all about energizing the base, having the great big pep rally for everybody who is inclined to vote for mitt romney and is likely to work for mitt romney. we will see the same thing with president obama and the convention in charlotte next week. this presidential race is so close.

the latest polls show it is a virtual tie across the nation. they do have to get people out like this caller who say, i will make an effort to get to the polls because i do think washington will make a difference. how they do that has everything to do with their tone and it will continue to be a test for them. the republicans last night made an effort to reach out to women. ann romney was going to be the person who said, you can trust mitt. he will not fail. gave a personal speech. it was an appeal to women to say, do not give up on this. president obama won the women's vote by a tremendous margin

against john mccain in 2008. the gender gap continues to be a problem for republicans and fort mitt romney. another area they have to reach out for is the hispanic vote. last night's lineup included a loss of hispanics and we will continue to see that in the next two days. they need to show those voters can trust mitt romney. i think that will be the biggest task in florida. races are always won on independent votes. the people that do not feel inclined to stick with one party or another and so we will see that either the message moderates but after this convention, that is where the battle will be.

host: our guest mary ellen klas has a piece published this morning. let's read a little bit of it. host: what kind of a role does jeb bush play and how blunt is his message? guest: jeb bush is interesting because his personal story is one of having reached across the ethnic lines. he married -- he was 17 years old and he traveled to mexico wife. met his now- thety got married very young. they had three children.

he talked yesterday before an hispanic outreach group. he talked a little bit about his family and that his son has also married somebody who is basically canadian of iraqi descent and he said their children are the future of the united states in that we should embrace this ethnic bland. his point is-- this ethnic blend. thatoint is, let's focus we all have the same concerns and that we should -- candidates should embrace hispanics as if they or with the same concerns that everybody else has. he has been straight forward and

blunt about his criticism of the republican party and the tone they have views with immigration. he seemed to acknowledge that illegal immigration is a problem but he thinks the tone has been so focused on the illegal immigrants as bad in actions as bad people that that has left a negative sense among many hispanics. he believes that we should look at framing solutions that will encourage people to come here legally so that they can contribute to the economy and help grow this nation. the hispanic vote is crucial. hispanics have grown in numbers just in the last 30 years. more than doubled their numbers in the united states.

how they vote in this election will be an important factor. it'll be an important factor in florida. host: among the speakers tonight we'll hear from the governor of puerto rico and also tim pawlenty and mike huckabee will be taking the stage in the 9:00 p.m. hour. ron is from florida. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a republican and i'm voting for mitt romney for the next presidency of the united states. i have been unemployed for almost six months and i have not got back to work. i think he is a new man and he is going to be, he is going to help the middle class. host: let's get a response from mary ellen klas.

is that an argument that the gop wants to hear? guest: of course, yeah. this is exactly what they want. the perception that people have lost their jobs and have not seen improvements. i think they are trying to tap into the same thing that barack obama tapped into four years ago. what is working right now -- we have right now is not working and so change is better than what we have. obviously the change theme is the theme that barack obama used. he is now up for trying things as, we can continue to improve what we're doing, and he has a much more difficult sell with

people like these callers to persuade them that we have done enough but -- we have not done enough but trust us, we will make things better. host: let's look at the latest poll numbers among likely voters. this is from cnn. that is a poll of likely voters in florida. mary ellen klas, what do you make of those numbers? guest: those numbers are pretty reflective of where they have been for the last couple of months. we've not seen a huge swing. it gets either now or work or farther apart, depending on where things go. florida is like many states, the economy here is very difficult. we have probably one of the

highest foreclosure rates in the nation. that is people a tremendous sense of uncertainty. the numbers for unemployment have been declining somewhat. florida has restrictive unemployment compensation systems. many people have left because they'll have quit looking. we have seen a decline in unemployment but it is not necessarily because people have found jobs. all of those things come into play in terms of people's satisfaction. we had a primary at couple of weeks ago. the turnout in florida was low. we have about 20% statewide turnout. i think that that is -- the economy and people's dissatisfaction. one caller mentioned she does not think washington can make a

difference in her life. that is a feeling that is very prevalent throughout the state. people are struggling and then they have not seen washington be able to do anything to help them out. host: we will take a look at some tweets. this is what chris has to say. hi, wayne. caller: republicans have been saying that the unemployment rate is the worst since president obama took office. this thing was that 10% at one point. he got it down to a point to% and that is stabilizing the fall -- he got down to 8.2%.

doesn't congress have a lot to do with this debt? they send the bills to the president to sign. in this together. guest: he is right. it is astute to be able to understand that the economy, the wall street crash in 2008 when obama took office and unemployment was already declining -- unemployment was very high. it is all a matter of how you perceive it. we will never know if he stabilize the economy. some of the actions the administration had taken had not

happened, with the unemployment level be much higher? then he talks about congress and i think everybody knows we have this checks and balance system and congress is a part of the equation as anybody else. we only have a few more months to go before we will have the potential for a budget crisis in washington and that is pretty much congress's doing and whether or not we go forward with extending the debt limit or ending up with another last- minute attempt to solve the budget problem. congress is as much a role in this and as a result, people may need to consider everybody on

the ticket as video show up voting on election day. it is more than just the president having the ability to change things. host: we have another opinion on twitter. you can send in your tweet to c- span's "washington journal." h tag.e a special has tagg caller: ron paul has a large following and the signs never came down from the last election in my area. he should be in charge of the surgeon general. either one of these fellows, why wouldn't they use him as the

surgeon general to fix the problem with medicine, medicare, medicaid? i was told before heard mr. obama that i was going -- that things would get very hard for me financially because of the medicare and the social security system. i remember hearing that when i was a child and i am 51. guest: i think you raise the idea of maybe having weathered it is somebody reaching out and bringing ron paul into the administration of either -- if barack obama gets reelected or mitt romney gets elected. that is something that previous presidents have done, trying to build a coalition with people --

opponents or previous challengers into the administration. whether either of these men chooses to do that is unknown. they have not shown their hand if that is what they will do. host: we have a tweet from tillman. we talked about the points that republicans are making this week's end in supporting their platforms and the message of having a fighting point against president obama's term in office. let's hear from jim in texas. good morning good morning. caller: this will be a close race. ron paul has a huge following, close to 10% of the delegates.

several issues that ron paul is famous for -- this war on drugs. i think the republicans could pick up clues from not just youth but minorities who are more impacted by the war on drugs. it is not just -- if republicans would agree to have a dialogue over whether or not the war on drugs is having -- is being affected. that is my hope, that we will see some conversation and that it is time for a debate on this. thank you. guest: i have to say there is a much conversation.

that gets into a policy level and a detail about where we should go on one particular issue. i just have not seen in a lot of debate or discussion about any policy level at this convention. i think the more they'll keep it in broad platitudes, the easier it is for them not to antagonize people or to require them to pin themselves down. i think a discussion about the war on drugs, while in may appear in a debate over the policy of the republican party t atform, you will not see ai a micro level anywhere this week. host: a tweet from mike.

how was that playing out in your home state, mary ellen klas? guest: that is going to be an interesting issue. the one thing in florida is that seniors do vote. i think right now the obama administration has been seizing in as a -- warning people that medicare will be threatened. the initial paul seemed to indicate that that has worked to the advantage of the obama campaign. however, mitt romney's campaign has also come out with some pretty effective counters to that medicare argument, arguing that the affordable care act under president obama would also diminish the kinds of benefits

that seniors would get under medicare. both of them are kind of taking out of context the fall impact of the others's policy. when voters are getting a snippet on the television ads, thtey are really not getting the whole story. i think medicare will be an important argument -- perry board issue for a lot of floridians. in may have a huge a pact because seniors are one of the most active voters and i did not expect turnout in florida will be a large this year. host: mary ellen klas, the bureau chief in tallahassee for "the miami herald." thank you for sharing some thoughts about the convention. we go now to "national journal"

in just a moment. they're looking at the house and senate key races in 2012. we did see representative jeff blake prevail it is primary in arizona. -- jeff flake. that has been much watch. also, and looks like quayle has been beaten. this is from "the arizona republic." you can see his image there. "still journal" later we'll talk about immigration -- "national journal." will also visit with the man who

runs the port of tablet. that is a live shot from inside the convention hall where the republicans are gathering this week. to "nationalw journal." [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

host: we are looking for folks gathered for a discussion. this is down ballot. it is not focus on the presidential election. but everything else in congress. we will have moderators including reid wilson, jennifer duffy, and david wasserman. the speakers include the chair of the national republican congressional committee. and the executive director of the national republican senatorial committee. looking at the house and senate

races on the republican side. we will be watching that here on c-span as well throughout the next couple of months as we head towards election day about how the house and senate go. as we wait for that, let's look is some headlines in the newspapers. "the washington times" this morning shows us that "the nation needs romney." kicking off the nominating convention with a piercing critique of american political life. host: he was a keynote speaker

last night. the keynote speaker tonight will be paul ryan, the official nominee on the republican side of the ticket. he hopes to make a case as to why he should be the next vice president of the united states. is a profile of congress janna in "usa today." looking at the details of paul ryan, he is 42 years old from wisconsin and his wife and three kids will be on hand during the convention. he went to the miami university of ohio. it goes through some career highlights including a member of congress. he served as the house budget committee chairman 2011 and this ipaspast year.

we'll learn more about him as he gives his speech tonight. senators john mccain, senator robb portman of ohio, someone who was talked about as a possible vice presidential running mate. he is serving a different purpose. he is on the speech roster for tonight and will also help mitt romney prepare for his debate. here's a story from "bloomberg business week." he will be mitt romney's sparring partner for the presidential debates. we will be watching that to see how can that romney prepares for the debate, which c-span will bring you in just a couple weeks. let's go to the breakfast check from "national journal."

>> good morning. good morning, everybody, and welcome. did you have a good time last night? welcome to the wednesday morning daily briefing that we're putting on here in tampa. cbs news and "national journal" are part bring together to do this. today we'll look at the house and senate races. we have people that know the most about these subjects from our staff and a terrific member from congress, pete sessions. the new welcome all our friends from c-span who may be watching this or pri dissipating online in any form. for those who wish to twitter,

our hash tag is daily briefings, so you can participate. let me thank our sponsors and underwriters. the alliance to save energy, the credit union national association, pfizer, the property casualty insurers, and united technologies. let me introduce two -- all three up here. congressman pete sessions from texas is responsible for the house and congressional campaign committee and his job is to get house continue to be dominated by republicans. is that the basic goal/ >> dominated. -- is that the basic goal?

we're asking the questions. reid wilson, editor in chief of the hot line. bill plante, white house correspondent for cbs news. bill has been covering the white house since 1981. we'll see how much he knows about congress. >> welcome. i am reid wilson from "the hot line." democrats need it 25 seats to take back the house. do you think they will get those seats? >> it will be a long night. we will move to the center part of the country and we will win some more seats. these are pickups.

california will deliver a continuation of john boehner solidifying republican control all across this country. we will win with our freshman first. we'll go back home and make the case well that what we're doing in washington helps this country to go on a better track and a better track is job creation. it is investing in america and american jobs that we will reveal -- we will repeal obamacare. the congressional budget office said if congress does not act, which means our members will have to -- we could lose up to 1.2 million american jobs. if we do what the democrats want to do and to stick it to the

employers, we will lose some 800,000 jobs. republicans are for losing zero jobs in this country. we want to keep taxes exactly where they'll are today. we will logger that case that we are for job creation, small business, and making sure america will be repetitive. that is why we will win. >> what will the new numbers be like? are you going to have trouble keeping them all in line? >> thank you very much, bill. last time was different than this time. this is a presidential race. we will have members who win in selective areas as pickups and that's what we're talking about, the pick up seats. we will win at least one in

arkansas, oklahoma, a couple of georgia we will pick up, and we'll have new seats that have been transferred to texas. these laypeople in individual places around the country. massachusetts, rhode island. when are massachusetts and rhode island good republican pickups seats? jackie in indiana. we have a good number of people and they will be you need people. this is not going to be a wave elections. it will be an election of individuals who are better candidates with better ideas in specific seats with mitt romney on the ballot. >> how do you expect them to

line up with the other new members? >> quite weel. we must-- quite well. we must repeal the affordable care act which will cost this country 800,000 news jobs if we do nothing. secondly, not raising taxes. thirdly, an agenda that john boehner would preside over and would give us the opportunity to make sure the bills that we put on the four are read and that members of congress have a chance to amend those bills and that members of congress make sure we get an agenda done for jobs in this country, and that is what they are all about. >> let's talk about the defense and make sure you protected people that are already there.

>> there is a big argument in our conference about whether we were just going to do exactly that, protect these 89 new members. guy harrison and i said you have the wrong two guys for the job. i'm not interested in protecting what we have. we have played offense and we have to be aggressive. we put together a plan of individual districts that we felt we could win. that is what we're doing. we have divvied up the country and spend our time to make sure our incumbents that we call patrons are taken care of and we think they'll are going to win. this year is about offense and what in those new seats. i believe we will win a net 5 to 7 new seats because we are

playing offense. >> everybody expected the democrats to make some advances. >> a good number of people who believe that democrats will hold the majority. look at the demographics of the country. you will see that republicans , of -- like ricky gill,l o indian background with his parents that live in lodi, california. he is a new type of young gun. in colorado.oreors he believes in free enterprise and the american dream. this is how we play offense.

they are called young guns because they know have ideas to make our country stronger and better. >> paul ryan will be accepting the vice-presidential nomination. democrats will try to make his budget the focus of their attack. answer to that?ty tha >> paul ryan is as good a spokesman as we have in our party. he recognizes more about his own budget. there is nothing more powerful than having the architect and understanding the hard work he has put into that in explain that. paul ryan is the favorite son of our republican conference. he is well understood and we believe what he is talking about can sustain this country. we understand the democrats

think they want to get in this fight. we are the ones that wanted more. we believe we can have an adult conversation not only with the american people but with the electorate that needs to see the direction that this country is headed. paul ryan has a plan that we believe is sustainable. the president and all the democrats who vote for the health-care bill took $700 billion-plus -- we had to deal with the law and we did a budget that senate democrats did not. they cannot make these tough choices. paul ryan said we have to make decisions to sustain the system.

we have tested this in nevada. as the american people learn, we will sustained medicare and bring the money back in and make sure not one senior who is 55 and older today is impacted with any new system that current retirees get the benefits and we will take care of that and begin freedom opportunity for those 54 and below to offer them the same type of system that federal employees have today in their health care and i think that's a solid win. >> the democrats are going to make this all about paul ryan's budget. they will say that they don't think the money will come out as a result of savings and that his budget would cut in essential

services for many people at many levels. are your members out there going to be able to make that argument and sell it? >> this election will be about a person who will tell the truth. tell the truth about what they did do it and what his plan is instead of aiming at a republican plan that paul ryan will explain to them. the president took the $700 billion to pay for the affordable care act. he took the money out of senior care and moved it over. the presidendid not pay for positions to be reimbursed for senior care for medicare. republicans are having to deal with the law of the way it is. paul ryan make sure not one benefit, very little changes.

nothing that we have suggested about anyone that is 55 and above. that means anybody currently on medicare. for the president to not recognize he has moved back that date towards bankruptcy would not be honest. neither the medicare and the congressional budget office says the plan the. it is president's economic outlook where we're in real trouble. without job creation, we cannot sustain medicare, social security, and so we have to have a joint balance, a system that works well and job creation and that is what paul ryan and republican budgets do. >> you are going to get a lot of push back on the ryan budget. to cut taxes and not raise any

revenue, he has to take money out of other existing programs. this is something they'll will throw at you in every district and everyone of your opponents will be on the same sheet of music. >> we have a job creation. we stop the 800,000 net jobs that would be lost with obamacare. we stop the spending that is engaged in obamacare. we move back to a system not just that we have today but one where a patient and a doctor can make those decisions. you have to get job creation with it and the president lacks those numbers. the president has to look at somebody else that says, here's where we're headed and that is the congressional budget office that says we will keep losing

jobs until we have job creation or the ability to reinvest in this country. democrats like to say it is all about the rich. it is about the people that pay about 95% of the taxes. we need job growth in this country and that is what paul ryan does. >> you travel around the country and you know these candidates. talk to me about a race you are watching that we may not think is competitive. >> it is true there are a number of races which are interesting. i think jason plummer in southern illinois is a good race to watch. i think jason plummer is going to win in a seat that has never had a republican. southern illinois, or outside of st. louis, missouri, i think

that is a great place to say, willie traditional democrat area be allowed a young man who is 31 years old but will r elect -- that is the litmus test of whether we can get that done. that area has never had a republican. >> questions from the audience for congressman sessions. >> i'm with "the houston chronicle." the race in texas and a reaction to the court ruling yesterday on the republican redistricting, saying it discriminated against minorities. >> thank you very much. i was in a passel, texas, last week as part of the swing -- i was in el paso, texas.

el paso is a city i used to live in a number of years ago and i've watched the demise of confidence in that city in their elected officials. the congressmen lost his seat. there was a lot of uncertainty in el paso about the kind of leadership that will bring jobs back to not just all passel but many communities like al pascrell. he goes to stretches of san antonio to almost the suburbs of el paso. he is running in a seat that will be very competitive and perhaps the number one tried by the democrats as a pick up against a republican. he will win. he is a clear and articulate republican who speaks spanish republican who speaks spanish and who