deportation. term, theysecond will have to dramatically change their enforcement practices so they line up with the priorities they have enunciated. >> i would like to go back to the 2007 immigration reform effort. beyond the principles are the politics, and it is tough to argue anyone other than john mccain risk all-out to push immigration reform, and for those -- risked a lot to push information -- immigration reform, and for those of us that followed that, barack obama voted for poison-pill amendments the coalition did not support, that john mccain/kennedy did not support, yet when it came to the election, john mccain did

horrible with latino voters and felt abandoned by the group he felt he had been fighting for, and probably one of the most negative eds their opinion 2008 was a spanish language and then try to link john mccain to the use of rush limbaugh, not even fairly taken -- taking the views of rush limbaugh into context, and he hates the john mccain, but he abandoned immigration reform after the election, and frankly, just talking about the principles, how could you blame him? >> i would say his party abandoned him. we saw in the primaries leading up to the nomination, you had rudy guiliani trying to outdo each other in terms of extreme

rhetoric that was anti-locking all. it was a weight that he could not overcome as he was headed into the nomination and he realized he could not fulfil the positions he had taken early on and had no choice. i think this is a reflection of the republican party been at great odds in terms of how reconcile engage in the latino community and dealing with this issue. we have to understand that if the republicans are going to gain strength and grow as a party, they will have to figure out how to deal with the issue of immigration and certainly reach out and engage in the latino community on a broader set of issues as well. >>. -moderate republican senator.

convinced -- i am a moderate republican senator. convince me this will help. >> if you are a moderate republican senator, i would really like to find you out there. [laughter] [applause] >> i said it was a hypothetical. >> ok. look, we have seen this shift. i am encouraged by what i've heard from senator marco rubio. i do not agree with him substantively, but i give him credit bed in january last year he stood up in front of a large region give him credit for in january let -- give him credit for in january last year standing up in front of republican leaders and saying we need to change ellet home and we need leadership that understands the way they have talked about hispanics and immigrants is

counter-productive to them and their goals as a party and it is within their interests to deal with this issue. i gave john mccain of lot of credit. i know he was disappointed in the final outcome, but i do not think it was a reflection about him and his principles. i think there will be away where latinos who are eager to see leaders on both sides of the aisle, and to encourage that more -- and her if -- i am encouraged that both parties have been urging latinos. when we have robust representation on both sides, i believe all to believe we will get to a solution. >> most polls show the number one issue for latinos is the economy and jobs, and the number 2 issue is immigration, not education and health.

what is the latino voter to do when they proceed one party to be costs fell to latinos and the other -- high style to latinos, and the other two and broken promises. how do you address that -- and the other 2 have broken promises. >> imagine? the republican ticket were jeb bush and -- imagine if the republican ticket were jeb bush and susana martina's. dreamers thee credit they deserve for forcing the president into action that he responded to. it was not a good idea that came from the white house. it was an inevitable idea that came from the grass roots. the latino voter that cares about immigration has a choice

now between someone who did not do enough, did not keep his promises, but put some skin in the game at a crucial moment, and a candidate who wants to embrace arizona laws, support self-deportation and veto the dream act. the contrast could not be more clear. people are disappointed in obama, but terrified of romney. >> is that enough to get them out to vote? i know nclr participates in getting people out to vote. how will you get people called to vote? you said we might not reach the 12.2 million voters. >> i think we have to do more and the mayor of san antonio, mayor kestrel alluded to it.

-- castro alluded to it. we have seen great progress. we have to recognize the answer is not something that will change overnight. the mentality that somehow everything will shift entirely is not possible. we need to have a 2016, 2020 strategy to make sure we are increasing voter engagement. we have programs under way with the organizations that are now using not just the old style tactics, but we recognize media plays an important role. you have to do more in terms of issue advocacy and making sure the voters are informed. there is a broad campaign that we have continued to do and it involves elements where we will make sure folks are citizens, registered, informed voters, and

we get them to the ballot box, but voter suppression laws are a real issue. >> what are the risks of latinos not going out to vote? will they get the same attention from the party's -- from the parties? >> i think we have to recognize that as important as immigration is, the economy and jobs is also an issue. lot of folks are disillusioned. it isn't just latino community. the turnout rate overall will be interesting. other groups have a lot at stake as well. we are working hard to make sure people understand what is said state, but for us, if we do not show continued progress in terms

of turnout, we will not be respected and have the clout that we will need to change the policies that affect us. >> the president said last week in the second term i could get this done. part of the reason he did not act his fear about losing some of the more rural and blue- collar seats. even without immigration, they lost most of the seats in 2010 anyway. what would be different in a 2013 environment that you think would allow this to move forward more realistically than it did in the first two years? >> that fall, wins and the latino vote is a factor it is expected to be, i think the obama administration will be much more willing to lean into with hard, and you might see people like john mccain, lindsay gramm, and marco rubio assert the modern strain of republicans

that are for -- moderate strain of republicans that are for immigration reform. what obama can say in 2013 if he is elected is ok, pick your poison. we are going to work together on legislation and you can share the credit, or i will continue to take executive action and the only one taking the credit and the risks. your choice. this is a stronger position. that is why i see the dreamer position as important. it will sow the seeds for a series of actions. >> frank sharry and jan at moreau -- and janet now andrea, thank you. jake tapper, the want to welcome our next guest? >> a trivia question? how many latino voters turned 18

every month, making them eligible to vote? >> i think i would have spoiled it. >> my answer is complicated. here is net migration. take the number of mexicans that immigrated to the united states, and subtract the amount of americans that moved from the u.s. to mexico. how many do you have? 0. that is the net migration pilot like to -- migration. i would like to call xavier becerra to the stage. good to see you. first elected to congress in 1992. he is seeking his 11th term in california. he is the vice-chair of the house democratic caucus sits on the ways and means committee. thank you for joining. thises sodium-putting in your

arm right now -- this is sodium ion putting in your are right now. what happens if president obama is elected assuming that congress stays the same? >> jake, you used the wrong word. it is not if, it is when, and it makes no difference if it is a democrat or a republican in office, we will get immigration reform. it is just a matter of when. i believe president obama we will get it done in the next term with or without republican help because honestly, i believe, and one of these days i will name them, there are conservative republicans who are tired of this. they want to move on. they would like to do what is

right for the country because they have seen what this does. they are surrounded by these immigrants as well, and they are ready. it is just that right now they are in the grips of this minority within their my geordie and they cannot get loose of -- majority, and they cannot get loose of the tea party. >> how different is that from 2009-2010? you were in the room. democrats and their biggest majority since the 1970's. why was the decision made not to move forward on immigration reform in 2010 when health-care was off of the table? >> we were drinking from a fire-. how do you get a million people back to work? how do you stop millions from using their home? how do you get credit for small businesses in america? how did you tell a woman she is not a pre-existing condition,

the way her insurance company tells her, and we wanted to crack this not called immigration. we were drinking from a fire hydrant. we did energy reform in the house of representative. >> that you found time for cap and trade, which was not an immediate response to the economic crisis. >> absolutely it was, ron bernstein. the price of energy was going not while income was going down. we needed this because if you get to balance budgets in the future, you have to deal with energy. >> let me ask the question again. where you and others advocating going forward with immigration while you have large majorities and what was the response you were given about why it did not come about? >> there was not a conversation with the president where we did not raise this and say you

promised, and the promise said i absolutely did. have you ever heard the president back away from the promised? that was gutsy to make a promise on an issue the republicans thought was a winner for them. let me tell you what happened. democrats past immigration reform. we called it a dream act. in the senate passed. it never got to go to the president because of a procedural maneuver called the filibuster, which required that in the senate majority would not rule, that if you get a majority, democracy, you do stuff. well, 55 out of 100 is a majority and they said yes, but the republicans say we will require 64 that vote, it never got to the president -- 60 for

that vote, it never got to the president. >> president obama has once again promised immigration reform, but if he continues to have a republican congress, he cannot keep that promise. nancy pelosi said unless democrats regain control of the house of representatives is not possible to have immigration reform. why make a promise he knows he cannot keep? >> i like to always agree with barack obama and nancy pelosi, but in this case, look, it is a matter of when, not if. we will get it. there are republicans, friends of mine, that are conservative, who want to do this, and i believe would be ready to break who saw it could be done without having 30 daggers in their back. the difficulty exists because leader nancy pelosi, soon-to-be speaker nancy pelosi, she is

right. if democrats when control the congress, it gets done. if they do not get control, it will be hard for the president to live up to his promise. i do not believe republicans will ultimately obstruct. lamar smith, the charity gigi sherry committee in the house of representatives, -- the judiciary committee, the day after the president released his statement, was going to release a press release. why? he was told to put it back toward we will get this done. it is just a matter of when. >> congress has the lowest approval rating in its history. >> do not the cad me. >> it is there. -- you are there. >> will continue to be like this? congress has never been more polarized. >> is not interesting that every

election for president really is the most important elections in our lifetime? that is the case in 2012. we are at this crossroads. it is almost as if we are watching america and what destiny it will have. will we be the destiny, where the america of the leadership of the julian castro and his growing generation, or will it be the leadership of those who issue legislation that creates sb1070 in arizona? i cannot ask the son of immigrants to be pessimistic. i'm very optimistic. i believe this country will choose the right path. i hope it is in 2012, strongly, one way or the other. the american dream cannot fail because my kids are still

growing up and a lot of children have to experience what my parents did. my father had a sixth grade education. my mother came from mexico with no english, no family, and no money. >> i understand you are a fairly partisan democrat and rewarded for being that, why you think he of the party has done a better job of recruiting latino candidates to win statewide office? >> i was hoping to get that question. i do not think that is the case. >> numerically that is the case. >> i think they need to think latino democrats who voted for them because they had a name that sounds familiar. do i think the republican party has done a better job of appealing to latinos in terms of the issues that are important and the people that could do this?

our third stop this -- arthur davis might not say this, but there is a elected membership that is democratic, and the republicans have a long way to go. good for the republicans said they have high-ranking latinos in their ranks, and shame on the democrats if we do not do that soon. >> why you think that is? do you agree that it is an achilles heel for the democrats? they're not nurturing the talent? >> it is letting the talent for to live to the top, and this is where we knew -- percolate to the top, and this is where we need help from good soldiers in politics and other communities that are far more mature. jewish brothers and sisters have been phenomenal and try to help the team knows blows up, and we need communities that i had success -- latino's moved up,

and we need community step ahead success. my wife and i make more money in one year than it took my parents 20 years to make. it will be tough for folks like my parents to make contributions to talented, young, ambitious latinos to get into office if they have to rely on my parents. >> we will leave it there. we appreciate your thoughts. [applause] we have one more guest for you, antonio villaraigosa, mayor of los angeles, a former union organizer, former speaker of the california assembly, and the first hispanic mayor of los angeles since 1872. he is the chairman of the democratic national convention. thank you for joining us. good to see you. need a microphone. yes.

i apologize -- >> i apologize for being late. the first lady had a rough time getting into the place, so we were a little late. >> we have talked a lot about immigration, but as mayor you have had a focus on education. 47% of americans under 18 are now non-white. are we on track to provide those young african-americans, hispanics, other minority kids the tools and skills they need to move into the middle class? >> absolutely not. let me refer to a friend, tom friedman, when he writes that the world is flat and we are not competing, he is talking about our kids a good of princeton, yale, ucla, stanford -- we are not competing in math and science around the world. when you talk about kids that

are poor, you are talking about an achievement gap where these people are not competing with some in the developing world. that is a challenge. california will be 1 million down in the college graduates that we need for one reason, the achievement gap. some would say we need more money. we do need more money, but we also need to tie money to success, to results, to high standards, to innovation, to a blended learning, a teacher- effectiveness, a teacher- learning -- a number of things to pick up the success of our schools in california and around the country. >> you focus on a lot on teacher reform. in a los angeles public schools, 73% of the kids are hispanic, only 9% are white. we know two thirds of hispanic and african-american kids attend

schools where a majority of students are from families with income is low enough to qualify for reduced lunches. is segregation still a contributor to the achievement gap to talk about? >> i think it is poverty, spending, but it think it is a failure on the part of leaders to set the high standard of success. why did jeb bush, and i know i am a democrat, why did jeb bush racecourse to a level where latinos did better than we should raise scores to a level where latinos did better than 36 states? we need to be willing to take on the status quo and set high examples for our kids. when i hear it is just poverty, these kids are poor on school lunch programs, their parents are english-language learners, they are foster kids, kids out of broken homes, you are talking about me.

i could agree to read read and write. it is a lot of things, -- i could read and write. it is a lot of things. that is why focus on not just teacher-effectiveness, but the accountability that we need. if we are going to convince voters and taxpayers that we should spend more, and i believe we should spend more. when i went to california public schools we have the best and we were in the top five in spending. we have to connected to results and success, and focus on where we of the biggest problem, and the biggest problems are in low- performing schools, disproportionately with latinos and african-americans. >> i want to continue with a subject we have been talking about, why we do not have more latinos in higher office, particularly democrats. there are almost 6000 elected officials, of those that are

partisan, 90% are democrats, republicans have higher offices. >> the last number i remember was close to 90%, but it is overwhelming the number that are latino. >> exactly, but you cannot go from here to president. >> tell that to visually and castro. >> to julian castro, -- julian castro. >> to julian castro and yourself, what is the next step? >> what i meant as he has the talent. look, i agree with congressman xavier becerra. a lot of latinos who crossover -- i got the same thing. when i ran in 2001, i got a high number of latino republicans. they voted for me in big numbers. they still vote for me in big numbers, not as big as latino

democrats. i think they have been purposeful in focusing on that recruitment of the highest level. there is no question about that. but, john pariahs is the speaker of the california state assembly. that is a big job. we are going to get there. there is no question about it. i think our party will realize that we can cross over. i was joking with some people that when i ran in 2001 -- you were there -- people said you can not run until 2017 when latinos would be about 35% of the electorate, and i said why is that, and these tend they are only 22%, and i said reaching they are only -- i said why is that, and they said they are only 22%. i think as time goes on you will see more of us in a position to

run. i think julian castro will be a senator of texas, a governor, a president of the united states, and we have a deep bench. the difference between us and them -- they have great speakers. hine said everywhere i could say it that marco rubio -- i have said it everywhere i could say it -- marco rubio and suzanne a martina's are the best speakers at that convention bar none. when you have a platform that calls for a self-deportation of 12 million people, making life so oppressive that the self- deport, what they forget is the head of 5 million citizen children in this country, another million dreamers and no know whether country but their own. when they rally they are saying something, and i will tell you,

cubans, central americans, whether they are, in fact non- latinos here that kind of rhetoric, that hate-filled language, they recoiled. i think they're soaring rhetoric does not connect with their politics. >> you mentioned the share of. there is a protest in los angeles county over the deportation rate. the trust act, the frank sharry mentioned before, that would withdraw participation, should gerry broz -- jerry brown sign that law? >> absolutely. and all of these issues -- marriage equality i took on in 1994. it was not popular speaking in spanish, broken spanish, maria elena would say, in 1994, but it

was the right thing to do. governor jerry brown should sign it. i expect him to sign it. this is a state that should chart a different path than arizona, than alabama. if it is not clear what i feel, i made it clear. >> in your capacity as chair of the democratic national convention, it has been announced that the venue for tomorrow night's speech will be moved from the bank of america stadium, 75,000 seats to the much smaller venues, the time warner cable arena. i understand that the official explanation is severe weather forecast, but were you really going to be able to fill all of those seats? >> absolutely. absolutely. look, we were saying until last

night, all of us, the show will go on. the fear is -- the fear is not just the rain. if there is lightning, people could get hurt. there was no issue about filling up the stadium. we have knocked on doors, reached out across the state, the south and the country. that was not going to be a problem. you all were saying the enthusiasm factor was down, and last night all democrats and republicans had to admit that the enthusiasm was there. it was strong and i will -- you will see it all the way through. a convention frames the campaign. we think everybody is watching because you are talking about it all the time, and i am talking about it, but most people are struggling and taking care of their families, they're not

focused until now. >> the enthusiasm level is high among the delegates, what about the voters? >> the voters that i am talking to are excited. we have our work cut out for us. we of the most aggressive grass- roots effort to talk to voters in our history and any party's history, by the way. i have said for a long time that this will be a close election. it is a divided electorate the reason i agree -- he is not there anymore. i waited to hear him. the reason i agree with congressman xavier becerra, and there will be more specific and why i believe republicans will join democrats in pass comprehensive immigration reform and the dream act. they will do it because they have to. once they lose this election,

they will move from the far right where they are on so many issues, to the middle ground. look, there are decent people in both parties, and reasonable people on both parties. they will realize they are losing the demographic. they will keep the issue of opposing abortion, but they will take out for rape and incest because that is extreme. that is where most people are. they will take out the morning after pill they will continue to be for civil unions, maybe not marriage. they're losing the demographic across the board, so they will vote for comprehensive immigration reform because they will get ready to act today lose this election to be a party of the middle again, and not a party that would make ronald reagan turned in his grave. >> mr. mayor, sit tight for one

second. jake and maria elena, a few final words. >> it has been a great conversation. i look forward to doing more of this with the abc news univision partnership, and i wish we had similar turnout at the republican event, but you can now control everything. >> that is because there are more hispanic democrats. it has been wonderful sharing the stage with all of you. i think to have the importance of the hispanic vote, which will once again decide the election -- i think president obama has three challenges. unemployment, deportation, and voter disenchantment. this apathy among latino voters. for a lot of people that are here, i think it is their job to go out and motivate latinos to vote for whoever they want to

vote for. like we say, vote for whoever you want to vote for, but go out and vote. >> i actually say that, too, not right now. >> in spanish? >> i have said it in spanish and english. we want people to vote. we want all americans to vote. we like to talk about how little latinos vote. america is not voting, everybody, compared to western democracies. they vote more in mexico than they do in the united states. let's be clear that we all have to lift up the notion that their right to vote is something sacred and crack a good final thought. >> i hope you -- sacred. >> a good final thought. i hope you keep an eye out for abc and univision, and join me in thanking all against for this to begin this afternoon and we hope to see you at another event down the road. thank you. [applause] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> we're looking at a live image of the time warner cable arena.

we will go there to show you the venue where everything has been unfolding this week at the democratic convention in charlotte. this'll be the site not only of the events today, but also tomorrow. we had news this morning that the democratic national committee is moving the venue of the final night indoors and the democrats say that is because of the weather. the associated press reports that it is forcing president obama to ditch plans to deliver his speech before 74,000 people at the outdoor stadium, the bank of america stadium. with the chance of thunderstorms on the, -- on the horizon, president obama will except his nomination indoors before about 15,000 people. republicans have responded to this with cynicism.

a gop spokesman said they are downgrading the event due to lack of enthusiasm in filling the seats, but democrats say they will still have spectacular scenes from inside of the arena. that is the associated press reported. we will go to some highlights from last night, but let's look at some of the comments that have been coming in through twitter. we have an hash tag set up to share your thoughts. among those waiting in is intellectual who says i will be racing home tonight, looking forward to the two of hash tag dnc 2012. kenan says all i have heard is a bunch of extra ways they want to spend my money. a final tweet from don says

social change comes with an upraised fist. he uses are hash tag again. we'll be reading more throughout the week. c-span is using social media to hear from yours, and one of the things we are doing is hosting and google+ hangouts with delegates from around the country. let's take a listen to part of the hang out from yesterday, talking to delegates about their experience this week. our important is it for you to see young people, not just as part of the convention, but out there on the stage, young members of congress, leaders next >> it is absolutely important to have -- leaders? >> it is absolutely important to have young people. we have the mayor of south bend today. he is only 30 years old, the youngest mayor of a city with over 100,000 people, and he was talking about what he is trying

to do in south bend, and the importance of getting involved. to see another young american like him putting himself of there, getting involved in public service, it is inspiring and we need more people to do that. >> let's hear from another gentleman from connecticut, a councilman from the city of hartford. you have been to conventions before. how important are they for the party? >> they are very important. decades ago, you did not know who would be the nominee. that has changed, but the convention is important in terms of firing up the base. everybody knows in 2008 there was a lot hope and excitement around the candidacy of president obama, then senator obama, and the country has been hurting. i think this convention is even more important to the base of our party, firing assault,

reminding us why it is so important to reelect president obama and vice president joe biden. the enthusiasm as important as we go out into the fall as we throw out the contrast, romney/ryan, that is bush/cheney on steroids. the significance of this election could be -- could not be more important to communities like mine, urban communities that are hurting in america. the mayor talked about steady job growth. i see this as a time to energize the party, reminders of hope and values, and what we see going forward. i look for to the coming days and hearing from leaders in our party. >> that as an exit of a google+ hangouts cease and expend

conducted yesterday. you can see all of that on our web site, c-span.org, and more of the conversations we are having with men and women here this week for the democratic convention. tonight, things will kick off at 4 >> 50 p.m., a slight change in -- for clock 50 p.m., a slight change in time. we will hear from representative diana degett of colorado, afl- cio president richard trumka, and then patty murray of washington state. looking at the prime-time lineup and to you can watch on c-span in our gavel-to-gavel coverage, in the 7:00 hour, house minority leader nancy pelosi will take the stage. we'll also hear from the agricultural secretary its tom vilsack, whose wife is running for congress in iowa, from

senator barbara mikulski of maryland, in the education senator -- secretary arne duncan. looking at 8:00, representative steny hoyer of maryland. also, the president of planned parenthood, cecile richards, and congressman barney frank of massachusetts. eric shinseki also be speaking in that hour. in the 9:00 hour, representative chris van hollen, and sandra fluke, who gained public attention for her positions on contraceptives, and the uaw president bob king, and the governor of delaware, jack amrkell.

at 10:00, elizabeth warren, and then the presidential nomination speech from former president bill clinton. there will be a vote on the presidential nomination and a roll call of states which we expect to go late into the evening. you can catch that all on c-span throughout the night and you can find out more information on our website. let's look of some of the highlights from last night's convention. we heard from the san antonio, texas, mayor julian castro, and then we heard speeches from the democratic mayor of massachusetts, devak patrick. let's start off with the julian castro, san antonio mayor. ♪ tonight is going to be a good night that tonight is going to be a

good night that tonight is going to be a good, good night i have a feeling [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. my fellow democrats, my fellow americans, my fellow texans -- [applause] i stand before you tonight as a young american, a proud american of the generation born as the cold war receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution, and determined to reelect the man who will make the 21st century another american century, president barack obama.

[applause] the unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. my brother and i grew up with my mother and my grandmother, victoria. my grandmother was an orphan. as a young girl, she had to leave her home in mexico and move to san antonio, where some relatives agreed to take her in. she never made it past the fourth grade. she had to drop out and stop working to help her family. she spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook, a babysitter, barely scraping by, the working hard to give my mother, her only child, a chance in life so my mother could give my brother and me an even better when. as my grandmother got older, she died my mother to give her --

she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. you could imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered twice over. she was so excited that the day before we were born, she entered a new low-cost and she won $300. that is how she paid our hospital bill. by the time we came along, this incredible woman taught herself to read and write in both spanish and english. i can still see her in the room we shared with her, reading her agatha christie novels late into the night, and i can still remember her every morning as we walked out the front door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us saying may god bless you. my grandmother did not live to see us begin life in public service, but she would have

thought it extraordinary that two generations after she arrived in san antonio, one grandson would be the mayor, and the other would be on his way, the good will and of san antonio -- the good people of san antonio willing, on his way to the united states congress. [applause] my family's story is not special. what is special is the america that makes our story possible. ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation, no matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward. america did not become the land of opportunity by accident. my grandmother's generation and generations before always saw beyond the horizon of their own lives and circumstances.

they believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity tomorrow. that is the country that the invasion, and that is the country that they helped build -- the roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won -- these opened the door to a decent job, a secure retirement, the chance for your children to do better than you did, and that is the middle class, the engine of our economic growth. with hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there, and with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there and go beyond. the dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to american. is a human dream, one that calls across oceans and borders. the dream is universal, but

america makes it possible. our investment and opportunity makes it a reality. [applause] now, in texas, we believe in the rugged individual. [applause] texas might be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps. [applause] we expect folks to pull themselves up by them, but we also recognize that there are some things we can i do alone. we have to come together and investing opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow -- and invest in the opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. [applause] it starts with education. [applause] 20 years ago, we left home for

college and then lie -- law school. in those classrooms we met some of the brightest folks in the world, but at the end of our days there, i could not help but to think back to my classmates at thomas jefferson high school in san antonio. they have the same talent, same brain, same dreams as the folks we sat with at stanford and harvard. i realized the difference was not one of intelligence or drive. the difference was opportunity. [applause] in my city of san antonio, we get that, so we are working to ensure that more four-year-olds have access to prek. we opened a cafe college. we know you cannot be pro- business unless you are pro- education.

[applause] we know that prepay and student loans are not charity. they are a smart investment in a workforce that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. we are investing in young minds today to be competitive in the global economy tomorrow. it is paying off. last year the milken institute ranked san antonio as the nation's top performing local economy, and we are only getting started. opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow. [applause] now, like many of you, i watched last week's republican convention. they told a few stories of individual success. we all celebrate individual

success, but the question is how do we multiplied that success? the answer is president barack obama. [applause] mitt romney, quite simply, does not get it. a few months ago, he visited a university in ohio and gave students they're a little entrepreneur our advice -- started business, he said, but how? borrow money if you have to come from your parents, he told them. [laughter] gee, why did i not think of that? [applause] some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that should not determine whether you could pursue your dream. not in america, not here, not in

the 21st century. i do not think governor romney meant any harm. i think he is a good guy, but i just think he has no idea how good he has had it. [applause] we know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. what we do not except is the idea that some folks will not even get a chance, and the thing is mitt romney and the republican party are perfectly comfortable with that america. in fact, that is exactly what they are promising us. the ann romney/ryan budget does not only taught education, job training, it is not just pummel the middle class, it dismantles it. it dismantles what generations have bill to make sure that everyone can enter and stay in the middle class. when it comes to getting the middle class back to work, mitt

romney says no. when it comes to respecting women's rights, mitt romney says no. when it set -- comes to let people who love who they want to love and who they want to marry, mitt romney says no. when it comes to expanding access to health care, mitt romney says -- [applause] actually. actually -- actually, mitt romney said yes, and now he says no. governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. and it is not pretty. so, here is what we are going to say to mitt romney in november. we are going to say no.

of all of the fiction that we heard in tampa the one i find more -- most troubling is if we all just go our own way our nation will be stronger for it, because if we sever the threads that connect us the only people that will go far are those that are already ahead. we all understand that freedom is not free. what romney and ryan do not understand is that neither is opportunity. we have to invest in it. [applause] republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, but somehow the rest of us will, too. folks, we heard that before. first they called that trickled down, then supply side, and now

it is romney/ryan, or is it ryan/ryan? either way, it was tested and failed. your family paid the price. mitt romney just does not get it. [applause] but barack obama gets it. [applause] he understands that when we invest in people, we are investing in our shared prosperity. when we neglect that responsibility we risk our promise as a nation. just a few years ago families that had never asked for anything found themselves a risk of losing everything, and the dream my grandmother held that work would be rewarded, that the middle class would be there, if not for her, but for her children, that dream was being crushed. then president obama took office, and he took action.

when detroit was in trouble, president obama saved the auto industry and saved 1 million jobs. [applause] 7 presidents before him, republicans and democrats try to expand health care to all americans. president obama got it done. [applause] he made an historic investment to lift our nation's public schools, and extended pell grants so that more young people could afford college. because he knows we do not have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers. [applause] now it is time for congress to enshrined in law their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they have never called

home, america. [applause] four years ago, america stood on the brink of a depression. despite incredible odds and united republican opposition, our president took action, and now we have seen 4.5 million new jobs.there is more our work to t we are making progress and now we need to make a choice. it is a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay less for a country where everybody pays their fair share so that we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. [applause] it is a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts, grants, or a nation that invest more in education. and it is a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship american jobs overseas

or a leader who brings jobs back home. >> this is the choice before us. to me, to my generation, for all the generations to come chosen us. a man who already is our president: barack obama. [applause] >> four more years! four more years! >> in the end, the american dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. our families don't always cross

the finish line in the span of one generation. but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. but she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. and my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of microphone. [applause] and while she may be proud of me tonight, i've got to tell you, mom, i'm even more proud of you. [applause] thank you, mom.

[applause] today, my beautiful wife erica and i are the proud parents of a three-year-old little girl, carina victoria, named after my grandmother. a couple of mondays ago was her first day of pre-k. as we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom, and i found myself whispering to her, as was once whispered to me, "que dios te bendiga." "may god bless you." she's still young, and her dreams are far off yet, but i hope she'll reach them. as a dad, i'm going to do my

part, and i know she'll do hers. but our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part, as one community, one united states of america, to ensure opportunity for all of our children. the days we live in are not easy ones, but we have seen days like this before, and america prevailed. with the wisdom of our founders and the values of our families, america prevailed. with each generation going further than the last, america prevailed. and with the opportunity we build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, america will prevail. it begins with re-electing barack obama. it begins with you. it begins now. que dios los bendiga. may god bless you, and may god bless the united states of america. [applause]

>> please give a warm welcome to massachusetts gov. the ball patrick. >> good evening, democrats! are you fired up? are you ready to go? i hope so. this is the election of a lifetime. because more than any one candidate or policy, what's at stake is the american dream. that dream-the ability to imagine a better way for ourselves and our families and then reach for it-is central to who we are and what we stand for as a nation. whether that dream endures for

another generation depends on you and me. it depends on who leads us, too. in massachusetts, we know mitt romney. by the time he left office, massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation-during better economic times-and household income in our state was declining. he cut education deeper than anywhere else in america. roads and bridges were crumbling. business taxes were up, and business confidence was down. our clean energy potential was stalled. and we had a structural budget deficit. mitt romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. i can tell you that massachusetts wasn't one of them. [applause] great fine fellow and a

salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it. [applause] when i came to office, we set out on a different course: investing in ourselves and our future. and today massachusetts leads the nation in economic competitiveness, student achievement, health care coverage, life sciences and biotech, energy efficiency and veterans' services. today, with the help of the obama administration, we are rebuilding our roads and bridges and expanding broadband access. today we're out of the deficit hole mr. romney left, and we've achieved the highest bond rating in our history. today-with labor at the table- we've made the reforms in our pension and benefits systems,

our schools, our transportation system and more that mr. romney only talked about. and today in massachusetts, you can also marry whomever you love. we have much more still to do. but we are on a better track because we placed our faith not in trickle-down fantasies and divisive rhetoric but in our values and common sense. the same choice faces the nation today. all that today's republicans are saying is that if we just shrink government, cut taxes, crush unions and wait, all will be well. never mind that those are the very policies that got us into recession to begin with! never mind that not one of the governors who preached that

gospel in tampa last week has the results to show for it. but we democrats owe america more than a strong argument for what we are against. we need to be just as strong about what we are for. the question is: what do we believe? we believe in an economy that grows opportunity out to the middle class and the marginalized, not just up to the well connected. we believe that freedom means keeping government out of our most private affairs, including out of a woman's decision whether to keep an unwanted pregnancy and everybody's decision about whom to marry. we believe that we owe the next generation a better country

than we found and that every american has a stake in that. we believe that in times like these we should turn to each other, not on each other. we believe that government has a role to play, not in solving every problem in everybody's life but in helping people help themselves to the american dream. that's what democrats believe. if we want to win elections in november and keep our country moving forward, if we want to earn the privilege to lead, it's time for democrats to stiffen our backbone and stand up for what we believe. [applause]

quit waiting for pundits or polls or super pacs to tell us who the next president or senator or congressman is going to be. we're americans. we shape our own future. let's start by standing up for president barack obama. this is the president who delivered the security of affordable health care to every single american after 90 years of trying. this is the president who brought osama bin laden to justice, who ended the war in iraq and is ending the war in afghanistan. this is the president who ended "don't ask, don't tell" so that love of country, not love of

another, determines fitness for military service. who made equal pay for equal work the law of the land. this is the president who saved the american auto industry from extinction, the american financial industry from self- destruction, and the american economy from depression. who added over 4.5 million private sector jobs in the last two-plus years, more jobs than george w. bush added in eight. the list of accomplishments is long, impressive and barely told-even more so when you consider that congressional republicans have made obstruction itself the centerpiece of their governing strategy. with a record and a vision like that, i will not stand by and

let him be bullied out of office-and neither should you, and neither should you and neither should you. i want you to be clear,what's at stake is real. the orchard gardens elementary school in boston was in trouble. its record was poor, its spirit was broken, and its reputation was a wreck. no matter how bad things were in other urban schools in the city, people would say, "at least we're not orchard gardens." today, thanks to a host of new tools, manenacted with the help of the obama administration, orchard gardens is turning itself around. teaching standards and accountabilities are higher. the school day is longer and

filled with experiential learning, art, exercise and music. the head of pediatric psychology from a local hospital comes to consult with faculty and parents on the toughest personal situations in student'' home lives. attendance is up, thanks to a mentoring initiative. in less than a year, orchard gardens went from one of the worst schools in the district to one of the best in the state. the whole school community is engaged and proud. so am i. at the end of my visit a year and a half ago, the first grade-led by a veteran teacher- gathered to recite dr. king's "i have a dream" speech. when i started to applaud, the teacher said, "not yet." then she began to ask those six- and seven-year-olds questions: "what does 'creed' mean?" "what does 'nullification' mean? "where is stone mountain?" and as the hands shot up, i

realized that she had taught the children not just to memorize that speech but to understand it. theirs republicans and nominee for president tell us that those first-graders are on their own-on their own to deal with their poverty; with ill- prepared young parents, maybe who speak english as a second language; with an underfunded school; with neighborhood crime and blight; with no access to nutritious food and no place for their mom to cash a paycheck; with a job market that needs skills they don't have; with no way to pay for college. but those orchard gardens kids should not be left on their own. those children are america's children, too, yours and mine. and among them are the future scientists, entrepreneurs, teachers, artists, engineers, laborers and civic leaders we desperately need.

for this country to rise, they must rise-and they and their cause must have a champion in the white house. that champion is barack obama. that cause is the american dream. let's fight for that. let's canvass and phone bank and get out the vote for that. let's go tell everyone we meet that, when the american dream is at stake, you want barack obama in charge. thank you. god bless you. and god bless the united states. [applause] >> please welcome cory booker, platform committee chair.

[applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. our platform, crafted by democrats, is not about partisanship but pragmatism; not about left or right, but about moving america and our economy forward. >> thank you. our platform-and our president- stand firm in the conviction that america must continue to out-build, out-innovate and out-educate the world. this platform is a clear choice between economic pathways: forward or back, inclusion or

exclusion, grow together as a nation or be a country of savage disparities that favor the fortunate few over the greatest driving force of any economy-a large and robust middle class. we choose forward. we choose inclusion. we choose growing together. we choose american economic might and muscle, standing strong on the bedrock of the american ideal: a strong, empowered and ever-growing middle class. [applause] our platform emphasizes that a vibrant, free and fair market

is essential to economic growth. we also must pull from our highest ideals of justice and protect against those ills that destabilized our economy-like predatory lending, over- leveraged financial institutions and the unchecked avarice of the past that trumped fairness and common sense. our platform calls for significant cuts in federal spending. our platform calls for a balanced deficit reduction plan where everyone from elected officials where the wealthy pay their fair share.

and when your country is in a costly war, with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare- it's patriotism. [applause] >> usa! usa! >> but we all know-it's common

sense-that for an economy built to last we must invest in what will fuel us for generations to come. this is our history-from the transcontinental railroad to the hoover dam, to the dredging of our ports and building of our most historic bridges-our american ancestors prioritized growth and investment in our nation's infrastructure. and today our businesses, industries, entrepreneurs and economy realize a return on those investments. let us not fall prey to rhetoric that seeks to gut investment and starve our nation of critical, common-sense building for our future. and investment must include the real engine of job growth in

america: the american small business. our is why i'm proud that president has made a profound difference for people and businesses in newark, new in jersey and our nation by cutting taxes for 100 percent of working families and giving small businesses 18 different tax cuts. for president obama, "home of the brave" are not just the last words of our national anthem, but also a call to action. this is why the president's policies and our platform include incentives to train and

hire our troops returning home. not only because of our moral responsibility, but because it makes for a stronger, more secure american economy. but investing in people doesn't stop with our troops. our platform and our president make it clear that the most critical investment we can make in a 21st-century, knowledge- based economy is education. [applause] our president has already doubled pell grants, raised education standards, invested in research and development at our universities and early childhood education in our neighborhoods.

our platform and our president state it clearly: our nation cannot continue to be the world's number one economy if we aren't committed to being the world's number one educator. our platform and our president are not interested in petty political arguments. instead, this platform of big and practical ideas sets forth an emboldened pathway toward the historic hope which has political arguments. driven generations of americans

forward-it is our most fundamental national aspiration-that no matter who you are, no matter what your color, creed, how you choose to pray or who you choose to love, that if you are an american- first generation or fifth-one who is willing to work hard, play by the rules and apply your god-given talents-that you should be able to find a job that pays the bills. generations of americansyou shd health care for your family. you should be able to retire with dignity and respect. and you should be able to give your children the kind of

education that allows them to dream even bigger, go even farther and accomplish even more than you could ever imagine. this is our platform. this is our american mission. this is our platform. these are the dreams of our fathers and mothers. this is the demand from the next generation, who call to our conscience in a chorus of conviction, in classrooms from north to south, from sea to shining sea, when they proudly proclaim with those sacred words from our most profound pledge, that we are a nation with liberty and justice for all.

[applause] and so -- god bless america. >> usa! usa! >> and this november, with the re-election of president barack obama, this generation of americans will ever expand upon the hope, the truth and the promise of america. mr.

chairman, i am very pleased to move for the adoption of the 2012 democratic national platform. thank you. [applause] >> please welcome ohio gov. ted strickland. [applause] >>i'm ted strickland, and i come from duck run, ohio. let me tell you, folks in ohio know what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people. ina sidney is a grandmother who lost her ability to provide for

her family when they closed down the auto plant in perrysburg, ohio. ina says thanks to barack obama for having the courage to back an industry that others had given up on. she's an autoworker and a breadwinner once again. as he celebrated the birth of his newborn baby boy, brian slagle lost his job just at the moment he needed it most. but today he's back making auto batteries in a factory in springfield township, ohio. reasonsaid there's one he has a steady paycheck again: barack obama refused to let the american auto industry die. james fayson felt like there was no tomorrow when he was laid off.

"i believe in working every day," he said, "and that was taken from me." today, james is working sixty hours a week on the jeep liberty line in toledo. he is thrilled to say that his life right now is "eat, sleep and jeep." becausek, he said, barack obama gave us a chance for a comeback. the auto industry supports one of every eight jobs in ohio, and it's alive and growing in america again. late last year, chrysler announced they were hiring eleven hundred new autoworkers in toledo. just last month, gm announced a

plan to invest 200 million dollars in lordstown, keeping five thousand jobs in ohio and building the next generation of the chevy cruze-a car we are proud to say is made entirely in ohio. just today, the big three auto makers announce that their auto sales are up by double digits since last year. it's been a long slog back, and we've still got a long way to go. but all over ohio-all over america-men and women are going back to work with the pride of building something stamped "made in america." before barack obama took

office, it looked like that pride could have vanished forever, but today, from the staggering depths of the great recession, the nation has had 29 straight months of job growth. workers across my state and across the country are getting back the dignity of a good job and a good salary. vince lombardi was right when he said, "it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." and my friends ina sydney, brian slagle and james fayson were all knocked down. but ina, brian and james are all standing today. the auto industry is standing today. the middle class is standing today.

ohio is standing today. america is standing strong today. you's what happens when have a president who stands up for average working people. president barack obama stood up for us, and now by god we will stand up for him. quite frankly, barack obama knows what it's like to pay a mortgage and student loans. he knows what it's like to watch a beloved family member in a medical crisis and worry that treatment is out of reach. barack obama knows our struggles. and, my friends, he shares our values.

now, mitt romney, he lives by a different code. to him, american workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet. to him, all profits are created equal, whether made on our shores or off. that's why companies romney invested in were dubbed "outsourcing pioneers." our nation was built by pioneers-pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of american workers here at home. mitt romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled, "let detroit go bankrupt." if he had had his way, devastation would have cascaded

from michigan to ohio and across the nation. mitt romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit from tearing it down. if mitt was santa claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves. mitt romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. it summers on the beaches of the cayman islands and winters on the slopes of the swiss alps. in matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also. my friends, any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the united states of america. and it's well past time for mitt romney to come clean with the american people. on what he's saying about the president's policy for welfare to work, he's lying. simple as that. on his tax returns, he's hiding.

you have to wonder, just what is so embarrassing that he's gone to such great lengths to bury the truth? whatever he's doing to avoid taxes, can it possibly be worse than the romney-ryan tax plan that would have sliced mitt's total tax rate to less than one percent? my friends, there is a true choice in this election. barack obama is betting on the american worker. mitt romney is betting on a bermuda shell corporation. barack obama saved the american auto industry. mitt romney saved on his taxes. barack obama is an economic

patriot. mitt romney is an outsourcing pioneer. my friends, the stakes are too high, the differences too stark to sit this one out. let us stand as one on november 6th and move this country forward by re-electing president barack obama. [applause] thank you. [applause] >> the democratic convention here in charlotte, north carolina. we have been watching some of the highlights from last night's speeches. it would take a look at some footage from the archives in a little while pier you can find all this on our website, c-

span.org. we will go now to see the president arriving in charlotte. his plane is arriving here. he will be giving the big speech tomorrow night, here at the arena. it has been moved from the outside stadium into the time warner cable arena. but as take a look at president obama arriving in charlotte. air force one are arriving in charlotte with president obama on board. his wife, of course, michelle obama, is already here. she gave one of the big speeches last night at the democratic national convention. we want to hear your calls and reaction to this week's events.

here are the numbers to call. even the much of the c-span team is down here in charlotte, to be covered and what is happening in the convention. but go to our first call and hear what donovan have to say on the democratic line from l a >> i just wanted to say, democrats really need to get together in the battleground states and stand up for president obama. i am down here in louisiana, after this hurricane. i have never seen the government act so fast and so incisive on what they want to do to help the

people down here. it has been great. even president obama came down, even though the convention is going down, he came down to talk to the people. it is a blessing to see that. the president is really on the people's side out here. in louisiana, that is how we feel. host: will you be watching or listening to the speeches tonight? caller: yes, the power and water just came back on. we will be watching the convention, yes. host: so your house is ok? caller: yes, ma'am. host: what are you looking forward to seeing, hearing from? caller: i want to hear what president clinton has to say on behalf of president obama. then on thursday, president obama's speech. host: we will be looking at some footage of former president

clinton in 2008 in a little while. we have a tweet from walter. he says he cannot wait for the dnc on c-span. looking forward to president clinton's speech. let us know what your reaction so far has been to the convention. evelyn in mansfield texas -- mansfield, texas. independent line. caller: hi. i just wanted to say thank you for c-span for airing this without interruptions. most other networks, you have people with talking points and it is kind of confusing, but i am leaning towards democrat. after last night, i was impressed with the women, especially lili ledbetter. thank you, c-span. host: what did you think of the first lady's speech? caller: she was great. i enjoyed listening to mrs. romney, comparing her to mrs.

obama -- they are two great women -- but mrs. obama really touched my heart. she speaks to the realities of americans, and workers, and women. i like that. it was great. thank you. host: new jersey is next on the democrat's line. hello. are you still with us? i think we will move on to robin in south carolina. caller: yes, i enjoyed everything. i was so thrilled with last night. i was thrilled with mrs. obama, i was thrilled with deval patrick. i was thrilled with the mayor of .an antonio the whole night was fantastic. host: did you know much about american san antonio before last night? call, no, i did not, actually. i think he is going to be a new

star in the democratic party. host: another look at air force one. president obama arriving in charlotte runout, as we speak. we will take a look at that for a moment as we continue to take your calls here on c-span. here you see the president arriving in time for his address to the nation through the convention tomorrow night when he officially accepts the nomination to be undemocratic ticket again for president. we will take a look at their force one. -- air force one.

>> we are looking at live images of president obama's arrival in charlotte. air force one arrived at the north carolina air national

guard base. of course, arrive for his speech tomorrow night and the democratic convention. we will take your calls. there is part of the motorcade that will be taking him out of the air base area. let's go to lincoln 10, north carolina. john is on the phone. caller: hi, how were you? host: what do you think of all this happening in your state of north carolina? caller: i am not very pleased by it. i'm calling in to make a couple of points. one, all this infrastructure work we are talking about, this is all union work. it is a prevailing wage, which is paid whenever government has money involved. non-union contractors will not get an okay on a bid of any of this work because it is all government money involved in the government -- the government is in bed with these unions. they give all these contracts to

these unions on all this infrastructure and the taxpayers end up paying for this. the same thing is going on with all these municipalities that are broke. it is all of these unions. taxpayers, that is your money going down the tube. it is about time these politicians learn that they are the employees, and start working for us. never mind all this working for big unions, big contributors. it is a shame what is going on. host: let's go to another call. clinton township, michigan. dorothy is on the line. caller: hi, how are you? host: we are good, thanks. your thoughts about the democratic convention? caller: is wonderful. a man that just called is just another republican complain about everything. every speaker that i have heard so far has been absolutely

fantastic. and michelle obama talked it all off. now i am weddington night for bill clinton. then i am waiting to hear the president, who i will definitely vote for. host: did you hear from any new people last night, faces that refreshed for you, that you are now watching to see what they do next? caller: i think there are some new stars coming out. castro. what was the other one that i liked? there were so many of them, and they spoke so well, i was in all of the convention so far. just thrilled. when i watched the republicans, it was so boring, i turned it off. you like to get the two sides, but i think this one here is fantastic, so far. host: one of our followers on twitter sent as a message awhile

ago. christine said, loving this cory booker right now. the mayor of newark, new jersey. a tear from another caller, columbus, ohio. muhammed is a republican. caller: yes, i wanted to comment on the republican national convention speech. in general, i thought it was very nice. there is nothing that really people talk bad about it. at the end of the day, they did a good job. host: republicans or the democrats? you said the republican convention? caller: yes, you are talking about the democratic convention in general only? host: with the think about what is going on this week? how would you compare the two? caller: they did a good job. i cannot complain. obama, at the end of the day, i think they should give him another four years. he definitely tried his best.

i think he needs more time in office, you know? that is the bottom line. host: coming into us on twitter from ron, who says the only way the cancellation makes sense of tomorrow night's speeches at the bank of america stadium is if they could not fill the seats. there is a question about whether it was a smart move to move away from the stadium back into the arena. let's hear what debbie has to say in philadelphia on the independent line. what do you think about the move? we will not see president obama speech at the stadium last night, but instead we will see him in the arena where everything is unfolding. caller: they need to consider the safety of the people. the weather can be very dangerous. it seems like common sense to me. i wanted to call and command c- span. you did such a beautiful job covering all of the event yesterday evening.

i watched all day into evening. you did such a fantastic job. i love a piece about no commercials. from time to time, i would switch over and there were commercials going on. i am telling you, the nation missed a lot of information. i think people need to know on both sides. we are not all able to see what is going on down there in washington, d.c. with the congress and all. very informative. that is what you are all for and against. a very informative evening. i am looking forward to this evening as well. host: thanks for your comments. alexander tweets in and says president obama should chance it with the weather. n.c. is too important a state to make a small group of people mad -- 65,000 people mad.

the arena is a smaller space than the stadium here in downtown to charlotte. we have a twitter hastag setup for this week, #cspandnc. it is your weight to a participate in the conversation this week. pat in hello. i want to commend c-span for the democratic convention last night. those of us to have to work early in the morning could not stay up. we watched everything that went on. i think it is wonderful. it was a very informative convention. i love the stories that he told about his family. i was impressed with him and i

didn't even know him until this morning. our african american you'd need someone to look up to to know that you do not have to have a ball in your hand to be able to make things happen. i have never seen so many people so involved in the election. i am overjoyed. thank you again. it has been wonderful to watch. thank you. we are watching live images of president obama. you can see our crew on the scene. they are documenting the president's interaction on the tarmac. let's go to our next caller in arizona. she's a republican. caller: i am listening to all these people.

isn't it funny there is no fact checkers? the democrat fact checkers went after paul ryan and romney. paul ryan said this. michelle obama said that the president does not care -- he did not even taught republicans for two years. he thought he had in the back. african-americans? are you kidding? what has he done for chicago? they shoot him down like it is no big deal. rahm emanuel is here in the schools are ready to start. the president is not want his kids in chicago schools. he wants all of the black kids to be in the chicago schools. michelle obama, it is great. she is a lovely lady. i listened to all this stuff. in never talked about 23 million people out of work. they never talked about we just sit $16 trillion. to is good to pay for it tha?

the man that took over rodney's doc keys of that romney left it at 48%. we know that is an ally. let me tell you something. romney needs money for teachers. he made money for other people. he stole from her and gave it to the unions. i am sorry. he also gave chrysler to france. we do not own chrysler. they still us. will they receive that money again? yes, but americans are working. wow. you give out $5 trillion. i think the a bunch of jobs.

that kid cory booker, i cannot wait until he is wanting money from the coral banks and horrible people in new york. i hope they tell them to get through. they want to live this life. this is the way michele and barack live. everyone wants to take a little vacation. it really? look at their vacation. i've got had a vacation in four years. i am a small business person. he put more taxes on us. like american can do this. what is washington -- what has washington ever done to help the little person? nothing. host: we will leave it there and go to the door to has a different perspective. caller: obama is running on his wharecord.

host: charles, good afternoon. caller: i have always increased diversity. i afford a higher education for the last 15 years. i have seen many people take advantage of entitlement programs. it is more common than people think. no one knows about the gay marriage. i believe in civil unions. i believe it is an underhanded way for the homosexual community to earn a protected class status. it boils down to entitlement programs. going into a we're better direction. i believe there are close to 70 more million people go are on food stamps.

the map does not work out. i believe bob bell -- barack obama and mitt romney are great people. i think it is time for a businessman to take control of the country. but the social issues on the site. they are important to all of us. get this country back together economically. then we go for it. we need to backtrack. work on the economy. then progress of the country together. thank you. host: we are watching live footage of president obama. air force one touched down in charlotte. i do not think i'd ever seen airforce one lied before. you are watching raw and cut footage. c-span is getting off of that in coming down the stairs. we can see part of the motorcade that will take him into

charlotte. you will hear him speak tomorrow night. we're taking your calls right now. let's go to florida and talk to sandy. hello. caller: hello. this is wonderful. i love the coverage that you guys are doing on the dnc. last night i thoroughly enjoyed all of the speakers and michelle obama. she has so much charisma, intelligence, love and passion. i do not think people are getting president obama enough credit for what he has done. he has turned this country around. you know what happened before. we're not going there. i think they have all done a wonderful job. i am looking forward to hearing bill clinton. i love that man. i love what he did to our country before.

i believe with him and his knowledge and experience working hand-in-hand with barack and his staff and wife, i think that everything is going to get turned around. the middle class is the most important right now any out. they are our future. >> what do you want to hear from president obama tomorrow night? what specifics? caller: i would love what he's going to do about the medical health care. it is being very expensive. i am really looking forward to getting a full story on his plan that he has sat down to bring to the people. plus a few other things. wall street, what he will be doing about that in the jobs. i want to hear more about the jobs. i am a retired police. i am independent. i am a massage therapist.

i know what it is like to have to work hard for what you get. he is so down to earth. he sees what we need. host: our next caller is germane, and republican in virginia. caller: good afternoon. i'm going hear back and forth. i watched the action with the republicans. from thering now th democrats. president obama is making a change, but we both made some good points on the democratic side and the republican side. what everyone is failing to realize is too big a change, you cannot make a change from the middle. you have to regroup and start over.

you can never go where you look awful. i am a republican myself. you cannot say the man is to blame for lot of things. from our side, we look from an standpoint were a lot of us are fortunate. we do know know what it is like. the lower class really struck it. i would like to see the democrats and republicans use both of those ideas. if you look at it from a down point, barack obama has a great point. he has a great aspect. he is ready to lead this country.

mitt has come from a fortunate family. he is speaking from a fortune family aspect versus of barack obama speaking from someone who has been there is trouble. you cannot say he is to blame for things, because he has been there. met has had situations where [inaudible] >> he mentioned you tivoed the conventions. it is waiting your conviction at all that is changing your vote? caller: in a way it is. if you look at the everyday life, you have to go about what is going on now, not about what used to happen. you can always have a future plan. tamara is our problem. we have to deal with now and go forward. a lot of things is going on in the republican party.

we cannot vote for this one of the have a certain idea a guy could not vote with a college id you have a firearm licence. i do not like how republicans are doing. if you're going to win, win fair. caller: hello. go obama. host: what do you want to hear from the president tomorrow night? caller: put it down like he usually does. tell the truth. mitt romney lies to much feared for the republicans, it is a shame. -- mitt romney lies to much. for the republicans, it is a

shame. host: president obama is in the line of cars that we have been watching. but here from a republican and south carolina. -- let us hear from a republican in south carolina. tell us what is on your mind. caller: i been a voter for over 30 years. i've always considered myself republican. i watch a lot of c-span. i have been doing that for a couple of years. my husband is disabled. i try not to do it in the same room he is and because of mixed blood pressure rise so high -- because it makes my blood pressure rise so high. i get so upset when somebody tries to blame obama for everything. so much of it [inaudible] i did not vote for obama the

first time. i do believe i will this time. host: we are looking at some live shot of downtown charlotte. this is an area where protesters have been gathering. there have been some occupy protest groups in charlotte. they have been outside of the area where the convention is taking place. you can see some of our lives to c-span images. what is on your mind? caller: for about 50 years i have been a democrat. over the past four years, i have

had to change to independence. i do not believe that mr. obama has been doing a good job. i believe his only hurting this country. i am ready to see a republican senate and congress and hopefully a republican president this time. host: one more call. let's hear from new york city. we look at these live shots from our c-span crew. protesters are gathered in charlotte. caller: first of all, i would like to commend c-span on your coverage of the election. i made newly minted american. trying to decide who i should

give my vote to. i have heard from both sides. i am troubled by this a racial animosity that seems to be going on. the name-calling and all of that. president obama has stated clearly that some people have been suffering from amnesia or something of all the problems he faced. the things that he is trying to do. he has been facing a lot of obstructions. the republicans more so than ever. i wanted to find out what other people think and listen to the conversations. i can clearly state that i will be supporting the democrats. i am of the school that you vote for the person who best represents you. i think president obama and the democrats will do that. most importantly, i was so proud

of our first lady. the speakers. i also was proud of mrs. romney. she spoke about her has been the best way she could. i appreciated that. i really cannot stand the racial name-calling and code words. host: where did you come here from? when it to become a citizen? caller: i just became an american in june of this year. i have been looking forward to thethe participation.

one get very discouraged. when one hear all of this name calling. are we going to hear about different activities. nb>> she mentioned washington ws unfolding. but you want to dip into the archives, you can find that. let's go now to some footage of our video library. this is bill clinton speaking bac in 2008. in 2008.

>> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you.

thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. ladies and gentlemen -- [cheers and applause] thank you. thank you very much.

thank you. sit down. we have to get on with this show, come on. thank you. thank you. i am honored to be here tonight. sit down. thank you. thank you. thank you. i am honored to be here tonight. thank you. please, stop. sit down.

i love this. i thank you. i am here first to support barack obama. second, i'm here to warm up the crowd for joe biden. as you will soon see, he does not need any help from me. i love joe biden. america will, too. what a year we democrats have

had. the primary began with an all- star lineup. it came down to two remarkable americans locked in a contest right to the very end. that campaign generated so much heat increase global warming. in the end, my candidates did not win. it i am really proud of the campaign she ran. i am proud that she never quit on the people she stood up for. on the future she wanted. i am grateful for the chance to chelsea and i had to go all over america to tell people about the person we know and love. now i'm not so grateful for the chance to speak in the wake of

hillary's magnificent speech last night. i will do the best i can. last night's hillary told us that she will do everything she can to let the barack obama. that makes two of us. actually, that makes 80 million of us. like hillary, i want all of you

who supported her to vote for barack obama in november. here is why. our nation is in trouble on two fronts, the american dream is under siege at home, and america's leadership in the world has been weakened. middle class and low-income americans are hurting, with incomes declining, job losses, poverty and inequality rising, mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing, health care coverage disappearing, and a big spike in

the cost of food, utilities, and gasoline. our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation, a perilous dependence on imported oil, a refusal to lead on global warming, a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders, a severely burdened military, a backsliding on global non-proliferation and arms control agreements, and a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the middle east to africa to latin america to central and eastern europe. clearly, the job of the next president is to rebuild the american dream and restore america's standing in the world.

everything i learned in my eight years as president and in the work i've done since, in america and across the globe, has convinced me that barack obama is the man for this job. he has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. he has the intelligence and curiosity every successful president needs. his policies on the economy, taxes, health care and energy

are far superior to the republican alternatives. he has shown a clear grasp of our foreign policy and national security challenges, and a firm commitment to repair our badly strained military. his family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world. the long, hard primary tested and strengthened him. and in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park.

with joe biden's experience and wisdom, supporting barack obama's proven understanding, insight, and good instincts, america will have the national security leadership we need. barack obama is ready to lead america and restore american leadership in the world. ready to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the united states. barack obama is ready to be president of the united states. he will work for an america with more partners and fewer adversaries. he will rebuild our frayed alliances and revitalize the international institutions which help to share the costs of the world's problems and to leverage our power and influence. he will put us back in the forefront of the world's fight

to reduce nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and to stop global warming. he will continue and enhance our nation's global leadership in an area in which i am deeply involved, the fight against aids, tb and malaria, including a renewal of the battle against hiv/aids here at home.

he will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort. but in a world troubled by terror, by trafficking in weapons, drugs and people, by human rights abuses, by other threats to our security, our interests, and our values, when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them. barack obama also will not

allow the world's problems to obscure its opportunities. everywhere, in rich and poor countries alike, hardworking people need good jobs, secure, affordable healthcare, food, and energy, quality education for their children, and economically beneficial ways to fight global warming. these challenges cry out for american ideas and american innovation. when barack obama unleashes them, america will save lives, win new allies, open new markets, and create new jobs for our people. most important, barack obama knows that america cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home.

people the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. look at the example the republicans have set, american workers have given us consistently rising productivity. they've worked harder and

produced more. what did they get in return? declining wages, less than as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. american families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage. i will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn't afford health care and couldn't qualify their kids for medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce. are these the family values the republicans are so proud of? what about the military

families pushed to the breaking point by unprecedented multiple deployments? what about the assault on science and the defense of torture? what about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well connected? what about katrina and cronyism? america can do better than that. and barack obama will. but first we have to elect him. the choice is clear. the republicans will nominate a good man who served our country heroically and suffered terribly in vietnam.

he loves our country every bit as much as we all do. as a senator, he has shown his independence on several issues. but on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the american dream and how to restore america's leadership in

the world, he still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the republicans finally gained control of both the white house and congress. then we saw what would happen to america if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented. they took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt, from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million, from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000, from almost 8 million

americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance. now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same, more tax cuts for the wealthiest americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. more band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. more going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence. they actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more.

let's send them a message that will echo from the rockies all across america, thanks, but no thanks. in this case, the third time is not the charm. my fellow democrats, sixteen years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity. together, we prevailed in a campaign in which the republicans said i was too young and too inexperienced to

be commander-in-chief. sound familiar. it didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. and it won't work in 2008, because barack obama is on the right side of history. his life is a 21st century incarnation of the american dream. his achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward

the "more perfect union" of our founders' dreams. the values of freedom and equal opportunity which have given him his historic chance will drive him as president to give all americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability, their chance to build a decent life, and to show our humanity, as well as our strength, to the world. we see that humanity, that strength, and our future in barack and michelle obama and their beautiful children. we see them reinforced by the partnership with joe biden, his wife jill, a dedicated teacher, and their family. barack obama will lead us away

from division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope. if, like me, you still believe america must always be a place called hope, then join hillary, chelsea and me in making senator barack obama the next president of the united states.

as bill clinton at the 2008 democratic convention in denver. he is back to deliver the nominating speech for president obama. it will come up in the 10:00 hour tonight. former president clinton in the 10:00 hour. also, elizabeth warren. all that coverage getting away at 5:00 p.m. eastern.

we are live on the streets of charlotte taking a look at all the activities around town. stand around. dow the democrats had planned to host a nomination at the football stadium, a crowd of to 74,000 expected. they have changed plans and instead thursday night will be inside the time warner cable arina. that announcement made this morning. we're live on the streets of charlotte here on c-span.

>> give me 20 over here, man. one, too, at 3, -- two, 3, 13, 14. programs.

programs and buttons. >> he have to buy some then. three for 5. >> in charlotte near the time

warner cable arina, the site of the convention. thursday night it will not be at the stadium. it will be at the arina. there will not be a balloon drop. how can barack obama possibly win reelection without the balloon drop? has it ever happened? one says i guess the motorcade crews are ahead. the motorcade is going through the city. got official word that the thursday has been moved to the indoor arena. bottled water is $4.87 at the convention. he want to share a bottle? coming up in about 50 minutes, we will take you live to the time warner cable arena for our

preview program with david maraniss. all of this coming up beginning at 4:00 here on c-span. until then, a closer look at the city of charlotte and the state of north carolina, the politics, and how the two campaigns are perching this. this is about 10 minutes. >> now we are thrilled to have the political writer of the charlotte observer. thank you very much for coming in. he has great coverage in the run-up. we are excited to ask them. he is from illinois.

for years he has worked with the peace corps. in 1979 he came into rock hill. he came to the charlotte observer and has been the chief political writer since 1987. why has met running up the way north carolina? >> i think north carolina is becoming a purple state. it has changed over the last few years. no. carolinas with the fastest- growing states. the population has changed. the obama campaign said they can work north carolina. i think you have a combination of ground games of the obama people and the demographic changes that make it more of a purple state. >> just give us the classic formula for republicans and democrats. if you're republican what to take the states, what are you

going to do? >> republicans left -- have the counties around north carolina. you have some of the fastest- growing counties in the state. union county is the fastest growing county in the state. a very republican. republicans have historically done well. you have these counties around the metropolitan areas. >> to what degree did it sneak up? >> began to see some clues. barack obama carried mecklenburg .

the turnout efforts from the metropolitan counties is like charlotte. >> surely they were a key to that victory. it is not clear nationally whether these people have the same enthusiasm. >> democrats are working very hard. obama has 40 field offices in carolina. >> how many does from a have? >> about 20. >> it was kind of a dry run for .wo dozen to -- for 2012. they may to under 20,000 telephone calls to get voters out in the mayor's race. republicans only made about

20,000. even though they got blindsided in 2008, that not quite learned their lesson in that area. >> you mentioned mayor anthony foxx. he may get hired for a future role. >> the most possible future is probably congress. he saw in their last night who clearly has some aspirations, i can speak to a national audience. -- who can speak to a national audience. this is held by mel is been there since 1992. mel has been almost a foster father to anthony foxx. they have been very close. i would expect that when m.l. retires that anthony could step

in. he did entertain briefly a possible run for governor this year when the governor decided not to run. he entertained a for a couple of days. >> when you think of n.c. being a state where some racially polarizing appeals of played a part in the past, jesse helms, you needed that job. how much of that is still a factor in in north carolina politics? do you think north carolina has entered a post-ratio phase? >> but do not think you can say it is a post ratio phase. it is probably still a factor in some areas of less than it was back in the days without raising that ad. you have a new population here.

an influx of people from out of state from the north. you also have a lot of african- americans returning here, a reverse migration. we see that in charlotte and in the bigger metropolitan areas. >> i read in charlotte, and the governor has a 15 point lead. how is that possible in a state in?re obama is a whe >> the republican candidates ran strongly in 2008 and came up short. he has been out there. the democrats have their issues. the lieutenant governor is running. by all accounts he is not as strong as other candidates. what is interesting, is you could see a reversal of what a have seen in previous years were democrats ran the table on state

government. republicans carried the presidential contest of could n.c.. you could see it as the polar opposite. >> were people excited about the democratic convention? from the media perspective, there have been some skepticism about charlotte. very positive reviews. >> about half the people were enthusiastic up its. >> cc a lot of people on the streets. -- use a lot of people on the streets. >> you like to bring you into

the conversation. we would get a microphone to you. i think motion published -- most reporters assume that they will raise a lot of money and run me -- and ronnie will win. >> i would not underestimate the impact of obama's campaign in n.c.. maybe we have had a steady drumbeat but they do have the offices. they do not have to turn out voters. i think republicans under estimate that. >> i hear you saying that barack obama could win the state's.

>> having said that, it is still one of the highest in the country. they have a lot of factors going the republican way. republicans and going to keep control of the legislature. this could be an uphill battle. >> where are the biggest pockets of unemployment? >> if you go into the eighth district, it used to be really heavily manufacturing textile mills. if you go north west of charlotte, it used to be heavily manufacturing in furniture. those areas are both hurting.

>> where you see the future of it? >> i would take him at his word. i think he is when to go halfway into retirement. if the president called on him to head a commission, he would respond to that. as far as politics, he has done it twice. he has learned his lesson. >> he's very well respected in washington. he is never clicked at the electoral level. why not? >> i think the first time it was

bad timing. both times or bad timing. in 2010 he ran against elizabeth dole was a legend. he lost that race. not good 2004 he ran against richard burt. it was a presidential year. george bush carried n.c. pretty handily. assays he's not a politician evidenced by those results. i think he's better than he thinks he is. >> do we ever see elizabeth dole around? what is she up to? >> we do not see her very much. >> thank you for their great coverage in conversation. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we are asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this

m documentarytca video. they will answer the question what is the most important issue the president can consider in 2015. are $50,000 available. the competition is open to students in the sixth grade through the 12th grade. the online to studentcam.org. >> anytime i want to get the real message of what is going on on television, politics, whatever, c-span is the source. i do not have to have 10 million people giving me their opinion. i can hear it from the horse's mouth. >> dr. ada fisher. c-span, brought to you as a public service by your provider.

>> good afternoon. from charlotte, n.c., day two of the democratic national convention here at the time warner and arena. president obama has arrived in charlotte, air force one landing earlier this afternoon. tomorrow, he will accept his party's nomination from his party. this is a change of location. the house democratic leader among speakers tonight, nancy pelosi, new york's charles schumer, and then in the 10:00 hour, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren will be giving her remarks, and much of the attention on former president bill clinton, as he gives a speech here at the convention. joining me is david, and thank

you very much for being with us. >> thank you. great to be with you. >> in your story, you summarize the two this way. you say that bill clinton is hot, barack obama is corp., but they still burn with the same temperature inside. can you expoland? >> yes. they have very different personalities, but they have the same competitive well, and that is what it takes to be president of the united states. sometimes people misinterpret barack obama's cool nature, with him being out of hawaii, being almost to a laid-back and aloof, which is not where he is at, but he has that will personality. bill clinton different. but they have the same. they come from hawaii and southwest arkansas. they both came out of somewhat dysfunctional families, neither one of them knowing their real

father. but they do with it -- deal with it in such an utterly different ways. bill clinton running for almost every possible office in high school until finally the president said that he could not run for class president, so you ran for secretary instead. barack obama is did not get elected in office until he was probably 35 years old, whereas bill clinton was a boy wonder of arkansas, governor at 30, so very different personalities. but the same temperature inside. >> for someone who has spent so many years researching these democratic presidents, you are going to have a chance to compare these speeches from tonight and tomorrow night, from the same venue, because the president will be in the same arena. what are you a expecting? >> this is the first time that a former governor has -- i mean a

former president has nominated a sitting president, said that in itself is kind of exciting, and they have two different missions. although they will still go over some of the same ground, but clinton will be edgier and laying out his own struggles with republicans over the course of his eight years and how he got through that and succeeded, and he will also make the clearest case he can for the difference between their policies and president obama, and president obama, he will present sort of a missionary statement, to not get too bogged down. it cannot be a state of the union address where he is laying out a litany of what he is going to do in the second term. but he has to go over what his priorities are for the second term. >> so much has been written about these two individuals, and

by all accounts as you talk to senior staff at the white house, in has been an evolution. how have the two come together in the last couple of years. >> well, events have conspired to bring them together, which is what politics is all about. there are events that bring it together and events that tear you apart. barack obama ran against bill clinton's wife, hillary clinton, and there was a lot of bill feeling there, and it took awhile for him to get over that. during that race, accusations of playing the race card on each side, which was an over -- in both instances. they are both very good on that issue, but president clinton took it more personally because it is the most idealistic side of his nature was his history on race relations, and to the extent that he was once called the first, quote-unquote, "the

first black president," so there was that tension. you will remember that speech in 2008, he stepped to the plate and mention barack obama is's name 15 times and gave the speech that obama was looking name 15barack obama's times and gave the speech that obama was looking for. with hillary rodham clinton nominated as secretary of state, by the very nature of that, it changed the dynamics in the situation because she was working for the obama administration. hillary clinton was reluctant to take that job, and it was bill clinton and barack obama who were sort of co-persuaders.

the press loves attention of that sort. obviously, there were times when barack obama was frustrated, and they thought that barack obama was not good at the little things. he was not good at selling his program or smooching -- schmoozing. in 2010, they got together at the white house and has a long session after republicans had taken control of the house, and they were talking about strategies after that dot to the point where barack obama said, well, let's go talk to the press about this, and these two guys strolled into the brady press briefing note -- press briefing room together and started to lay out their ideas. it turned out that president

obama had to leave to go to a christmas party, so he left bill clinton there alone, which she loved to do, talking to the press. after that, there were golf outings together, bringing the two together, and then there was the political strategist for president obama, david axelrod, who went to harlem and visited president clinton to go over the data that they had accumulated, the polling research, and so on, and, of course, clinton loved that. he is, above all, a political animal. he loves to be a campaign manager himself. that sort of brought him into the fold more, and then he started doing campaign advertisements for obama and holding fund-raisers drawing with obama to the point where finally president obama asked him, called the president and said, "would you give the nominating speech for me?" and that cemented it.

it brought them together, and they are two different personalities and will always be. >> in our video library, that is all part of our convention hall. david is with "the washington post," and he is the author of two books. our telephones are open for those of you who support the president in his reelection attempts, and for republicans, another number. give us an idea of what you expect, moving ahead to the fall campaign, where you think the candidates shape up on the issue. david, let me circle back. the relationship between bill clinton and barack obama, it is a deep-seated friendship that has evolved over the last year or two? >> i think it would be stretching to say it is a deep-

seated friendship, but they agree on most policy issues, and they but the very much want president obama to be reelected. there are always political dynamics to these relationships. unless somebody goes back for a long time. there is a certain amount of animosity there that had to be overcome. even going back further to the year 2000, barack obama was running for congress as a state senator for chicago, running against the incumbent, bobby rush. he had supported bill clinton during the difficult days of impeachment. bill clinton endorsed bobby rush against barack obama in that, and that tension has been there for 12 years. i would not call it a deep- seated friendship, but they have a lot in common right now, and it is too easy to make much about the difficulties in the

relationship when those are not really important right now what is important is that they are together. >> david is there, and susan is on the floor. we will check in with her in a few minutes. again, barack obama arriving earlier, and the convention will be gaveling in an earlier, and we will have gavel-to-gavel coverage. we will go to william, joining us from north carolina. good afternoon to you. >> with president obama since he came into office, i think he is doing a wonderful job. they need to give him a chance to do what he has got to do and quit acting like little kids and get along with this man and work with him so we can get the country back on track. that is all i have to say. >> thanks for the call. david, will we see specifics from the president tomorrow? >> as i said, i do not think you

will see a litany of programs that he wants to pass, but i think you will see larger things that he wants to move in his second term, and getting to that allusion, the republicans in congress will move somewhat towards him and they will be able to accomplish more with him in the second term that he could in the first term. >> we will go to susan who is on the floor here at the time warner cable arena. >> thank you, and the c-span audience, a senior adviser to mr. obama when he was campaigning, going on to be the first press secretary in the obama white house. >> thank you. >> this was on fire last night. >> great speeches, yes. >> but it is not the people in this room and you have to convince. it is all of the people outside

of there. what does he have to do? >> i think he needs to talk to the american people about what we have been through but more importantly the journey we have ahead, to keep moving forward and to give middle-class families in the country a sense of security. they have not had that in a really long time. they have been through the worst economic situation of our history, and we have to take about how to make it stronger. >> specifics? >> you will hear specifics. the president has been specific. it will not be a state of the union address. but you will hear him talk about investing in research and innovation, strengthening and reforming education, making sure we retain our leadership and our place in the world, and a whole host of things, and i think people will walk away from that speech and this convention understanding what exactly the president is laying out for the path forward.

>> how does he prepare? how much of his own riding will he do for this? >> he will do a lot of his own riding. beijingwriting? -- he will do a lot of his own riding -- writing. it does back and forth between him and the speech writers. i learned eight years ago when we did this convention. i remember the first draft of the speech we got. about 80% of the first draft was in the speech he delivered that night in boston, and most of what was added was stuffed the convention wanted to add, that the convention wanted barack obama at that time to talk about, so what you will hear tomorrow will be heavy in his voice. >> moving out into the next voting days, are you of the mind

that this is going to be won state-by-state? >> absolutely. it is going to be one state by state, north carolina, ohio, virginia. -- it is going to be won state by state. this will be the foundation for what carries this campaign through the next two months. >> we are talking david with us here, and he has obviously been observing the president. does the president like to do these types of speeches? >> yes, look, i mean, who would not prove you have the biggest audience that you are probably going to have, minus the state of the union or an inaugural. you are going to have everyone's attention, and you will have the ability to reach them. you'll have the ability to reach way beyond the venue that

you are in. this is an important speech, too, just in discussing what is important about what comes next. he understands the moment that we are in, and he understands that the american people need to hear his path forward. >> you are a busy man at this convention, and thank you for spending time with us. >> i am happy to do it. >> david, let's pick up on what susan said. robert gibbs. >> he said and did what i said, that president barometer is not one to do a state of union litany, and i also believe the campaign is pretty much going to be state-by-state, and thirdly, on president obama, does he like these occasions, absolutely. he loves nothing better than the big moment. when he was walking towards the korea in 2004 before the speech that made him famous, someone asked, "are you nervous?"

and he said, no, i am going to make the shot, and he compared himself to tiger woods, so he lives for these moments. >> we welcome your calls and participation. patricia is on the phone from minneapolis, a supporter of mitt romney. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. incredible. finally you're going to hear from the republican who supports romney. it is unbelievable how many democrats called in on all three lines. disgraceful. i have a question for the author there. did he delved into the brother, the half brother, a barack obama in africa? he needed money for a medical situation. the democrats want me to believe that barack obama cares about me?

barack obamacare is about us out here, 24 million people unemployed? give me a break. he has gone golfing more than 100 times. do you know how long it takes to do 18 holes of golf? how many vacations has he been on? i think barack obama is a perfect example of what you do not want a man who has had no experience. >> patricia, thanks for phoning in. first, david, about his half brother. >> george obama was actually not in my book because he comes after my book ends, is essentially. george obama -- barack obama did not know him. he has many, many half siblings or perhaps have siblings and africa, and barack obama actually has helped george obama a couple of times. i do not know what to say beyond that.

i have no interest in dealing with the ideological diatribe, which i find going against syria's history, so i do not want to deal with it beyond that. >> let me go to an issue that has not been getting a lot of attention yet but certainly will, and that is the issue of early voting. this will wrap up after labor day, and we are after labor day, and many began as early as october 7. >> yes. i think this election will be much closer than the last one, by all accounts, and barack obama and his team in the last month have essentially stressed the fact that they felt they let themselves down with not being able to project what he had done to the public, so those debates are going to be very crucial, but you are right.

there will be some early voting before that. probably more important, the whole idea of voting in this election and voting rights and what is going on in every state in terms of how difficult or easy it is for people to vote. >> david maraniss "the washington post," and please go ahead, please. >> legalizing marijuana, picking up the ron paul vote, and a lot of people use marijuana and cocaine, and they have put a lot of people in jail. >> we let that call go. did you want to finish? >> there is money missing, seven

trillion dollars that we know about, and marijuana has been around for 17,000 years -- >> we are getting a little bet -- a little bit of feedback, ralph, but let me pick up on one point. the issue of third-party candidates. virgil goode will have his name on the ballot in virginia. well third-party candidates have an impact? >> i do not think so. it is certainly not going to be the way it was in 1992 with ross perot. i am not disspiriting third parties in any way. i think there is a role for as many as possible in politics, but i doubt very much, even though some of these states are going to be razor-thin, i do not think these third-party are going to swing it one way or another.

>> david, thank you very much for being with us. we will come back. i want you to listen to a clip of bill clinton as he placed the nomination of michael dukakis as the 1988 candidate. [video clip] >> in closing -- [cheers and applause] i want you to remember -- i want you to remember when michael dukakis becomes president in november, the people of massachusetts and this country will observe the 25th anniversary of the death of john kennedy. that will be a tribute to the life and legacy of john kennedy.

when john kennedy died, the difference of what is and what might have been. michael dukakis has spent his whole life working on the difference between what is and what might have been. that is why i am so proud to say that he ought to be president, and that is why i am proud to give me the name of the next president, michael dukakis of massachusetts. [cheers and applause] ♪ somewhere at this very moment, a child is being born in america. let it be our cause to give that child a happy home, a healthy family, it and a hopeful future.

let it be our cause to see that that child has a chance to live to the fullest of her god-given capacities. [cheers and applause] let it be our cause it to see that child grow up strong and secure, graced by your challenges but never struggling alone. her family and friends and a faith that in america, no one is left out. no one is left behind. [cheers and applause] let it be our cause that when this child is able, she gives something back to her children, her community, and her country. let it be our cause that we give this child a country that is coming together, not coming apart. a country of boundless hopes and

endless dreams, a country that once again lifts its people and inspires the world. let that be our cause, our commitment, and our new covenant. [cheers and applause] my fellow americans, i end tonight where it all began for me. i still believe in a place called hope. god bless you, and god bless america. [cheers and applause] >> bill clinton in 1988 as governor of arkansas. and then as the democratic presidential nominee, and an interesting juxtaposition, where he was in 1988 and how he made

it to 1992. you wrote extensively about that. >> bill clinton actually gave his first speech at the convention in 1980 when he talked about governors, and then he gave a speech about governors, so there was his third speech, and it was interesting because he was putting michael dukakis's name into the nomination, just as he will do tonight for president obama, and he thought that was the speech of his live. he prepared for it. he was obsessed with getting the speech right. hillary clinton said he worked harder on that speech than any speech ever before. he had to get medical treatment for exhaustion because they had been working so many hours, and she was exhausted by it, and then it was a complete disaster. the dukakis people kept adding

more material. nobody in the hall was listening. the lights were on. several minutes, he realized he had dropped -- lost his audience completely. and then he said we have to be here, too, and then there was the line that got the biggest applause of the night, "in closing." that is the last thing. there is no such thing as a speech that can kill your political career. >> is that the speech where he brought up the hour glass next to johnny carson? >> at first, clinton was going to do that. harry thomas was talking to the johnny carson producers and said, "we are thinking you're a boy to bring out an hourglass and give it to johnny carson," and they said, no, johnny carson does that already, and that was

part of the joke. >> asking robert gibbs about how he prepares for a speech like this, how does clinton do it? >> countless hours, reading everything he can, dredging up every arcane fat he can find come every point that is interesting to him, and then sort of sit it and we know it, and in this case, he is going to write most of his speeches. he is like most politicians, who consider themselves riders -- writers, and obama is the same. they like to write to the first draft and give it to the writers. he would say, "this is terrible. i hate it." and go back again. that is part of the process. he is known to have written nine, 12, 15 drabs.

he gave a speech at a leadership conference in cleveland, where somebody had a draft where he erased every single line or drew a line through every single line of the speech. >> we are going to come back to david in a moment, but back to susan on the floor. >> i thought it would be good for the c-span audience to meet one delegate. her first convention trip. and your story is not one of a lifelong interest of politics. 2007. >> when he first started running. he was kind of interesting when he did that speech for clinton, and it moved me a little bit, and i started working for him in 2007. i did canvassing and made phone calls out of my home, and when he won, i did not stop. >> and you had never done anything like this before? >> i did not. i thought it was different. martin luther king, the folks that those -- the a motion that

those folks had back then. >> how happy are you with the first term? >> i am happy. people have to remember that the economy was in a depression stage. down, down, down into depression, and everybody was just holding onto their seats, and the stocks were going down, and it has been a steady incline. things are coming around. it is not as strong as it should be, but it is slow and steady. it is like when you are losing weight. slow and steady. it starts going up again. i think he is doing fine. he is doing a great job. >> you told me that you're going to deliver virginia for barack obama. how are you going to do that? >> i had three precincts. i had whitewater and all of those three.

now, all of those votes went to virginia, and i am going to work even harder this time to make sure that i get him to the finish line. >> and what is the message you are going to be telling neighbors? >> the same message as before. remember where we were before in 2008 when he took over office. we were in a depression. we are better off today. at one. time, we did not have an automobile industry. there are more jobs every single month. he is delivering jobs for people in virginia also. he is doing better. now, not everybody has worked, but we are going to have it go up. it would get better. >> york unconventional experience comedy made it here, even the people told you it would be impossible. >> that is right. i did the district. you have to be a delegate for the district, and then i went on

to be a delegate for the state. national, you are not going to get in, and that is what gave me the motivation, and i went to get it, and i did. >> what is it like? >> it is an exciting. i am meeting very great people, and everything is falling into place. i met a lot of people that for some reason i would have not met before. for example, yesterday, i came out of the washington post, me and a democrat from colorado. he works with nea, and there was running for school board. >> the short interest in politics extend only to barack obama, or are you now hooked? >> no, i want to go on. i want to make a difference. i got that because he ran, and he is making such a difference in the lives of people. i want to make a difference also, and the way i can do that is in education.

my children, i want them to graduate. they object out grants. i am pushing them to be the best they can be. >> first-time member at the delegation, thank you for talking to us. >> trying to warm up the crowd. let's go back to david for some final points before we let you go. something barack obama familiar with in the key part of this campaign, including targeting in stateside virginia, all i know, must-win states. >> absolutely. not only was barack obama a community organizer, but this is the leader of project vote in chicago of 1992, where he went into areas and was registering voters for that election. they understand very deeply that this election and a sense -- they put an enormous amount of money in on the front end to get

people to the polls. >> david, a few final point. there was an article today about a man that many may remember running for the senate back in 1990. he lost to jesse helms, but in the article, pointing out that barack obama was a young community organizer, it was said that harvey gant encouraged him. >> he was at harvard law school when ganty -- gant ran, and there was the photograph of barack obama being a student wearing a t-shirt for him, and then years later, sending a copy of that photograph to harvey when he was running for office and said, "you inspire me. >> the first convention in 2000 in los angeles. >> well, he went out there on his own.

he flew and southwest airlines flight. his credit card bounced when he tried to rent a car. nobody knew him, and he had to fly back to chicago and then took the nomination. you cannot be any more inauspicious than that, and then eight years later, he gets the nomination himself. >> what do the democrats want to get out of this convention? >> well, they want to have two great speeches. the headlines will be about those speeches, but the headlines are separate from what they really want to do, which is to have the speeches clarify the issues for the viewers out there beyond the convention hall. >> david, the author of two biographies and many other books, but the book about barack obama and bill clinton. he is also an assistant editor at "the washington post." thank you for joining us.

>> thank you. >> we have the gavel coming down in about 50 minutes. joining us tonight is the head of the afl-cio, congressman steny hoyer, the democratic leader in the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, chris van hollen, the democrat from maryland, and then 10:00, remarks by bill clinton as he pleases barack obama's name in. one of the traditions will convene after 11:00 eastern time. we will have live coverage well into the evening and early tomorrow morning for the west coast, prime time for those of you on the west coast, and you can catch it all on c-span. we are going to go to susan back on the floor. susan? >> thank you. david is with me, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the house of representatives. let me ask you.

nancy pelosi was making predictions that they are going to take back the majority. is she right >> it is a tough slog for democrats. former speaker pelosi has been at several appearances this week, stating that democrats are likely today 27 seats. they need 25 to take back the majority. the latest poll taken by some strategists should republicans with a lead. that is not exactly indicative of a wave. this is the first time since 2004 where there is no strong following the allied either party. i think voters are frustrated with both parties in washington these days, but in the and it bears do not know whether to blame the tea party or the obama party, and in the swing districts, democratic of are not sure if the issue becoming charlotte or not.

you will not find many from conservative leaning districts. those are the districts where democrats need to separate themselves from pelosi and obama. those swing states are likely to be a little less favorable. it becomes more difficult. we have the 36 races that are at least in the top, or worse, 21 of those republican, 15 democratic house seats. we are looking probably at a democratic gain in the low single digits. it is possible that the republicans pick up a handful of seats, not exactly what nancy pelosi needs to take back the house. >> yesterday, we thought them

focusing on the women. can you comment on the party and its relationship with the house members? >> absolutely. it is fascinating to watch this contrast. they believe in a lot of these house seats, the president is a liability for democrats, and the polls show that he is in at least half of these competitive districts, some republicans are not exactly spotlighting the situation with congressman paul ryan. their leadership or their house rank and file at their convention, where as democrats are trying to put more of a spotlight on the congressional races and, in particular, congressional republicans and their plan on medicare entitlements. they believe that is a more favored issue for them.

>> you and i were talking before we went live about the democratic caucus in the house of representatives. what does that look like compared to this corporate >> and fascinating question. what we are seeing in the 2012 election is the democrats are going down to the core of their electoral system. college educated, a minority. women have always been more favorable for democrats, but also younger voters as well. they have proven strong support for president obama. they have also been stronger as a group for congressional democrats and congressional republicans, and at the house level, it is almost certain that the majority, the democratic caucus will be non white male. it will be minorities and women. former speaker pelosi has been recruiting a lot of that diversity in to the caucus. the more minority districts we

see, and the more minority and women democrats we see elected to the house, it is also in terms of the number of blue dogs, who have been predominantly white men from rural southern district >> what does she have to do? what is your message to massachusetts voters to win them over? >> republican scott brown, the incumbent senator, could run the best possible campaign and of any incumbent senator running for election, and it is still kind of points. warren has turned into a celebrity. certainly, the kind of candidate the democrats are counting on to deflate the republican argument on you did not build that, and we are likely to see elizabeth warren up here not only in a bid to raise money for her campaign in massachusetts but in a bid to

replace some of that republican message against president obama, and massachusetts is one state where if the democratic candidate, as but one, links herself to the president, she is likely to see her fortunes rise. >> thank you. >> and, of course, the congressional races, as susan indicated, one of the things tonight as we hear from leaders and candidates, including elizabeth warren, we have a couple of minutes before the gavel comes down. we will use this opportunity to hear from you. tell us what you think thus far. what you want to hear tonight from former present bill clinton. what you want to hear tomorrow from president obama. charles is joining us from indianapolis. good afternoon. charles, are you with us? let's try one more time for charles, if not, we will go to

james, who is joining us from michigan. go ahead, james. >> no, i am from mississippi. >> go ahead, please. >> i am really pleased with the coverage you are giving. it is a wonderful thing to see so many people and the great diversity which you have not seen with the republican convention. i have had my television on since the convention started, and it has not shut off yet. i am glad you gave us this opportunity to really, really see both sides of the coin. i live in a congressional district that is heavily republican, but it is changing, but i found out, talking to my neighbors that are republicans, i usually vote independent, or it depends on who the candidate is, that a lot of people are really for the president. we have to give him the

opportunity to help with the mess that is going on in the country and without putting blame on this person or that person, i believe thus far, he deserves a second chance to help our country and to help everybody, and the thing that i am impressed about what the democratic party is it seems that it is a party for everybody. i am seeing different people from different nationalities and different ways of life, and it just seems like this party is accepting people, and i am really impressed with your coverage. thank you all for doing a great job that you are doing and informing the people on the political events that are going on now. i am really excited because i think we have an opportunity to really do some great things. >> ok, thank you very much for the call, james, from mississippi. check out our convention hall of an hour c-span video libraries come easily accessible on our

website, at c-span.org. you can also read a compilation of tweeds and what passed convention speeches, last week from tampa, last night from day one at the convention, and it is all available. back to your calls. isador in washington, d.c. go ahead, please. hello? go ahead, please. >> on the republican convention that they have, between republicans and the democrats, republicans just had their convention. i really did not like the way it went. trying to make barack obama a one-time president, their ratings went down. but another thing about the jobs that everybody is looking for,

along with every state, there are those that are going to be laid back off again. they need to start at the bottom. >> isador, thanks so much for calling. coming up, the mayor from boston. he was with john kerry delivering remarks tomorrow, and of course, the senate candidate, elizabeth 1, 10:00 tonight, and eight student made a lot of attention with the testimony she uncovered on capitol hill about women's rights. the president of planned parenthood will be speaking, and a lot of attention on former president bill clinton. that will be followed by the roll call of states. we will be back with more of your phone calls in reaction of what we heard tonight. we will take you to the floor and also show you scenes around

the facility as the delegates continue to arrive in anticipation of a two of this 46 the democratic national convention, here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]