recently retired after being a school principal, and i am married and i have one son who is launched hopefully. and i am leaning towards obama. >> ok, good. >> hello, my name is carla, i was laid off four years ago, and my contingency plan once all my money starts to run out was i start add business which has been in place for 3 1/2 years, i am technically leaning towards president obama. >> ok. technically leaning. ok. >> i'm ann moss, and i am a high school librarian, and i have three 20-somethingings. some launched, some not. >> and really still on the fence. >> great. >> my name is charlie, a entrepreneur, currently working at a web company.

got one child. at home. and i'm pretty much undecided. >> ok. >> i am christina, i'm a coastal engineer, i am engaged so i'll be joining married crew. two weeks. and i am leaning towards barack obama. >> great. >> and congratulations. >> name is a.j., computer geek. i'm ridiculously happily married. no kids as of yet. leaning towards obama with some reservation. >> ok. >> i'm susan, and i work in commercial lending, we loan to small businesses for credit union. married. five children. and i'm leaning towards romney. >> ok. good. >> i'm dave, i work in

alternative education. i'm a teacher. i'm married and i have two children who are nowhere near being launched. and i am currently leaning towards president obama. >> ok. >> i'm raj, i'm a president of a biotech company, microbiologist, and i'm leaning towards mitt romney. >> ok. great. i'm going to do a quick show of hands. you also have a major united states senate race here. it's between tim kaine and george allen. how many people here, if the election were today say i'm with tim kaine. hands up for tim kaine. hands up. one. 1 1/2. two, three, four, five, six. how many say i'm with george allen? i got one, two and the other three if you are -- undecided at this stage of the game. ok.

great. just wanted to get that one out of the way so we can take a look. let me start just ask you to give me a word or phrase to describe how things are going in america. word or phrase, christina, how are things going in america? >> tepid. >> because? >> i think things could be better. but i think things were worse in the past. we are sort of here in d.c. i think we have a skewed view what it is actually like outside of this region, but seems tepid. >> what's mary say? >> improving. >> improving. >> raj would say? >> b plus. >> susan how are things going in america? >> kind of scary. >> what way? >> there just doesn't seem to be any way to agree at least in congress. the good old days where they would go out for a drink or

whatever after being on the floor and figure it all out doesn't seem to be happening. >> ben? what phrase would you use? >> i think it could be better. optimistic. >> optimistic. >> i think it could be better. >> and pamela? >> it got pretty down there for a while. i'm feeling like things are optimistic as well because i do believe we have reached our bottom a number years ago. >> what's the optimism for? where's the optimism come from? >> it's a little more complex than just saying something flip like it couldn't get any worse. but i think this country and our current administration is faced with some real challenges. it's global. it's no longer just our country. it's a global affair. it's a global environment. and things are just crazy all over the world. so that's affecting us, but we

are maintaining. we are sustaining. we are climbing out of the black hole. >> and a.j.? >> i think we are mired in a bowl of stupid. to bore re from what susan says, the dialogue, i can easily recall as i was growing up through the reagan years and the clinton years which seemed to die off after slick willie left town, there was a lot of too and fro from both sides that would sit down to the table. we as a people would go out after work and have drinks and discuss things with someone we disagreed with. then we turned into a camp war. >> richard? >> i was thinking my concern is as you said, a global issue. not everyone seems willing to talk. they all said kind of get

together to figure out how we need to get there. >> let me ask you a question, let me use this little line, by the way everybody has a pad in front of you. what i tried to do is sort of represent tell me looking at the next four years, not where we are today, but if you look towards the next four years ahead, do you think we are headed up pretty -- in a pretty good path? barely headed up? absolutely dead even? we are headed down slightly? or we are headed down steeply? what kind of a letter would you think best describes what you sort of see of the next four years. ok. how many people say a? we are headed up -- you are very optimistic. >> i am. >> why are you optimistic? >> things are starting to work

out. people are starting to get back to work. not to say things are good yet. but they are definitely moving in -- >> ok. anybody say e? i'm sorry, i think we are going to be headed down in the next four years in a dramatic way? nobody. ok. how about b? how many say, yeah, we are going to start to slope up? two, four, six, eight, nine people. almost everybody else. why? why do you feel that way, carina? >> i think this has been an opportunity for people to become introspective. i thought i was safe in my position. i raised my money and raised my salary and when i got the notification i was being let go, i thought you're kidding me. but i was comfortable. i was comfortable and it made me get off my tail and start a business. something that i had been dreaming about for years. and now i'm thinking, wow, i'm a business owner.

wow. >> ok. >> mary? >> i would agree with what charlie said only not quite the a. i'm thinking that the housing market is improving slightly. i think just general awareness. people see where we have to go. >> good. >> anybody snells david, where are you? >> i'm in the c plus. and it was said in the other thing i think the partisanship, is really just -- it brings us down in a lot of way. currently right now we just can't find any common ground. you look on any tv show or any commentators, you know exactly where the station is coming from. you can't watch one show and get both sides. i almost feel like there's nowhere where you can go to watch news and get a good idea where the country is because everyone has picked a side. >> good. pamela, where are you? >> i'm a b plus.

>> tell me what you're thinking. >> i'm slightly -- little bit more than slightly optimistic. because it's a deep hole we are climbing out of. as karlena said, a lot of us, myself included, had to be forced out of our comfort zone to start to pay attention and take a look at what's going on. and to be concerned. and not just show up and cast a vote. to actually ask questions, be interested, participate. look for similarities not differences. that is where i think the solutions ultimately lie. >> christina, give me your thoughts. are you a b? >> yes. >> why? >> i was sort of in that age group that was dropped out of college in 2008 with oh, my god, where are we going to go? and seeing a lot of my friends struggle with careers, being unemployed, entering college with the hope that everything's going to be great but now i can start to see my friends be

employed, i'm starting to see my friends buy homes, and we are all starting to get our footing. >> hi one c, was anybody a d? there were a couple c's. and the rest a's and b's. that's helpful. tell me something, what gives you confidence in america's future? raj? >> the amazing intellectual pool. it's inexhaustible. intellectual talent. that's truly what the future is all about. no one can compete with us. >> ben? >> along with the intelligence, we also have the natural resource that is we need to accomplish anything. >> ok. rich? >> we don't give up as a country and our people. we don't give up, we try to improve.

start your own business. came out of college and actually -- >> ok. a.j.? >> constitution. >> ok. >> both literally and figuratively. >> susan, what gives you confidence? >> american spirit. >> ok. >> what richard was talking about. we don't go down easy. >> what's the thing that scares you the most, charles? what scares you? what worries you as you think about america's future? >> all set for the other question. >> ready to move. any direction. >> what scares me the most is the incongruity in congress with our leaders. they are very much partisan. our leaders really need to think about the country. instead of being re-elected. the first thing politicians think about is how will this affect our re-election chance instead of what's good for this

country? wet's the biggest problem have. >> karlena, biggest challenge? >> well, i think the biggest challenge is, is there is still a lot of people out there that feel that they are safe. and i feel like i have hit the bottom, and i'm on the rise. but i just had a conversation with a neighbor who just lost her job, and for her, her safety net is shaking. i don't know. >> mary? what concerns you? what scares you? >> just the economy. i didn't see any candidates in giving direction. >> i am 64 years old, peter, and i am very concerned about my social security. i am concerned about medicare. i am concerned about health care. i have not heard anything yet

that makes me feel solid are having a good footing with regards to what is down the road for me in 10 years. work untilo have to i'm 75. that is the way it appears now. >> and where you say that i will be able to stop working? >> no, i don't. >> and the reason? >> as a single mother, i have not had much of an opportunity to save or enough left over to save. i have kept a roof over my head and put my kids through school. here they are done and i am the tralee starting all over again at age 64. -- and i am literally starting all over again at age 64. so i am a little worried about that. >> mary, tell your story.

you used to be a school principal. now you are retired. >> i was very fortunate. my husband was a school principal as well. the county that i worked for, that we live in, has a very good retirement plan. if you stay, it is like a golden goose. if you leave, you lose a lot. if you stay in, the benefits are fantastic. >> so you have the opposite way that hamlin says. do any of you feel in security in terms of where you are in your position? >> i do, peter. we were told that this was what we would get for retirement and the states are pulling back on that. they will not be able to financially fulfil the retirements that they have promised.

we do not work for the money. but it would be nice to have what we were promised when we retire. >> we will go around the room very quickly. we will start with charlton go clockwise. charles, you get to prepare your answer. are you ready? [laughter] give me a word or phrase to describe how you feel about the 2012 campaign. write it down can have it in line. we will go very quickly. a word or phrase to describe how you feel about the 2012 campaign. ready, charles? >> extremely important. >> ok. how do you feel about the campaign, christina? >> more removed from it. >> ok. >> ambivalent. >> ok. >> very-. >>-. >> lack of long -- very

negative. >> negative. >> lack of compromise. >> really no specific plan of what they will do. >> does anybody want to talk about the way you feel about this? confused? >> yes, i feel confused. you read one thing, you hear one thing, and then it is contradicted shortly thereafter. you try to read further into it and you hear different people that you think you can respect and then you are of all that some of the things that they are saying. so it is -- then you are appalled by some of the things that they are saying. so it is confusing. >> they are not set on one path. they keep veering off in one way

or another. >> i said negative, but it's more reactionary. we react to these little clips and things go. before long, someone has jumped on something before they really looked into it. a couple of days ago with the whole thing in libya. it was really quick, right away. it really bothered me because i would like our leader to think about things. >> at times, it seems a very ambiguous and confusing. negative. >> what most disappointed about this campaign? >> i think talking points.

i am so incredibly frustrated with talking points. i am actually frustrated with the media. if you are going to ask a question, make sure that it is answered. don't let them know you down with talking points and never get around. >> what frustrates you? >> i am not really frustrated. >> ok. >> i am not frustrated because? >> i think i am still young and politics is still kind of new. this is only my third presidential thing i have been thing attention to. everything seems like it is going the way it should be going 10 nothing seems out of the ordinary or bad or good in that respect. >> charlie, do agree with ben? >> i am not frustrated by anything. i do disagree with the whole campaign seems to be about sound

bites. but, no, i am not frustrated. >> anybody else disappointed? >> part of it is just normal. part of it is that this election and in the future, more technology in the media will play a role in it. more than we're used to. so we are at the start of a paradigm change. >> ok. i feel like pamela has something to say. >> i will preface what i am about to say. in preparation for coming to this event, i decided to do some homework so i would not make a fool of myself, the way to a lot of our politicians seem to be doing these days. in doing their research, i was totally overwhelmed by the amount of information out there and how things are contradictory and to your point, depending on the media outlet and the stance

that they take. because of all this information, it is really hard to filter it, sit it out and come out with a decision. that is why i am undecided. now i have too much information. i cannot wait for the debate spin i can wait for some really serious answers. >> ok, good. that is not a bad place to start. you are undecided, mary. why are you undecided? >> i want mitt romney to release his tax returns. [laughter] >> why is that important to you? >> when i look at how he was studying his applicants for vice-president, he made them provide tain years worth of tax returns. and i just feel like the entitlement rules do not apply to everyone. in the little things that i have read, that in particular sticks

in my mind. >> if it sticks in my mind and it gets to me because? >> because it just seems like it is not fair. >> not fair because? " because it just seems that what is good for someone on one side should also be good for someone on the other. in other words he should really do it if he is going to as his vice president to release 10 years worth. >> does anyone else at the table filled in some way? no.plu >> let's see the hands up? for the rest of you, it's nothing. >> i strongly disagree. this has nothing to do with tax returns. i have tax returns done in my favorite under the rule. the rules are made for everybody. to have to release tax returns for prior years, it has no

bearing on the president. >> mary has one point of view and charles has a different point of view paired how many say, no, i think charles is right? ok, we have one, two, three, four people. that is good. tell me what your thinking? you are undecided. what is going on here? >> but in the discussion of the social media, it is hard to know what is put up by the candidates. because you also have all of these commercial and sound bites from the pac who do not have to vet what they are saying. other people are coming forth. i am concerned about me not getting to hear just the candidates side.

there is too much of it. and you cannot authenticate what you're looking at. >> so how will you decide? >> to try to vote to the -- there has to be some out there still -- that are looking at both sides and trying to get down to truly what plans are. >> any one issue or area where you say this is really a make or break issue for you? or is it a broader? >> i think it is a little bit broader. there are a couple of places. i would have to say that education is one of my big concerns with the federal government making its way into and perhaps bullying its way into making school systems and states follow what the feds wants to do. politics is local.

education is to be local as well. >> ok, good. charles, you're undecided. why are you undecided? >> waiting for the debates. i am disappointed with all of the sound bites. i hope that the debates will give me a little more depth and more meat and what these troops plans are of the two candidates. >> and what puts you in the middle rather than leaning toward obama or leaning toward romney? " just because i do have enough information. i would hesitate to make any decision at this point just because of a lack of information. >> and if there were one question that the candidates had to answer that would help you, what would it be? >> a plan for the economy. >> ok, good. now, you are undecided. why? >> with charlie. i don't feel like i have enough information. it is kind of vague now paired it is almost rhetoric that i am

hearing. it is canned almost in some cases. but we are getting hints as it goes further long as to what their real positions are, it depends on how many times they go back and that becomes their position, but i want to know who their advisers are going to be. >> you are saying you are leaning in the most gentle way toward obama. is up for grabs? what is happening here? >> until a week ago i was completely independent, and i still am. i have a real problem about what went on in the last week. too reactionary. one thing that is important is that our president is seen well

around or, is it the leader of the free world, and that is the way i grew up. i grew up with ron reagan and bill clinton, and they work great. both in their different way straight it is important to me. i am only leaning toward obama because, although he is great on the stump, i have not seen it in the policies and in the other things. >> to help me out, when you say a reactionary last week, i was bothered, spell it out for me or for somebody who may not understand what you are talking about. >> with libya, when the ambassador was killed in libya. the reaction that came out from mitt romney, and it was so quick and he was grabbing on to something to the lake of the, like, he screwed up again, and wait, that is not what i want.

take a moment, you know, think about it, just do not think about politics. let's look at what happened here, and see what we can do as a country to better our place in the world. >> anybody else have the same reaction? let me hear from carlina. >> that was the same thing that happened with me. i was not sure, because my position with obama has been if he walked in openly confident that he could get everything he wanted done done, and he found out you cannot change with him not being able to get his policies passed, this is a contingency plan? with mitt romney, not only are you not giving us specifics, what will happen if you cannot get anything passed? >> but you are reacting off date, and what was the point that they've made that you are

reacting to? >> i was watching cnn the back rent, and he came on, mitt romney, and he started talking about how upset he was at how the president did not show leadership, and we should not be apologizing. i thought, wait a minute, wait, i am flipping channels between trying to figure out what is going on and then it came out that individuals had died. at the time mitt romney spoke, that was such a knee-jerk reaction that i do not know who gave him advice, but i felt you are not the president for me right now. >> ok, good. ann?

>> that is not the only incident, but that was the most local incident that we had, where we have got to remember they might be candidates, but we want to see what they look like when they are presidential. >> that whole series of events me to lean away from obama, because the plane descend on a movie that has been out or six months, when this incident happened on 9/11, and obama is being apologetic about the video, that goes against being an america. we should not be apologizing for free speech or for the exercise of that. we should not be apologizing for our behavior. >> i want to hold you right there and then coming to you, raj, i want to hear from christina. we hear a lot of ideas and thought, and did this last week have any effect on your thinking, and as you hear this a round table, what is your reaction? >> i think the situation over

there is so delicate that obama was correct in a waiting a second and being as close as he was in his statement before deciding which way to handle the situation. at the same time, it showed me that -- it reinforced the fact that mitt romney does not have foreign policy experience. i do not think the way he jumped in was necessarily appropriate and that he should have recognized the situation as still to bobbling, and some things are still so delicate over there that he should just wait. >> susan, let me get you into this discussion. there are different viewpoints around the table. what did you think of the last -- leaning? [laughter]

i promised i would bring in an interesting group, so we are back not just nailed down. ok. tell me as you are listening to this and what you thought in the last week. what is going on? >> one of the first things i heard was that the president was apologizing for this film, and i was, like, you kidding me? i have a stepson in afghanistan right now, and all the news that comes out there is -- is why use the words? then i read a little bit more about the sequence of events, and it did not seem to be as ridiculous what mitt romney did -- depends on what you read, actually.

it seemed like he was standing up for our country and there is no reason that you all should have done what you did over there in libya. it showed strength. >> it showed strength, sought out of last week you got a strength of running and that was good? you are with romney? >> i'm independent. leaning. this is the election season, the ins are different. we should keep in perspective that it was the embassy that put out something about which is the mouthpiece of the administration, so it reflects what the administration thinks. you cannot this about that. looking at that, they were wrong to do that.

there should not be somebody tweeting on behalf of an embassy when such a sensitive situation has arisen. that could be considered inappropriate or may be wrong or a reflection on the administration. and the other hand, mitt romney may be came out too soon to say that, and you could say that was wrong. obama should not have apologized for this film on behalf of whoever made it, and romney should have waited to reflect on his comments, and what he said was not something disastrous. i do not see a black and white thing here. i think it is great, and it is a political season, and they would not be saying any of this if they were president. >> now everyone is worried about winning elections, and they are not thinking about what is right or wrong. what makes you look good. the timing, who said it, everything else, and that is what drives me crazy that you

are not getting an honest picture out of anyone. >> anybody else want to add in? >> i think that is part of the problem, that is treating this as the election, and whereas when people die and people are killed in a terrorist attack, you have to put aside politics for a second. you cannot just speak out at the other end, and that is what bothered me more than anything, that you could not put it aside for one moment and just warner for the loss of people. >> nicely said. >> i never saw the president apologize. had there been an apology, i would have been offended. i never saw that. >> i think it was. >> i never saw an apology. >> but you were saying because it was from the embassy. voting for romney? he has your vote because? >> when the economy is down and

all the things that happening now, the best thing to do is not to go to a politician who will say, it should go to a guy that turns around businesses. you need to cut the fat and sometimes people get laid off, it's things for this individual families, but you have to worry about the country as a whole, and when you do that, i think the country will benefit, and i think mitt romney as a better way of going about it because he has that business background. >> moving quickly because i want to catch up. i'm a little behind.

that we ask anybody, as the selection or the position of vice president, either paul ryan or joe biden, at any effect on anybody here, and more positively or more negatively? a couple people, 4, 5, 6. >> with regard to romney and ryan, he is a numbers budget business guy like romney is, so that was a real plus. >> charles? >> on the matter of succession, it would scare the heck out of me to have biden as president. >> i am from delaware, so joe biden i grew up with, but the second part is paul ryan i have heard is the most conservative vice-presidential pick in

history, even compared to the most liberal v.p. >> any effect on you? >> positively, paul ryan? >> i was the other way. i do not like pandering to a base, and i think ryan was a move to the base. >> everybody gets 10 seconds, even you, charlie. finish this sentence -- when it comes right to it, selection is about the -- >> economy. >> health care. >> economy. >> economy. >> egos.

>> economy. >> economics. >> economy. >> economics. >> is the biggest difference between the economy, in economics, jobs? what is the biggest difference between that two? >> romney's tax plan is better to create jobs and businesses, protecting both the big business to create more jobs and small businesses to support themselves without having to worry about the health care taxes. >> romney and ryan are more likely to take that hard choices of cutting the fat. >> romney and ryan make me more in the middle, because they are

stronger on the economy. >> me, too, more in the middle, because of the economy. >> why? >> you look can mitt romney's success in business and economics, and the same with paul ryan, and they are number- crunchers. >> i think romney will make the economy -- will affect the economy from the private industries than poor, whereas obama will affect the economy from the government's standpoint. >> i feel like obama wants our country to be loved and romney wants our country to be respected. >> anybody else? >> i think we are going to be dictated a lot by outside forces that we have less control

from. >> it is not up to them to make all the changes. >> anybody else? >> we are talking about the leader of one branch of government, of which there are three. the direction is not going to move tremendously in one direction or the other. >> if barack obama is elected, my single biggest concern is -- >> it will historically be the second term, nothing gets done. >> my biggest concern if obama is reelected is -- >> we will have to deal with obstruction in congress. >> my greatest concern? >> he will look like he did not do anything again. >> might greatest concern is? >> same thing, a stalemate with try to get things passed.

>> they will have to have plan b to get things moving. >> i greatest concern, pamela, is? >> i am in agreement about the bottle making that seems to be going on. >> mary? >> more of the same. >> my greatest concern is we continue to focus on what is going on in washington, d.c., and not looking at the rest of the country. as a midwesterners, concerned about what i am seeing happening in those states.

>> ok, and, charles, are you undecided or are you still leaning? your greatest concern about obama? >> there will not be any restraint on him. he has nothing to lose. >> let me change, if i can pick greatest concern about electing romney? >> lack of foreign-policy. >> gridlock in congress. >> i would agree about the lack of foreign policy. >> ben? >> nothing i can put my finger on right now. there are reservations but no great concern. >> pamela? greatest concern about romney? >> the foreign policy weakness. >> mary? >> the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. >> ann? >> that with all this cutting their to stunts seem to be anybody on the ticket that has sympathy for the rest of the country >> we have now covered the first seven minutes of my out

line. the next part we really have to move on. let me move on, since this is a lightning and helpful. great job, thank you get, everyone picked a whole bunch of people, either national figures or state figures. i will ask you to go quickly, lightning round, i want a word or phrase to describe your feelings about somebody. if i say barbara bush, did not say former first lady, i want feelings, what you are thinking about each of these people, a word or phrase quickly. tim kaine? >> he took a pay cut. >> confidence. >> can do the job. >> i do not know enough about him.

>> business. >> i have no opinion. >> held the democratic national committee job while he was governor. >> like bob mcdonnell. >> i will not vote for him again. i cannot express how disappointed i am. >> i do not agree with some of the things he has done. >> not fond of him at all. >> concerns me. >> useless. >> useless. >> bill clinton? >> barn-burning speeches.

>> i like him. >> i like him. >> charismatic. >> arithmetic. >> entertaining. >> a winner. >> compromises. >> still got it. >> willing to work the other side. >> do it again. >> mitt romney? >> uppity. >> evasive. >> confident. >> stiff. >> strong. >> experienced. >> like a used-car salesman. >> businessmen. >> joe biden? >> good at making people feel at ease. >> good guy. >> good guy. >> kind of an idiot.

>> liability. >> loose lips. >> emotional. >> michelle obama? >> down to earth. >> smart. >> role model. >> strong. >> role model to women. >> a liability. >> strong. >> asset. >> asset. >> hopeful. >> george allen? >> for that. >> confident. >> 0. >> loser. >> squandered. >> joke.

>> do not like him. >> no opinion. >> barack obama? >> overly confident. >> passionate. >> strong. >> unrealistic. >> arrogant. >> unrealistic. >> hollow. >> getting there. >> respected. >> good talker. >> who said hollow? >> he speaks a good thing, but i want to see the action behind it. he had the entire congress behind him for two years, at what happened he had it. >> good communicator. >> paul ryan?

>> needs to get his facts straight. >> pathological liar. >> smart. >> partisan. >> smart. >> good debater. >> math guy. >> smart. >> almost embarrassing to say we graduated from the same college. >> ann romney? >> too impressionable. >> a fighter. >> supportive. >> strong. >> survivor. >> no opinion. >> survivor. >> respecter. >> perfect wife. >> not a stepford wife. >> good. i will start with that from mary.

if you were a relative, if he were a relative in your family, any relative that you can think of, who is mitt romney has a relative in your family? who is that romney, mary? what position? >> i do not know. >> brother. >> local. >> why? >> a lot of talk and just listen. >> he tells stories all the

time. you listen but did not believe everything. >> he is the creepy uncle you did not want to hang out with. >> who is he? >> my dad, because he is a little aloof, but smart. >> ok, christina? >> cousin, removed, and you hear about him, but he is not a major part of your life. >> he reminds me of my neice. >> my dad, willing to try it out, and not the best communicator, but he has done it and you know he will do it again if given the chance. i'm just like my dad.

just as far as the business sense and ideas about what he wants to do and have a good heart, i am not sure he always says what he should, but he is my dad. >> and that is a sense of forgiveness that you have towards him or a sense of -- is it a sense of what? >> it keeps me there, but do i want my dad as the president? [laughter] it would be great. >> we have a couch. >> mitt romney is like my rich uncle. the man who sent you cards and money but he never comes to your parties. >> i would say an uncle. maybe one that is more

connected. >> i would say like a in-law parent. distant, not quite -- he does not come to the barbecue. >> a brother. >> because? >> i have a lot of respect for my mother -- my brother. >> who is he? >> a professor. >> a member of your family? >> a member of my family or relative. the cousin i have out west to his teaching in law school. -- who is teaching in law school. >> i do not see often but i know he is well-liked. -- a cousin i do not see often. >> who is he? >> the nice guy around the corner you can hang out with. >> not a member of the family? >> not enough time for them.

>> a cousin who does not also come to the barbecue. >> like a step dead. he has the best intentions and tries to get things done for you but cannot always do it. >> a distant cousin, probably related to the rich uncle. >> like a cousin or an uncle that no one really agrees with. >> an uncle. >> because? >> we can hang out and do things. and have fun with our kids and all that. >> to you what your brother as

president? -- do you want your brother as president? we will make sure we do not report either of you. let me try this. you can leaves -- use the list. it have been charged -- you have been charged unjustly and you have one person to negotiate for you. who do you want? one person on this list to negotiate for you. you have been unjustly charged on something. who do you want? ? >> bill clinton. >> why do you what bill clinton? >> he can do it. >> he knows. he knows to compromise. >> he is so smooth and so smart now. >> he has modeled it himself. he can get you out of anything.

>> i will take this as more of a -- look at the whole list here again. who is the one person you do not want to cross to have them angry at you? who is the one person you would say, i do not want that person angry at me. take a look. who is the one person i do not want on the other side angry at me? write it down. everybody right down somebody? what did you write down? >> michelle obama. >> harmony wrote down -- how many rode down michelle obama? half the group. why? >> her husband has got an army. >> she speaks with fire in her eyes. >> she would be a scary lady when she is mad. >> i would put paul ryan.

>> i put michelle obama. i do not think it would take a lot to make her mad if you made her mad. >> see what she did to oprah. >> who do you want to mediate an argument between you and your spouse? who do you want to mediate between you and your spouse fax -- your spouse? an argument? >> you can we choose? -- who can we choose? >> clinton? how many said ann romney? >> she has a lot of familial experience. >> bill clinton. >> ann romney. >> she has a lot of experience and has been successful.

>> let me try this. saturday afternoon, mitt romney has two free hours. no campaign, no anything. what do you think he is doing? with his two free hours? nothing. he has two free hours to himself. what is he doing? >> she is reviewing his investments. -- he is reviewing his investment. >> business related. what else. >> he is praying. >> i think he is getting whoever is at the house together and have some kind of competition. >> something competitive. what else? >> he is reviewing clips of his past performances of the previous week.

>> that makes it all political. i am trying to see if there's anything else you think he is doing with two free hours? >> rating. -- reading a historical novel. >> getting the grandkids if they are around in the kitchen area. >> let's turn around. barack obama has two free hours on saturday afternoon. what is happening? >> golfing. >> he is with his daughters. several people say yes. >> watching tv, sports, with his daughters. bling basketball. what else? >> taking mashal out to a movie -- michelle @ tomah euille -- to a movie? >> to ben's chili bowl. >> ok. here is an idea. see what comes to your mind.

sunday dinner, ann happens to be away. mitt is going to invite four people over to dinner. who was coming over for dinner? it cannot be anyone related to the campaign or the vice presidential candidate. who do you think he'll have to dinner. right down and you have one idea that is good or several ideas. who do you think is coming to dinner? who is he asking to dinner? ok. >> neighbors. >> who else? >> cnn reporters. >> sons and grandson's. kids. >> anybody else?

secretary of the treasury and some of the senate leaders. >> anybody else? ceo of something. >> ok. >> same sunday evening. michelle and the kids are gone. barack obama can have dinner with four people. who was having -- who is he having dinner with? >> not netanyahu. [laughter] >> anybody else? everybody got an idea? >> biden. >> no campaign, no vice- presidential. who is coming? >> for your nba players -- four nba players. >> four of his friend from chicago he has not had a beer

with in a while. >> who is coming? >> the same ideal. lebron james. the nba. >> his daughters. >> mary? >> motherlode -- mother-in-law. >> you read way too much. anybody else have any thing? >> academics and small business. >> ok. let me switch. that is good. great job. let me switch if i could. and ask you what are the qualities you most admire about mitt romney? >> discipline. >> he seems poised and unflappable. >> work ethic. it seems like he has a strong work ethic.

>> what else? >> business acumen. what else you -- do you respect? >> he has a history of working with [inaudible] >> experience and ethics. >> good. ok, good. ok. and, finish this sentence. here is what bugs me about mitt romney. here is what really bugs me about mitt romney. will go around the table. here is what really bugs me about mitt romney. >> indecisive. >> he speaks before he thinks. >> the opposite. he is to reserved. -- too reserved.

>> he is an opportunist. >> stiff. >> he's been a professional campaigner but he is not very good at it. >> and ability to clearly communicate. -- inability to clearly communicate. and stiff. >> very wealthy. >> dan. i could keep going around. if you could give mitt romney one quality, from a former republican president, reagan, bush 41, bush 43, what quality would you want to give him?

if you could give him one quality? i will go round. one quality, everyone wrote -- write it down so you can know. and for the camera, i will start with raj and go counterclockwise. >> leadership. >> if you could take one call the from of former president. -- one quality from a former president. >> humanity of george w. bush. >> less government. of bush the first. >> the straight talker of ronald reagan. >> bush no. 2's flexibility. >> reagan's ability to light a fire under the people of the united states. >> the ability to make himself look newble.

>> rec and's ability to be a perceived forced to be -- reagan's ability to be perceived as a force to be reckoned with. >> the ability to persevere. >> there are ten qualities from reagan i would like to assign to him. consistency. >> bush's shoot from the hip to give him less stiffness. >> and tell me something. if you could have -- get him to answer one question that would help you feel more confident about voting, what is the question you would want to ask mitt romney? let me get some of the others. what you -- what would you want

to tell from mitt romney that would help you, maybe i could support him? >> i would like to see something that resembles a business plan. >> that he has a backup plan. just to do something but cannot get it passed congress, how're you going to do it? >> >> i would like to know his details on his tax reform plan. >> i am with her on that one. that see a plan and how they think is going to work. >> same thing. the plan but how he will grow the economy. >> i would like to hear the plan as well specifically from him.

>> ok, good. >> how does he plan to get anyone in the country to like him? >> with everyone else, a plan. a plan on taxes, the economy. >> without a plan that you can see, what is your concern? because you have not seen the plan so far. what concerns you? why is this so critical for you? >> should he be reelected? >> it seems to me there were several people who talk about i want to see his plan and i want to know why is this so critical to you? why do you care? >> i feel that his record speaks for itself and we can compare the record of the last four years and that is one view. the other view is it would be

nice if he can tease out a plan and it will happen by the second debate. that you have a better picture of his plan. >> >> i am trying to get the people who say any to say a plan. -- see a plan. >> he claims to be a businessman. you make a plan, create a plan, plans change but at least things move forward or in direction once it is put into place. >> others? >> nothing but a big corporation for big business. you can go to the bank and ask for money without any kind of business plan. how can you get it done? >> anybody else? >> to follow with that. a would like to see the plan so we can make a decision if that is the plan we want to follow.

what is the alternative? let me know, let me make an honest decision based on what i see. >> i wondeif paul ryan will be the one who will be in charge of the whole changing the medicine, the medicare part. romney has had the experience as a governor in massachusetts with trying do something with medical insurance. >> does atcern you? yes. lvednstead o ryan out tre allhe time. >> i am hoping to bring up a cole of didi' we n satementse other thing.

givethree adctives t deriarob >> inspiring. smart. overconfident.

>> strong. >> overconfident. >> cool, smart, overconfident. >> let me turn -- have us look at a couple of clips if we could and i start with ann romney. each from their convention speech. watch and give me a quick reaction after you have seen it. >> if you use the arrows.

>> i read somewhere that i had a storybook marriage. let me tell you, in the store books i read, there were never long rainy afternoon in the house with five boys screaming at once and they never seem to have a chapter called "ms or breast cancer." what we have is a real marriage. [applause] i know the good and decent man for what he is. he is warm and loving and patient. he has tried to live his life with a set of values centered on faith and love of one's fellow man. i have seen him spend countless hours helping others. i have seen him drop everything

to help a friend in trouble and then there when late-night calls come from a member of our church whose child is in a hospital. you may not agree with his positions are politics. massachusetts is 13% republican so it is not like it is a shock to me. [laughter] let me say this to every american who is thinking about who should be our next president. no one will work harder. no one will care more, and no one will [inaudible] to make this country a better place to live. >> she wants us to love him. >> your impression? >> of her. >> elegant and well spoken. a perfect first lady.

>> she is an incredible woman and to raise that many boys, i can only imagine. i think that she speaks the truth, all the wonderful thing she says about him. >> dedicated asset. >> she loves her husband and her family. that is obvious. >> and feels that he has what it takes. >> how does she add to your impressions about mitt romney? >> makes him seem more human. >> adds an element of reality. >> she is an asset. >> a real person, not a robot. >> she sees something that we have yet to see. >> she is more private. hard for him to open up in public.

>> anybody else? i also have a clip of mitt romney and i will have us look at that now. >> i am running for president to help create a better future. a future where everyone who wants a job can find a job. where no senior fears for the security of their retirement and america -- an america where every parent knows their child will get an education that leads them to a good job and a bright horizon. i have a plan to create 12 million new jobs. [applause]

paul ryan and i have 5 steps. by 2020, north america will be energy independence by taking full a bandage of -- advantage of our oil and gas and [inaudible] [applause] we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. when it comes to the school that your child will attend, every parent should have a choice and every child will have a chance. we will made trade work for america. and when nations cheat at trade, there will be unmistakeable consequences.

and fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in america will not vanish as has those in greece. we will cut the deficit and put america on track to a balanced budget. [cheers and applause] we will champion small businesses, america's engine of job growth. reducing taxes on business, not raising them. it means modernizing the regulations that hurts small business and we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of health care by repealing and replacing obamacare. president obama promised to

begin the rise of the oceans. -- slow the rise of the oceans. [applause] and to heal the planet. my promise is to help you and your family. >> ok. reaction. what do you think, what was your thought, he talked about different ideas. what do you think about that? >> it sounds all good, but it's just -- it is all talk. nothing about how he will get it done. >> what did you think? >> how are you going to do that? to some of his points. >> what did you think as you watched? >> been a geologist and working in the oil industry, the first

point sets things up and if you do take back the regulations, all the other steps easily fall into place. making us independent will be the greatest thing for the country and he is the one that is pushing back. all the other things fall into place. >> what do you think as you saw this? >> for every one of the points he made, i felt like there was a subtext. someone will get richer and it will trickle down to you. >> what did you think? >> i want someone getting richer because it does trickle down. i agree with ben. under obama, the epa has put some money roadblocks on the economy. if you get rid of some of those roadblocks, the economy would do better. >> what did you think? >> i like he did not promise to balance the budget.

he said on track to balancing the budget so that is a bit more realistic. >> did you feel more solidity toward romney? you felt you were leaning? does this make you feel closer or i am still in the same place. >> it justifies where he is. meaning far over. >> what do you think? >> i hate that 12 million jobs. some of the things were going on nicely but 12 million bits seems like -- i know we need 12 million. how is he going to do that? i understand there are lots of ways but it seems like such -- >> dave. >> i want to see the jobs first. that has been my biggest complaint. you have the jobs cut on the forefront. the thing that always sticks

with me is education -- the education plan and i do support that choice. the current president supports it. it is not a big deal anymore. those are the things that stuck out to me. >> anybody else? >> trade agreements. >> what is this man going to do about china? >> i have not heard him say that once. >> this man meeting -- >> brahney. -- romney. >> he was not speaking to me. >> let me turn and do barack obama. three adjectives to describe him. give me an adjective. >> school. >> cool.

>> airtran. >> why? >> the way he has his presence and he is a great speaker. he is so convincing but when you see that things have not happened, it is a feeling i get. he can say it and glasshoff that we're going to believe. it seems arrogant. >> i would say strong. >> overconfident and it has to do with mary's comment. very well said. great intent. >> too radical but not practical. >> inspiring but more on coal. -- cool. >> his cool -- where does this leave you as you think about him in his reelection?

>> that is what has me thinking that i am not as in favor of him as i was. it is leaving me disappointed. i am not just single out, want to see. >> the outcome is what? >> more jobs. the economy improving at a quicker rate that and has. -- than it has? >> where does that leave pamela? >> as far as my vote? >> i am trying to understand. >> i do not believe a man in that position can get much done in four years and there is a part of me that still wants to give him a chance because i think he had some great ideas and because of his confidence, i was hoping against all hope. he is a relatively young and new in the game, romney is not.

in four years he might get the hang of it. >> a very good talker and i voted for him. he has not accomplished what he said he was going to. that is why i am undecided. >> he talks a good game, but he is hesitant in action. >> biggest accomplishment, write it down. first four years.

we will start with ben. 10 seconds each. >> health care. >> i need more time. >> health care. >> getting people involved. >> bin laden. >> bin laden. >> health care. >> health care. >> i need more time. >> health care. >> getting people involved. >> bin laden. >> bin laden. >> health care. >> bin laden. >> health care. >> health care is the biggest accomplishment. how many say i see that as a positive accomplishment? and it is a big accomplishment because? >> uninsured. that is a big one. to get that done. however he got it done, it is a big deal. >> children are able to be insured logger when they are in

college. >> he let the secretary of defense not have that kind of coverage for military children for a number of months, almost a year. >> any healthcare? >> i think it was a big deal as far as accomplishment. i cannot get my head around what it means. >> biggest disappointment. >> the economy. like of direction. >> health care again. >> the debt ceiling. >> unemployment. >> the deficit. >> the economy.

>> tell me one thing. finish the sentence. here is what really bugs me about barack obama. >> there are so many things. his arrogance. friendly but not arrogant. >> he flicks the badass switch twice a year. >> the resources heat through to the unions. >> his hesitancy about things like a tree when he did not show up for more than two weeks. -- katrina. >> washington is more partisan now than before. >> i am in 100% with carlina, they were not able to come to an agreement.

>> his inexperience. >> the stimulus going to the places that it did. >> scary future if he gets elected. >> anybody want to give him a quality from a former president? >> lyndon johnson, i would make him a politician. >> get something passed. >> skills regulation. >> sam rayburn. >> he [inaudible] >> anybody else? thank you.

let's see if we can get up the -- system. we will need robert's fine hand to make this work. great system but it needs a little help. >> i read somewhere that i have a storybook marriage. >> could we go back to the menu? we will go to michelle.

we will first hear from michelle. >> barack knows the american dream because he has lived it. and he wants everyone in this country, everyone to have the same opportunity matter who we are or where we are from or what we look like or how we love. [cheers and applause] and he believes that when you work hard and have done well, and walk through that doorway of opportunity, if you do not slum it shut behind you. you reach back and you give other folks the same chances for help that you received. [cheers and applause]

when people ask me whether being in the white house has changed my husband, i can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. he is the same man who started his career by turning down high- paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where the steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities and get those back to work because for barack obama, expensive -- expense is not about how much money you make, it is the difference to make in people's lives. >> reaction. dave?

>> just as far as what she was talking about what he did after graduation, that strikes home. that means a lot to me. but it is not necessarily -- i do not know how much school that he has as opposed to the other people that things sticks with me. >> she is relatable. the fact they have had hard times and he has had to work his way up and was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. and the commitment and dedication she has is a plus. >> polish. >> any other feeling? >> she is not telling us why we should vote for him and she reminded me of the fact i had not thought about it but hearing that reminds me of the fact he has never had a job.

>> i have heard it before and it seemed very similar to 2008 but it does not have the same effect on me that it did back then. >> i felt like both conventions were political infomercials. >> infomercial. i did not watch. >> aj, what did you think? >> there was no denying the connection she had with the crowd. >> i felt like i whether it is one degree of separation i feel like she is someone i would know personally. >> ok, let me have you watched part of barack obama's speech. >> when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to

vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. over the next few years, big decisions will be made in washington on jobs, the economy, taxes, and deficits, energy, education, war and peace. decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and on our children's lives for decades to come. and on every issue, the choice you face will not just be between two candidates or two parties, it will be a choice between two different paths for america. a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. ours is a fight to restore the values that builds the largest middle-class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. [applause] the values my grandfather defended as a soldier in patton's army, the values that drew my grandmother on -- to

work on the bomber assembly line when he was gone. they knew they were part of something larger, a nation that tramped over fascism and depression, were the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products, and everyone shared in that pride and success from the corner office to the factory floor. my grandparents were given the chance to go to college, to buy their own home, and fulfil the basic bargain at the heart of america's story. the promise that hard work will pay off. the responsibility will be rewarded and everyone gets a fair shot. everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules from main street to wall street, to washington, d.c. >> ok. let me ask your reaction to that.

>> he said a lot of things everyone agrees with. it was not saying this is what i think. it is in general so you are like, i agree 85% of the time. it is what it comes to my personal -- the romney would do a better job with what you're talking about. -- mitt romney would do a better job with what you are talking about. if you wanted to vote for him, it would make you want to vote for him more but if you are leaning toward mitt romney, it pushes you more toward mitt romney. >> pamela. you are not leaning one way or another. >> he is right about the issues and the categories and it will be a difficult choice because there is a lot we have to fix. but, you know, everyone gets a fair shot at a fair share. life is not fair. across the board, it is just not fair. there again, he is overconfident and unrealistic. it gives me the creeps. >> that was the past. what about tomorrow?

>> what do you need to hear from him about tomorrow? >> what is our plan? we're in a quagmire. how're we going to get out of this? >> what i would like to hear, one candidate, i do not care what party they are from say, i do not know what to do and why it don't you help me? help me figure it out. let's get the people involved again. let's hear what you have to say. that is why i am loving this event. >> i felt the speech there was a level of humility there. it was as almost -- begging would be too harsh. he was trying to talk to me

about, i know you were enthusiastic the first time, would you do it again? i was not sure again, if he can complete the plan as he presented it. >> there tw -- are two things. the idea that he pulled himself about of nothing and he was raised by single mother and all this. he did have a single mother but he went to the best schools the nation has to offer. he went to columbia, harvard. he is not everyone -- like everyone else and this idea that he has come up from the bottom. no. he had supported people behind him the whole way who put him through the best way possible. and the second thing is his inability to compromise or to work with people. i said lbj because lbj did the great society and was able to talk to people and convince

people, you may have grown up this way but that is not fair. it is not fair that you get great schooling in this person does not. he found a way to get peop to get on board. he has not been able to do that yet. it bothers me. >> communistic. everyone needs to have everything equal. everyone gets everything. >> that is not right. >> some people work for their grades, other people flowed along. life is like that. and to see that everyone deserves the same is not right. >> what did you think? >> i thought his speech was ok. it had a hard time living up to the one that took place the night before. and you definitely get the sense that there was a shadow he was trying to step out of there. but i also just to touch on an earlier point, it is difficult to reach across the aisle when

every time you tried to reach across, it gets bitten by a pit bull. that has been what has happened over the last four years. >> let me hear from christine and married. >> i was disappointed by his use of the word "ours." i do not like the idea of us versus them. it was similar to what he did in 2008 but this time my eyes were open more wide. it was nothing concrete. >> i wanted to be inside but was not -- excited because i was not. it felt like i wanted to say, where's the beef? there is something missing here. >> anybody else?

i have a couple of other things that want to discuss. one thing i have heard, the whole question of medicare. redoing medicare. is that good or bad, does it make any difference? is this an opportunity or something that would be a challenge? anybody have any feelings? >> something has got to be done, regardless. to be put on the right track. >> we need to have the same thing that most people here will be entitled to. there does need to be a change that does not take away things like for my parents who are banking on social security but we cannot live in a false reality that i will be able to get it. it needs to be something, what is. >> the years need to be adjusted. 65 cannot be the golden goose. we live a lot longer.

>> as i understand it, does anybody know about the plan that mitt romney and paul ryan are expressing? >> i wish i did. >> they were saying there would raise the social security age to 75 but -- >> does anybody have any idea about the medicare program about romney-ryan, the details have been limited. >> money will be assigned to states and the states will do what they think is best for their state. >> it sounds to me like -- >> i am 60 and it will not affect my generation. these changes are going to affect future generations. >> anyone under the age of 55 will be affected. >> when they talked about changing things before, they said they looked at 20-40 -- at 2040.

and the politics came out, they will take away grandma's nest egg. >> from what i understand, friends have a problem dock -- finding doctors that will see them. with a voucher, the doctors -- the like money. there is no voucher. if you say you are on medicare, they do not have room for you. i have a friend who had to visit six different doctors to get an appointment. >> any discomfort -- how many say i do not know enough to have an opinion?

that is basically everyone around the room. that is interesting. how about obamacare? does anyone have any sense of how a president romney would handle it and how it would change? how many say i do not now? -- not know? >> i know bits and pieces but my whole thing is, there is this issue about pre-existing conditions. when i lost my job, i was able to pay into -- our company had less than 50 employees. for three months, i was allowed to pay the cover price and health insurance privacy protection act allows you to go out and look for your own

insurance and pay for it yourself but because i had a pre-existing condition, the policy that i was going to go into had a $3,000 deductible and it was $600 a month. because hippa allows you to have this pre-existing condition and get insurance, it did not see anything about having to pay $10,000. it is a gamble. i am trying to figure out if this new particular -- how that is going to affect people who do have pre-existing conditions, is there going to be a price difference? the internet says it is not. it will be a flat line price. i would like to see it in action. >> here is what fascinates me. you have done great, a marvelous job tonight. i think you so much but here is what fascinates me. you want a plan and yet i would have to say at this moment, a lot of this is not coming

through to you. you do not have any sense necessarily what president obama wants to do or what governor romney wants to do. is that true? >> true. >> you have a debate coming up very soon. what do you want to hear from them? what do they have to tell you? pamela, i am president obama. i am dying for your vote. charlie, i am governor romney, i am dying for your vote. mary, i am both candidates. you were saying you were genuinely undecided. you seem fairly committed. aj's committed toward president obama.

i think you're, also. -- you are, also, you talk about where you are at interposition in life and you talked about this debate coming up and your disappointments with president obama and your uncertainties about mitt romney. how do you decide what you need to hear in this debate? that is what it is about. what do you need to hear? >> i cannot answer what you're asking me to do. i am hoping which is probably really stupid on my part that somebody is going to pull something incredible out of the air that no one has thought about before and we're all going to go, yes. it is totally unrealistic. >> as long as you admit it. and so, given your situation where you're at, what will help you decide?

clearly, there are things about mitt romney you do not like, there are things about barack obama that you are not happy with. there are things that make them each interesting. how do you decide? >> it is going to be emotional, i can tell you that. you're asking me what they're going to say to me. instead of being an emotional feeling based on something they say that rings true with regard to humanity, the struggles, a realistic opinion about what it is, we as americans as a whole need to achieve. i can -- tend to want to hear about global foreign policy because again, it is not just us here in the united states. i want to hear something -- obama has had this much experience. that is why i want to know who their visors work. that would influence my vote tremendously.

>> mary, you have been terribly supportive and terribly critical and terribly realistic also. >> i want some answers and i realize in the debate, it is not reasonable to think that you are going to get a plan. i also feel like if there is some structure with how you're going to do this, what is going to look like and how are you going to put it together? it is very worrisome. obama cannot get people to work with him. romney has a piece that is essential with his strong business background so to get the economy moving forward, what are you going to do? >> when i watched both the conventions, when i watched the first one, was all for mitt

romney. it is just hard. hard to decide. i know it is important. >> you're going to get one of them. >> the one thing that has not come up is women's health and women's rights. >> who do you think will be better on women's health and women's rights, just instinctively? >> obama. >> does that make a difference to you? >> yes. one part of it. >> here you are with these marvelous observations and we have sam rayburn floating in here. tell me where your at and what is the -- you are at and what is the point at which you come out on all this.

>> at the debate i would like to see how well they talk on their feet. without stumbling over a number of things. let's not have someone say, i knew jack kennedy and your not him. let's have them be prepared with some rudimentary concrete plans. and give us an inkling of where they would like the country to go and how they think they might be able to do it. >> and who did you vote for four years ago? >> four years ago -- john kane. why aren't you lock step for man wrongly this time around? >> i i am more interested

because i think we are in such a quagmire. i am more interested in growing hearing what both sides have to say, especially if we can get down to the nitty gritty part of it? >> i would like to see him reform the department of education, the epa, and a lot of other things and really take a look at regulations and some of the laws on the books that are outdated or are really out so that someone can make a lot of money from them. >> charlie, i have listened to you for two hours and cannot call you undecided. you can say you are undecidedyou can say you are undecided, but i have only heard one side, so why won't romney get your vote? >> i am leaning more towards romney, i guess, and part of it

is from what i saw on the tv. based on what some of the people are saying, i am leaning a little towards romney, and i think it is because i feel trephine -- trick by obama. i voted for him. i believe in him. i thought he had a great platform, but he has not accomplish that much. good obamacare, i am very much hurt for universal health care, but i feel tricked. it is more of a tax, and one area i feel tricked on is he said he does not want to raise taxes for people who make less than $250,000. i make a lot less than $250,000, and i am paying a lot

more in taxes. they are taking money out of my pocket. the value of the dollar goes down and the price of gasoline goes up. that is basic economics, and to me that is a tax. >> i am going to go around the table for final comments. thank you very much. it is important to note their work, and it is so eliminating and so helpful, and i can feel everything you are going through, and i am equally fascinated. pamela, i can hear the struggle where you are, and each of you are a rising at this in a

fascinating way, but my final question is going to be that you can deliver one message, and do not say, give me a plan. i got it. there is one thing you would like to be able to deliver, and as i mentioned, the media is watching all this. any message you say this is what i would like the candidates to know as they go into the final month and a half. i will start with ben. what is the message? >> the job creation is the most important thing going for the country right now. >> you feel you know what mitt romney is going to do for job creation? >> i think his plan really shows where he is aiming. >> i want to hear that he cares about his generation and my

younger sons generation. i want to hear they are thinking forward and care about what these people are going to have to deal with when they are my age. >> the you feel one of the candidate speaks to you better, that understands where you are and where your kids are act? >> i would have to say romney. >> romney becomes closer to me because? >> he seems more realistic. he understands business and possibly how we could make the economy work, which would automatically fix or guarantee something for down the road. it would create a spiral. >> i am going for the lesser of evils. obama is already in there, and hopefully he is heading in the right direction than getting romney in there and starting fresh. >> who did you vote for four years ago? >> john mccain.

>> so you are starting fresh. >> there is so much confusion, and what i want to know is how can you speak straight up to the american people so we understand what is going to be on the platform, what is it you're a good >> who did you vote for four years ago? >> obama. vice with president obama already being in office, -- >> with president obama already been in office, continue your plan, and then we will evaluate where we are, and i will determine whether i would go democrat again. >> you voted for years ago for? >> mccain. >> what are you thinking? >> it reminds me of the two- headed monster on sesame street

where they are pulling each other at the end, but they get back together by cooperation and collaboration. >> who is the cooperation candidates? >> is that answerable? i would like to think romney is triggered strikes you would like to think rahm -- i would like to think romney is. >> you would like to think romney? >> he would like to do more wheeling and dealing in business. >> romney had your votes from the beginning. you are a mccain voter four years later, why doesn't he have in? it should be locked down. >> it should be locked down, and i cannot tell you what it is in the back of my mind, and part of it has to do with the

republican platform and women's health issues, which should not be an issue. >> i want to see some good answers in the debate. i do not want to see a bunch of name calling. i want to see candidates lay on the line what they are going to do and not be diverted by political questions. good i want to hear what they are going to do, and the candidate who gives me that i will vote for them. >> christina you voted for years ago for? >> barack obama. >> you are staying with him? >> a exactly. >> you are staying with him because? >> i think a lot of social issues and women's health issues are making it hard to move towards the republican

platform, but i do like a lot of things on the republican platform. i think men romney, one of the things he has going for him is he has a history of working with the other party, and that is what we need right now, but part of me cannot get over the other little things. >> other little things being? >> womens' health, gay issues, the right for everyone to marry. those things hold me back. >> a.j.? >> romney has bought everything he ever wanted. i was really hoping there would be a good alternative. if there was a mccain-type character this year or even bob

dolan and not -- if there were a couple of guys on the republican ticket fed did not heard my sensibilities i would be closer to the middle, but it is not he has basically bought his way into the nomination and has picnic the extreme right to shore up his base. >> susan? -- he has picked the extreme right to shore up his base. >> susan? >> i would like the one who is successful in business running the country. >> four years ago you voted for? >> both candidates. >> how did you do that? >> i voted for mccain in the primary and barack obama in the general election. i was a mccain supporter in 2000, and i got turned off when we got to the general election. i'd tell me why you are leaning toward seven.

>> i want to see hammond works for both sides, but -- i want to see him work for both sides, but obama is the lesser of two evils right now. >> i think nationally security will be stronger. i think it is the republican congress, and it will be less gridlock if we have a republican president. >> we have covered it. we have covered the world. we have got only two weeks left. stay involved. there is a lot going on here,

and these are exactly the things the candidates need to hear, so i want to thank each and everyone of you for joining us, and we will see where it goes from here. thank you all very much. >> thank you. >> it was enjoyable. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> thank you very much. great job. thank you. good luck. >> now, peter hart talks to political groups of reporters that observed. >> ok? you guys had the great advantage of watching it all. what is this about? what was interesting?

what surprised you? ? >> we spend all of our time on the campaign trail and to have undecided voters at this point agonizing and flip-floping, going back and forth, one woman said she watched one convention and went another way. most people are what they are. we know what 90% of americans are, and we could have brought them in, and it would be exactly what we have seen, and i wanted to try to look at that 10%. some people turn out to be a little more decided, but

overall, your point is these people are anguishing but in many cases because neither candidate fulfills where their vision is. >> you have a group of people who feel the economy is getting better, and they had a very good things to say about the economy and how optimistic they are, and then they said, i do not know if i should vote for obama again, so he is obviously getting zero credit. >> i am struck by the fact that compared to the one in a walkie, they are certainly no more than those, and then you have these tremendous gaps, and they did not have a clue. >> what do people know about obamacare?

>> they got the point about kids being covered and pre- existing conditions, so the ones who have experienced knew why they like it, but how much has ever won written about medicare and brian's plan, about vouchers? they are a more educated group now. health about a women's care? if you watch tv, that is what has been dominating. >> that is what struck me, how hard it is for candidates and people who work for them to penetrate, because a lot of things happen. a lot of plans have been offered, and they are not aware

of them. >> i was surprised with how little they knew. they should know more than they agreed on. >> i thought this group was more aware of things that had been going on in the campaign. more than any group i have ever watch. it was staggering the familiarity they had, and what kills us is they want specifics, they want a plan, but that is not what is going to affect them. it is going to be emotional. they said a lot about the few people who are really undecided. 60% of them are not undecided or are pretty close to being undecided, so you are down to a small number of people, and they are looking for something, and it is going to get them or not. >> in the and you had the impression they do not want a plan.

they are longing for a plan, but they do not want it. >> i thought they would observe a lot of campaign talking points. he does not have a plan. that is what it sounds like to a lot of people. >> you have thoughts? >> i thought people were not as undecided as they think they are, and it became pretty evident as the group went on. >> one of the things that interested me this it is almost said you had to look at the threads to be able to see the pattern, and if you stop and listen from the beginning, the first thing you learned is the economy is better, and if you're the president of the united states, that has to be

good news. these people have gotten a lot of messages out of the last week, that it was not like now last week was something no one had seen. for people it created a difficulty in terms of mitt romney, and then at the end you have got another thread of women's health issues and all of those things, so there are a whole bunch of things they told you, but then there were telling you another story, which is the story of the you wish barack obama listened? i wish he was not that certain. now they want a certain humility, a sense of pushing people common so you have got both sides, and the other thing

that fascinated me is the strength of the two women. clearly when we went around the room and talked about michelle obama you could feel the room light up and how unbelievably respected and effective she was, but then we got to the film, all of a sudden you recognize that enron they clearly represents inner strength, that she brings realism. she did everything her husband has not done and has not been able to get to. >> i think if you voted on the 22nd amendment they would have repealed if you're a good the clinton and michelle obama ticket for the united states, i think that came through.

the bloom is very much off the rose on obama, and i think the formulation and now is the question is the faction, and they are somewhere in between, and you can see if it is pervasive, and the question is defection. i am angry, but i am not going to do it. she to me was quintessential. a fact of these people got so much out of the conventions -- they really a sort of so much, region in re -- they really absorbed so much. >> it was hard to see, because we did not have the tabulation, but if you do a net balance, it

does not seem it is going to end up as a big romney game. praxair was one person here who had been for mccain and definitely was for obama. that one, who was not really undecided. >> he liked obamacare, and one of them said he thought obama was his brother, but there was all kinds of affection for obama, and then there was one who said it would be the worst day of his life is obama got reelected.

>> i think from my point of view i happen to agree with mark. in the last session i did in milwaukee, michelle was this quintessential voter who you could see the struggle of what was going on common-law -- going on, and i thought mary was much the same. they are going through the same kind of struggle, yet if barack obama wins, he is going to win the election. if he loses these women, and it is going to be difficult to tout. -- difficult to sell. i think mary is undecided, and i think anne is undecided. >> is she quintessential, because i thought it was interesting that she was very emotional. she was very emotional, and all she said was about the gut

feeling. in the end she said, i am leaning towards mitt romney. in favor of obama, he is young -- >> if you also voted for mccain, it turned out. >> she is in support of obama. in the end she said, i am leaning towards romney. this side did not get. >> this is the greatness of a focus group, so if you are going to ask for something to be totally irrational, do not talk to them. when you go through the complexities, that is why you need to hear, and i do not think every question is e. qualcomm on -- is equal, and you see romney with all the problems he had at

the beginning of the campaign. none of these have disappeared. they still remain, but do not miss his strength, which is he is a businessman. he may be able to solve the economy. he just has not done it at this stage. >> what problems do you think obama has solved? >> that is the important thing. he has got more of the message across, and there is a psychological sense america is better than it was. as barack obama done what he needs to do? no, because he has not given the voters a sense of a second term, and there is that other element. in 1980, the voters were mad. it was not a good economy, and i said to clinton at the time, if these people can give you a slap across the face, they will, but if they knew they were the final vote between deciding to

re-elect you or not, they would re-elect utah mine -- real life -- re-elect you, and there is some of that going on. it is not all of those things, and he needs some way for the voters to feel there has been some learning process, and i thought he did some of it very well at the convention, but i think he has left too much on the table right now. >> how does he strike you compare to the other ones? >> i have not seen the other

ones you have done this year. it struck me as not that bad for obama. there was good will, but i also thought of is this man had some strength to it, so that impressed me. >> definitely the one you did in denver, where there were weather-related questions and there was early spring for most people. the graph you put up, most people thought it was the economy. this is the area of the economy that has been touched by the downturn. there was a lot in northern virginia about that. everybody talked about the desire for bipartisanship, cooperation. that seemed to be one of the themes, a gridlock.

there was a lot of forgiveness toward obama looking at congress said you found in normal, and the wisconsin one was so downbeat it was like another country. that was a month ago? >> i also thought in terms of perceptions of the president and congress, there was a belief expressed by a number of people but in one way or another he does not know what to do about this, and this question if he is faced with the republican congress in the second term, what will he do? >> talking about lbj. >> what surprised me, they were all mentioned in the economy as the main problem, but at the

same time they were all talking about foreign politics, so it surprised me the event of the last few days. backs it defined romney in a very negative light. i was fascinated by this. it put him into a spot like that was uncomfortable. >> i do not think it was as much foreign policy as it was insight into romney, and they saw it, and they found that appealing and attractive. it was a cheap shot. it did not show presidential restraint. it reminded me of gary hart. the airliner was shot down with congressmen macdonald, and he asked what he would do, and he said, i would put the jets and look in the windows, and it was such a silly answer before he decided to shoot it down. it was a stupid answer, and romney has the same kind of disqualifying --

>> it is interesting. the three who were really undecided common and two of them voted for mccain. faxon it is not a statistic. >> the point is they are going both ways. taiex i will take final thoughts. likes a lot of people said obama is just the lesser of two evils. they know they are going to get to the ballot box, and they are going to say, no one lived up to what i asked him to live up to, so who is the guy who is not that bad? >> i think the women's issues may affected. >> i would say susan did not pay

much attention. america is a business. it is not a big family. that is a bold statement. >> can you find out why obama took two weeks to go to katrina? >> i think it is great restraint when someone says something like that. good >> i think this is a reminder of why that surveyed in november is so big. >> they need help, but there is an awful lot going into this debate these people know, and it is the question they have been trying to get answered through the selection, and there are

larger questions rather than turning into exclamation points. thank you, everyone. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] kaine and george allen faced each other thursday night. this race is rated as a tossup. >> the standard bearer of the republican party said 47 percent of americans are too dependent on government. do you share that vision of

america, and what specifically what you do -- would you do to do with that 47%. >> as i stated in the beginning, the best social program of all is a job. how you provide more job opportunities? >> i see people -- i look very positively at the people -- >> would you disagree with it from the at this point? >> i have my own point of view. my point of view is the people of america is still believe in the american dream. our responsibility is to make sure this is a country where everyone has equal opportunity to compete and succeed and pursue their dreams. the way i look at it, and i will expand on that later in the debate, but i think you look at the records. who has created more opportunities? i mentioned welfare reform. those were people down and out, and we want to help those people

who are blind and able-bodied. that is one of the great attributes of all americans. they did not look as though the stones -- look at themselves as victims. >> i do not think the question is whether you agree with him or disagree is hard, but there were very sick forward. there were divisive comments. we have seen too much of the divisive politics. >> moderated by david gregory. this debate is courtesy of washington, d.c.. watch the entire debate monday at 8:00 eastern on c-span. see the first of the presidential the bates wednesday, october 3 live on c- span, c-span radio, and on line at c-span.org.

next, our "newsmakers" program with senator lieberman. followed by rally with liz ge and lorrie brought me -- lix cheney and laurie romney. tomorrow, we will talk about the presidential campaigns, including the latest fund raising members, poles, and television ads. our guest is the jonathan