about florida politics this election year. we are joined by mark simpson. later, a look at the battleground state of ohio with michael alwood. washington journal life is next. -- "washington journal" live is next. ♪ host: good morning, a live look at the capitol this sunday morning. we are one day before the third and final presidential debate on the campus. voters across the country being inundated with ads in the congressional races, statewide .aces as well as the campu

it is to the days before the november 6 elections. it is sunday november 21. welcome to the washington journal. our phone lines are open. newspaper -- do they matter? as always, our phone lines are open. we also have our twitter page and our facebook page. we will share comments with you as well. or send us an e-mail. the christian science monitor on its website has the question "stop the presses, a tally of endorsements."

newspaper endorsements may not mean as much as they did when the press and vote in the on paper. around the country, newspapers are starting to weigh in on the major presidential candidates in campaign 2012. tell us what you think. do newspaper endorsements make a difference? give us a call. it can also send us an e-mail or join us on the twitter page. -- you can also send us an e- mail or join us on our twitter page.

let's hear from you. gavin from pennsylvania. caller: i personally do not follow the newspaper endorsements. i think newspapers being the media outlet that they are, they have a tendency to influence mass media and kind of slanted through sensationalism people's perspectives and ultimately their voting decisions. host: thank you for your call. we will go to robin from georgia. caller: know. -- no. i already know who i am going to vote for. you cannot trust the newspapers for every single thing. host: thank you for the call.

let's go to wilson from little rock, arkansas. caller: good morning. most newspapers, it does not really matter. in general, most of them are just bad. host: thank you for the call. we want to share with you a couple of endorsement. in a moment we will read from the salt lake city tribune which is a paper that praises mitt romney but endorses the president. florida a key battleground state and the tampa bay times

endorses president barack obama. next is a caller from oregon. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i personally think you have to keep your eye out on them. are you there? host: yes. caller: you have to keep your eye on the media. the fourth estate.

i really pay attention locally. i think that is really important. i think people need to really start at home. i tried to listen to everybody. i called on the republican line. i definitely listen to other people. i watch a lot of c-span, which educates me a lot. people need to not be so easily set -- easily lead it. host: thank you. on our twitter page -- another key florida newspaper endorses mitt romney.

to reset is on the phone from jersey city, new jersey. -- theresa is o nthe phone. caller: i do not think it matters to they endorse. they are just like people. they slant one way or the other. they are either liberal newspapers or conservative newspapers. i really feel that people -- especially republicans -- they are easily influenced by whatever they said.

when the mitt romney said he discounted the 47%, to me that did it to everyone. if you had a daughter and your doctor was going out with a guy and he was a run his friends and you had somebody taking him and he talked about your doctor like a dog and said i hate her -- daughter like a dog. then he got i it around you and got i love your daughter." that is the way i feel about mitt romney. he was a he did not want to be bothered with most of us. -- he was saying he did not want to be bothered with most of us. i feel like we are being hoodwinked. host: next is from yonkers, new

york. caller: good morning. i am not so much influenced. a few weeks ago, i cannot remember, president obama was asked what is your favorite word. i can see the character of each man. one wants to be domineering and the other one wants to be different. there is a difference between grace and indomitable. my vote goes to obama. host: thank you for the call.

from abc news, at the headline is "utah paper's laminate mitt romney." role inomney's singular rescuing their organization of the 2002 olympics from a cesspool of scandal and is the most successful a lumpen -- olympics on record. mitt romney is shameless. our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who against tough odds has guided the country through catastrophe instead -- he has earned a second term.

mitt romney does not deserve a first. that is from the salt lake city tribune. steve is on the phone from florida, a republican line. good morning. caller: hello, how are you. i believe the endorsements do matter, but i believe in newspapers and any other publications that i have followed are quite honestly right wing speakers. i do not think they should put out endorsements because somebody like myself, i have to be able to talk to people -- a newspaper can reach millions of people. who is writing the endorsement?

they have a much larger scale to go and talk about who they want to vote for. i think it ought to do the news and that is just picked. host: thank you for the call. this is from the twitter page. another look at the salt lake city tribune. obama has earned a second term. caller: good morning and thank you to c-span. i just wanted to say that i do not think newspapers really matter all that much. i subscribe to the tampa bay times. when i talk to people -- i work at a country club. what i talk to a lot of people out there, they believe the

tampa bay times is a left-wing newspaper. they did not give it as much credence where the orlando sentinel would be a more right leaning newspaper. the newspapers themselves and the way they report, people believe that they are either right leaning or left-leaning papers. i like the tampa bay times and i read it every day, but i am glad they endorsed obama but it was not a surprise that they did. host: from tennessee, lifelong and democratic, for the first time in history has endorsed mitt romney. obama racking up newspaper endorsements is the headline. a number of regional papers

endorsing on friday with a number going to the president. the orlando sentinel breaking from its 2008 endorsement of obama picking mitt romney. the most surprising was the tribunate's endorsement to the president given its mormon population. "too many mitts." next is antonio from boston. caller: and good morning. you have a beautiful suit and a beautiful tie. endorsement is good. why not? america is made that way. you have a beautiful program.

i would advise people from around america my opinion. do not change the car when the car is still going. i vote for obama. from massachusetts and boston. i do not think mitt romney did too much. he is a good guy with a good family. but we need obama. obama has a much more experience than four years ago. obama comes from a poor family. obama knows what it means with food on the table. romney was born with a spoon in his mouth. that is my opinion. god bless america. i love you all. i would like to see obama for president again. host: thank you for the call.

next is mary from kentucky. caller: good morning. yes, i do not really think that endorsements matter. people are going to vote for who they want to vote for any way. i will vote for barack obama. whatever the newspapers say, everybody reads it. but they already know who they will vote for. i watch this show and i really enjoy it. have a nice day. host: this is tom from pennsylvania. the newspaper endorsements matter? caller: not to me. thank you for this show every week. the owner or the chairman of the paper is head it basically the

legislative democratic party in new jersey. i follow this very carefully. going back a few weeks where obama had 810 point lead in pennsylvania. -- a 10 point lead. it was on the front page. now it has tightened up and that none of that is on the front page of the paper. i fully believe the endorsement will come out for obama before the election. it could have been written a downturn in january or last year by the editorial board. host: but me ask you a question.

story mentions the fact that california's results did not make that survey by the department of labour. california had double-digit unemployment that would have kept it above 8%, basically where it was. this just happens to be a mistake one month before the election.

this is totally skewed it. you have to pay attention to networks like yours. they are not going to buy into the partisan democratic rag papers like the times. it is a democratic party organ. host: thank you for the call. newspaper endorsements, do they matter. we will get a look at what to expect tomorrow in the third and final presidential debate. later we will check in with three radio talk show hosts from three key battleground states. we follow that with newsmakers, 7:00 for those on the west coast. our guest is the ranking democrat on the house budget committee. during the conversation, one of the questions that came up, the so-called fiscal cliff, what to expect after the election as the

deadline looms. [video clip] >> with respect to the sequester park, the automatic across-the- board cuts that take place on defense, i think there is a pretty good chance we can come up from alternative savings for some period of time whether is three months or six months. i of not letting any particular proposal but if you look at the situation there is a reasonable chance we can do that. we have been very clear that we wanted to extend a middle-class tax relief months ago. republicans have taken the position that unless you extend a break for wealthier individuals, nobody gets a tax cut extension.

if republicans adhere to that position, it is likely they would be taking us over the cliff. the keys to the car are really in their hands on this particular issue. >> you might be able to put off the spending cuts and fight about the taxes? >> i think there is broad agreement that the across-the- board sequester cuts are bad for the country. democrats do not like the cuts to defense. we are together on the fact that that would be a bad idea for the country. i hope we can proceed not one additional penny of revenue from wealthy people for the purpose of reducing the deficit.

we believe we have to take a balanced approach which is an approach bipartisan group recommended. i think that would be the question. will you have enough republicans going to ask the very wealthiest to contribute more to paying down the debt. host: the water reality over fantasy. the undecided voter has two weeks to answer this question. why switch from barack obama to mitt romney. barack obama was in manchester new hampshire.

he offered new hampshire nothing but bitterness and envy. obama had for years, half of them with a majority in congress to try to get their way. running after is a more realistic way to restore. now it is time to stop dreaming and start growing again. caller: i agree with the twitter accounted there. the newspapers agree with my sales. it would be slanted one way or

the other for these sales. caller: i will vote for obama. i am a democrat. all of the lies that mitt romney tells, you do not know which mitt romney you are voting for. are you voting for whatever he is now. i watched the debate. i saw how many lies he told. everybody said, mitt romney won the first debate. how did he win the first debate. everything he said was a lie. i watched him during the primary of the republican party. mitt romney has told so many lies. he has done nothing but lies.

if people are stupid enough to vote for him, he stood up and said "my state and massachusetts." which home do you -- which states do you live in? he has a home in new hampshire. he claims michigan. what state is he from? mitt romney does nothing but lies. you can look in his beady eyes and see he does nothing but light. host: libya, likely to dominate the final debate that will take place in boca raton, florida. when i step onto the debate stage on monday for the third and final debate, president obama, republican mitt romney will be talking about foreign affairs even as they make one last push to win over a national audience. this debate will be a tie breaker of sorts for the two hits. mitt romney dominated the first

meeting on october 3. republicans insist running also held his own in their second step off last week. most analysts credit obama with finally showing the energy and assertiveness his supporters have been demanding. that was this morning from the "washington examiner." next is built from georgia. caller: it does. it has helped wake me up and realize what is going on. i want to thank c-span. i wish they would pass a rule that before you are qualified to vote that you had to watch c- span at least one session. i am going to vote for mitt romney. there is no way i could vote for obama.

leaving god out of the platform and them same-sex marriage. the health insurance, that is killing america. as far as the 47%, it is true. people are on some kind of subsidy from the federal government. it is hard to get somebody to bite the hand that is feeding it. host: thank you for the call. obama's september spending doubles that of mitt romney. the president is prepping his financial advantage spending next is steve from new york.

good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. as i stated here to your call screener, the endorsement of newspapers is largely immaterial, especially in light of the ones that are either deniers or liars. in light of the benghazi incident, the blood of the four dead americans is at the doorstep of the president of the united states. these people, the democrats included are scum -- pleasant scum, but scum and never the less. host: on that note we want to share with the sub breaking

news. it was 40 years ago that george mcgovern became the democratic nominee. this morning he passed away at the age of 90. a family spokesman from south dakota confirmed that he passed away. he is followed by his wife eleanor. from 2009 the oral history, george mcgovern talking about his 1972 campaign and his career in politics. [video clip] >> how did you defeat him? >> i outwork him for one thing. i went back and forth across this country without ceasing for almost two years. i announced in january of 1972,

which up until that time had been the accepted time to announce, i knew coming from a little state like south dakota with three electoral votes, i had to halt work him to win the nomination. i announced in early 1971. it was regarded as a freakish thing to do. the press paid much -- no attention to me for the first eight or nine months. always in the past candidates had announced in the election year. it enabled me to organize grass- roots organizations all across this country. just to do it quietly without much press attention. i remember working the state of california long before any other

presidential candidate had even visited california. i must have had 1000 coffee parties in that many different living rooms across this great state of california. long before anybody else. people began to think i had made sense. i think by the end of 1971, i had a much better organization across the country than any of the other candidates. that may be a major way in which i won that nomination. host: the former senator from south dakota, the 1972 democratic nominee. he lost his bid at 1980. he went on to teach and lecture around the country. george mcgovern passed away this

morning in his home state at the age of 90. here is one tweet from one of our regular viewers. caller: do not be misled about what is taking place. everybody thought president obama would not be as successful as he has been. is the first thing i would like to say. newspapers, it depends on your source. if you use computers or television as your primary source, that is what you have to use. if you use newspaper, you have

to rely on newspaper for your source. a couple of things above like to touch on. republicans have stood by this marquest pledge and that is part of the reason president obama has not been as successful as he could have been. -- grover norquist pledge which is why he has not been as successful as he could have been. and those of blue dogs that are in the senate and house, and they need to be purged. our undercover republicans posing as democrats. host: a nother story getting a lot of -- a lot of attention in the new york times. let me read to you first what they are writing.

there is an e-mail that came out late yesterday from the white house that statement from the white

house. this is from "the new york times." the final sentence m.v.p. saying "the pain from the iran.ons has deepened anin back to your phone calls. newspaper endorsements -- do they matter?

next up is the independent line from new york. caller: good morning. i strongly feel like being endorsed by a newspaper he is like being endorsed by a celebrity. you know? the simple fact they can say whatever they like. now it is a lot of newspapers are on the internet. who is on the internet? you, the same way the celebrities are saying. even if he said everybody go out and vote for obama. and people will be like, wow, i should vote for obama then. whoever they like to be like, they are on the internet.

people should be looked -- people should be careful about what they say. host: from new -- from usa today there is this. next is a budget from richmond, missouri. -- bud. caller: thank you for taking my call. i do my own political research, a lot of which is washington journal every morning. my newspaper is the kansas city star. it is so left-leaning i can take any of their endorsements on candidates or propositions and it voted just the opposite and i know i have the right to vote. host: we will go next to dorothy from virginia. caller: good morning, america.

newspapers do matter because you read them every day. if they did not matter, you would not read them. but i would like to say about mitt romney, he is a liar. if you watched the last debate he and president obama had, he sat there and said about the women with binders -- he went out and went out to these women organizations and he got women. he did not do that. he said, we need women in this election and cabinet. they went out and got the win and brought them to mitt romney. he lied about massachusetts. how can you say you can create jobs -- you were 47th out of the

50 states. you were 47 out of 50 states. you are talking about the whole country. and another thing about his taxes. how can we, americans, listen to a man who says this is the greatest country -- and we all know that -- he does not put his money in the greatest country. host: we will leave it there. jody has this from twitter. the front page of "the washington post." next is sheena from georgia. caller: brace yourself. i will stay on topic.

newspaper endorsements should not matter. all they are doing is poisoning the well. i would look to my neighbor who just phoned in recently and i would look to bud who claimed that he can read his left- leaning newspaper and that tells him the exact opposite of how to vote. newspapers should be completely unbiased. people are able to make their own decisions from their own sources, i think newspapers are poisoning the wells. as an independent voter, i have already voted. i did vote for barack obama, and that is because i cannot fathom supporting a party that claims a global warming does not exist. that is my top issue in this

campaign. i will leave it at that. newspapers are poisoning the well. a shout out to elizabeth jefferson elementary. host: thank you to the call. another headline from another battleground state. the des moines register has an explanation on their endorsement.

that is from the des moines register. bill kristol writing and the second debate and what to expect this week. the point is to win the presidency. the way to win the presidency is to speak for a america.

one other editorial this morning -- not an endorsement. look at what they call "the whole in mitt romney's bucket." the editorial this morning from "the washington post." our last call is from david. do endorsements matter? caller: either would like to say thank you to c-span for taking my call. -- i would like to say thank you to c-span. i do not think endorsements matter. any informed voter if they watch different news programs and the debate itself would be informed

enough to make a good decision of who to vote for. as you follow it as you can see, if you followed some of the media coverage of mitt romney, you would know he was one of the founders of bain capital. i do not see how people can figure a man whose career has been built on purchasing businesses, downsizing the work force, selling their equipment, and outsourcing their jobs to china can build a jobs. here is a man whose experience is taking jobs and firing people. how can he bring economic or jobs? that is not his style. his style has been making money firing people, gutting the company, and sending the jobs overseas. also, i do not understand how an

endorsement could be positive and in this way. host: thank you for the call. jan has this. your calls and comments. we will continue to track endorsements in the coming weeks. early voting going on in a number of key states including ohio. coming up in a couple of minutescoupleamy walter. -- couple of minutes, amy walter. later we will have a conversation with talk show hosts with what is happening and ohio, virginia, and florida. first a look at other guests. politics dominating the conversation. on c-span radio we will carry all of the sunday programs. we will take a short break as

"the washington journal" continues. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> i had gone to visit it. had been there since 1947, which was the founding year of the country. it showed founds from all over the world from the united states, england, india. to me it symbolized the resilience of the country and the openness of the country in spite of all the violence and trouble that people have suffered over many decades. during one of the protests against a video that insulted the prophet muhammed, people turned against the movie theaters and burn them.

i do not really see that as a protest against the west. i do not see that as a protest against the united states even though avatar was one of the movies you could have gone to see at this theater. you had islamist activists who had not liked these movie theaters for decades, way before this movie that was never shown in them anyway. so they grab an opportunity to attack. they whipped up a bunch of young people. there were teenagers involved. they stole soda in the snack bar on their way to burn this movie theater. i argue in that he's what they were really attacking was the nature of their own country, which, perhaps, they did not understand. i said that with the greatest respect. i do know having studied the history and having lived in --

listened to pakistanis themselves, it is a diverse place. lots of different cultures, lots of different traditions. lots of different ways to be. that movie theater symbolized pakistan. that is what people burned when they set it on fire. >> more with steve inskeep tonight at 8:00. host: amy walter, welcome back to c-span. from your web sites "obama and romney cramming on foreign policy for the last debate." does it matter? as the third debate the matter? as foreign policy matter when the economy is a blessing the

election? guest: i think every debate matters. in the primaries, who was first, second, coming from behind, it changed every debate. i think we saw what the president's performance at the debate -- we have seen how the race has tightened. he's a foreign policy in and of itself is not something voters are paying as much attention to, but it does matter that it gives a measure of these men as commander in chief. voters are looking for somebody who can put together a profile on the economy, look like they have a plan for the economy. they really want to know, what will they look like when they have to make the ultimate call, which is the issues of war and peace. the great irony is we spend so much time talking about the economy and the role these men will play in working with

congress. the most consequential thing they do and the thing they need to have the least amount of work with congress on is some of these issues on foreign policy. they can have an agenda that is very separate from what congress's agenda is. they can move that through because of the power of the presidency. host: it has been called "the battle at boca." it essentially has frozen the rise in many respects. only paul ryan is on the campaign trail. we will see an onslaught of activity following the debate tuesday through the election. up until then this has been one month in which he has been on the campaign trail, off two or three days for prep. guest: it is not like voters in those states have been given a

reprieve from the campaign. they are being inundated with as many ads and as many campaign -- as much campaign out reach as you can possibly get. whether it is people coming to your door and asking if he voted or whether it is the turning of the television and you are swamped with negative campaign ads or whether it is the facts you cannot pick up your phone and some of these swing states because you know the person on the other end of the line is somehow related to the campaign, you are never spare a day off the campaign trail as a voter. host: charlie cook waiting in with this question. bush-gore redux? also chuck todd pointing at a scenario 269-269. guest: the political junkie in

this, we look for scenarios that are not likely but possible. have happened very rarely. in the case of the bush-gore redux, when we look at the polls today we can see why this discussion is happening. you have national polls showing a very tight race. some show mitt romney with a big lead, some with a smaller lead, or the president with a small lead. in the battleground states, that is where the president has shown a consistent lead in those major states that decide the election. you can see a scenario where you have a popular vote winner and mitt romney and an electoral vote winner in president obama. i stress again, that is very rare. at the end of the day what usually happens is there is the

momentum. however slight it pushes the electorial and national vote one way. host:politico writing -- guest: ohio, we know is the key to the race. the folks on the democratic side say, yes, the race has tightened but we still feel good about ohio as ever. republicans say, the ohio senate race is also tightening. they're feeling very good about the state. early voting is soon to begin. absentee voting has already begun. we will hear about the battle of who is voting offer election day. has the damage that president obama and his allies inflicted on mitt romney over the course

of the summer -- all of the-at about his work at bain capital, the cayman island accounts, who mitt romney is as a businessman -- did that take its toll and create the character of mitt romney that has yet to be changed by mitt romney or was mitt romney's debate performance enough to change that character and shatter it? he is able to recreate himself. host: let me ask you about another state. foris called "fool's gold" republicans. pennsylvania. new hope in pennsylvania. one poll had the president up only four points and pennsylvania. he lost the primary to hillary clinton.

he 1 in 2008 and the general election. guest: this is why it comes back at enter this discussion. regardless of whether or not mitt romney is able to win pennsylvania, he will do better than john mccain. that means he will get more votes than john mccain, meaning he can boost of the popular vote and rack up the votes leading to a popular vote when. winning the state and its electoral votes is much tougher, partly because the way the state is broken down is the east and the west. the east be in philadelphia and its suburbs, much more democratic cleaning. the west used to be hardcore, what we would call yellow dog democrats, much more socially conservative. they have been leaning republican. whatever the romney folks saw early on, they felt they cannot

overcome the structural problems they had in that state. not a dime has been spent in this state. that is remarkable. a state that we know is always a battle ground. if we are looking for a surprise, pennsylvania would probably be it. michigan is another one that may be comes close at the end it. i think michigan in the same category as pennsylvania is a fool's gold. the auto bailout a big factor in michigan. host: paul ryan is a day was outside of pittsburgh with james carville describes as philadelphia, pittsburgh, an alabama in the middle. guest: the philadelphia suburbs continue to grow. pittsburgh is getting to be -- if feel a little bit more like

the east in terms of its suburban nests beginning to grow. -- suburbneaness growing. host: send us an e-mail if you like. join us on our twitter pager suspect as well. before we get to calls, i want to go to a map available at abc.com. ohio is leaning obama, so like a blue. guest: looking just at the polling numbers out there as well as talking to people on the ground and who are doing the work there, i think if you look at the map you say, the best opportunities for mitt romney right now, florida, virginia, colorado, new hampshire. that is based both on the polling and on discussions with

both of the campaigns. i think the toughest ones for mitt romney and the best opportunities for the president, wisconsin, iowa, ohio, nevada. new hampshire is that sort of -- that is incredibly competitive. i put that initially into mitt romney. i think it can go either way. really comes down to ohio. if i give florida, virginia, and colorado to romney, give wisconsin and iowa and nevada to president obama, it still comes down to ohio to determine the winner. based on that scenario, if the president wins wisconsin, new hampshire, and ohio, you get to 269. guest: that is the when you are looking for. host: we will definitely get the

question. let's go to laurie from los angeles. caller: good morning. i have a major complaint that is going on as we speak. i watch your show every week monday through friday. there is a major program going on with a company that bain capital and mitt romney own. they have laid off almost 200 employees as we speak. their jobs are being shipped off to china for 99 cents an hour. the company had earned $506 million recently of last year and is doing very well. the employees are being paid $17

an hour. they will have no jobs. after obama has fought for the people of the automotive industry, this should not be happening. i feel very bad for these employees that will not have jobs coming very soon. i

and the american job market here all of this coming at the same time that we will see a change in chinese leadership as well. guest: this has been a key discussion in 2010, a major talking point for the congressional candidates. backing china has become something of a must do on the campaign trail. the support makes it very difficult to of a rational discussion about these issues off the campaign trail. this hasller's point, been the focus now for the democrats on mitt romney for some time. he is someone who made a lot of money but made it based on business practices that hurt regular people. and mitt romney will tell you

and folks in bain capital will tell you, his job was not to go in and do those things, laying off people except iraq, his job was to go and make companies -- laying off people etcetera. his job was to go in and growth companies. mitt romney did not personally own these companies, it did not make the big decisions. but it comes to the central issue here on the economy. the real sense of anxiety. i appreciate where the caller is coming, too. about how money is made in the country. who are the winners and who are the losers. that is why in ohio, the debate about the auto bailout has been so important. that is why the president has been so successful there. these jobs of for part of the fabric of that place for so

long, going away. and people feeling like they have nowhere else to turn. -- these are the jobs of the future. ago and this computer work. i am going to get retrained and do these jobs. and now these jobs are going overseas. americans are thinking i did all of the right things. i went to school, i got beat retraining and now they can ship these jobs -- i got the retraining and now they can ship these jobs overseas to. i think what the obama campaign has done is stoke that anxiety about the direction of our economy using mitt romney as the foil for all of that. host: what is the approach of a abc news when it comes to calling states and calling the election. guest: we will never go and

call any state before the polls have closed in in that state. and when it comes to calling the ultimate winner of the presidential, that would never happen while the poles were still open in the states. host: 11 eastern is the earliest it could be called? guest: that is correct. host: let me go back to the political headline. this is a democratic leading survey from a politico pointing out the president 49%, the governor 48%. what happens if there's a recount in ohio? [video clip] the secretary of state will have a recount in ohio automatically if the vote totals within 0.5%.

that will trigger automatically. both of these campaigns already have legal teams on the ground. they have confirmed that. there are already illegal to -- legal teams representing both candidates in ohio. i find it difficult to believe any network will call that way about ohio. in 2004, remember that night, john kerry held everything up until the following morning. the ohio held things up with 100,000 votes. both campaigns could be closer than that. there are things in place for automatic recount. host: that from the google hang out. both campaigns preparing for

the 2000 scenario. guest: a lot of lessons were learned from that scenario. what you can see, what to do not concede. i did not think anyone would go about conceding on an election night if there was even the possibility of a recount. and i know that all of the lawyers are ready -- are getting themselves focused on this. we have seen this since 2000. both sides recruit attorneys, get the attorneys sent to all battleground states. they are sitting on the conference calls, have gone through every piece of campaign lot in that state, and made themselves aware of it. networks are very aware of that, too. we have our own book was about what the rules are in each and every state your automatic recount vs three counts of that a candidate can request who paid for it.

and everything else. host: if you are listening on c- span radio, our guest is amy walter, abc news political director. on our line for republicans, kerry. caller: my comment is the last lady who called about setting the company around and losing jobs. she should stop and think, most businesses -- we are getting them here in florida from california. i want to take real good look. you talk about ohio. i do not hear anyone talking about the governor of ohio. the governor of florida, the governor of texas. these are republican governors. their economy is booming. simply because of taxes.

am so sick of what is going on in this country. it is like a battle. we are all americans. i spent 27 years in the military. and i keep wondering, what did i give up 27 years of my life for. to come home and find out, people are giving my country away. host: thank you. comment, response? guest: he had an interesting point about the governor's. are they getting credit? there has been a lot of talk in ohio about the fact that -- in his case he is a republican governor, because of his success -- is it helping president obama? indeed, instead of becoming a great advocate for mitt romney, he has to sort of a tone down, there would like a town down to talk about how good the economy is doing. it doesn't make the case for mitt romney's call for change. host: we do not see them

campaigning with mitt romney? guest: we do not now. the housing market is still in bad shape. not as bad as it used to be. but gov. scott is a very polarizing figure, much more unpopular than the two candidates running for president. even that who is more popular, it still polling a little under that. he got himself embroiled in a battle over labor and human negotiating, much like we saw in wisconsin. that, too, had carried some baggage. it polarizes the governors who have taken themselves out of the mix and in some ways both candidates are happy about that. host: another question -- please ask how credible the exit

polling is an appalling state results. to is a great question. every year there is a debate about how useful these exit polls are. host: explain how they work. guest: all the networks get together to help pay for that and help run this. there's an outside group that goes and this involves a lot of mass. things i cannot possibly explain. it essentially involves years and years of data and work that goes into figuring out how to model out each and every one of these states based on information they are getting from both states that have been voted early. and taking that data and supplementing it as the votes, and with real actual data. here is the problem with exit polls, various people another work, but a lot of people like

to talk about them -- very few people know how they work. but a lot of people like to talk about them. earlier, the first wave were set of data that came out would come out around 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. the network said -- this is secret. do not but everyone knows. this never happens. everyone got on the farms and suddenly it was like wildfire. before the internet was all by phone. since the internet -- everywhere. not these folks are literally quarantining people that have the information. no phones, no access to the internet. no human contact. except for the people in the room. they are not allowed out until 5:00 p.m. then the word spreads. but two thanks, first, this information we are getting is

very preliminary. the second is that there are many cases where there seems to be an early democratic bias. i am always very weary when that first set of data comes in. because you are picking up more democrats, as you get later in the hour, you are picking up more republicans. you cannot look at the very first set of data that comes out and say -- this is to the winner is going to be. it is not just to end up voting -- early on in the exit polls we saw that it was mitt romney who would benefit in the first wave. he was up 55, 6, 8 points. later in the evening, his lead would narrow, narrow, narrow. romney voters would go to the polls early. so, we would have to wait until

you get the later data. and then the real votes, the most important. host: in the washington post -- observations about the final debate tomorrow and boca raton, florida. he points out that mitt romney is a great debater who prepares throughly. he will no doubt come to monday's debate with a better strategy for engaging obama on topics like libya and a foreign- policy. he needs to show that the criticism -- policies that are more affected than the president. guest: he does not get a lot of opportunities in this debate to actually talk about the rich man who would only benefit the wealthy. host: how long would it take for them to say the economy is a form of policy issue? guest: i think there will look for opportunities to do that. the other point he makes is an

important one. when you go down and drill down, looking at the policies that both of these men are talking about, there's not a whole lot of light between them. a lot of it is, semantic, some of it is around the edges, in terms of real, serious foreign- policy differences from some of our most important areas of the world, the middle east, iran, there are not those big old differences. host: on our line for democrats, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment. i never voted in my life. for the first time i have voted for obama. a truly believe obama has done a good job. i just wanted to say that. i may puerto rican.

i live in cleveland. i knew that obamacare is for people like us. i am one of the 47%, that mitt romney was talking about. host: how damaging was that video? guest: it was really problematic for mitt romney. but the image is already created of him before this. as i said was a lot of negative advertising about this guy who was a driven elitist. he did not understand middle- class values. the majority of people thought you would look out for the wealthy instead of the middle class. but to hear it in his own words is really the issue. that is when it becomes damaging. you can create a character of someone about it goes away when you meet that person. but when you hear the person in their own words, it makes a very tough for them to distance themselves from that. host: the passing of senator

george mcgovern, he lost in a landslide to richard nixon and went on to serve in the senate until 1980. iran again in 1984. we featured -- he ran again in 1984. back in 2009 he sat down for an oral history to talk about how he defeated in the 1972 democratic primaries. [video clip] >> i out worked him for one thing. i was back and forth across this country without ceasing for almost two years. i announced in january of 1972, which at the time in american

history, it had been the accepted time to announce. i knew coming from a local state like south dakota, three electoral votes, i had to out work in order to win at that election. i announced in early 1971. it was regarded as a kind of crazy thing to do. the press paid no attention to me for the first eight or nine months because always in the past candidates had announced in the election the year. but it enabled me to organize grass-roots organizations all across this country. just to do it very quietly, not much press attention. i remember working in the state of california long before any other presidential candidate had even visited california.

i must have 1000 coffee parties in that many different living rooms across the great state of california. long before anybody else. people began to think i made sense. by the end of 1971, i have a much better organization across the country than any of the others. that is maybe a major way in which i won that nomination. host: he passed away this morning in his home of a south dakota. guest: still significant. you think about a role that he had played, engaging for that progressive wing of the party, the anti-war weighing.

what is interesting about this election, i was thinking about this going forward, the debate over vietnam, which has been raging so hot, a prime issue in the 1992 campaign. really going through every year, but was always a alwaysmark about where they were -- that was always a question mark. i think we are now to the point where that legacy and the impact was on the candidates and the parti -- it has diminished so significantly in is now a debate over the middle east taking its place. host: the governor passed away at the age of the 90. we want to point out that he starthe clinton's their in politics. we will go next to it,, on our line for democrats.

caller: good morning. the lady from california -- she was absolutely right. i watched the show. 170 families are looking for insurance, jobs. you of all of these people on c- span call-in, saying these lazy people who do not want to work. and this now has happened to over 5 million americans. 50 to 60,000 factories have moved out of here. jim, on our line for republicans, south carolina . caller: i heard about you blaming mitt romney for exporting jobs.

it was clinton who gave free trade status to china and other emerging markets. it was his job to make those companies compete with other companies within this new realm, paradigm of what companies were doing out of there. it is something you cannot blame him for purity was to given that new paradigm. the billions of dollars that went into bailing out gm -- please do not tell me that is going to reelect obama. that one issue, that one payback to one state. american airlines is facing a real difficulty. and they cannot get a raise. because for 12 years they have been voting democrat, there will not let you drill for oil. now oil is not 12 times more experience. that is why they cannot get a raise. host: thank you. amy walter?

guest: these callers altogether really represent the difficulty in this election for both candidates. which is, as i said earlier, the real economic reality out there that, whether it is trade with china or jobs in india, we are in a globalized environment now. there's not an easy answer for this. there are going to be people who lose their jobs, people who succeed years that are going to succeed better than the other 97% of folks. a lot of it does not look fair. a lot of it is hard to explain and put into a political context. both of these candidates are living in that world. which is why we have seen a lot more finger-pointing and blaming than we have seen. maybe we should have the policies for where the government should try to make sense of this. a lot of this is -- the other reality is, there's an awful

lot the government can do. we have spent a lot of time talking about the role of the president and fixing the economy, putting things back on track. so much of it had little to do with what they are doing or what folks on capitol hill are doing. what is happening out there in the private sector, and the reaction to what is happening around the world. there will be demagoguing on this. this will be the great dilemma. for whoever wins. the will have to come back bashing china after demagoguing issues like medicare and social security and the deficit. they are going to have to come back and maybe immediately, not right after the election, deal with all of those. after they just destroyed their opponent based on those issues. host: candidate, regardless of who is in the white house, by all accounts -- even if one

party has a majority it would be a narrower majority, what happens? what will we be talking about? what will congress off need to do to deal with the press will clip? guest: a data that they have to deal with it. there's an understanding by the leadership on capitol hill that this is not one of those situations that you can't ignore and hope it goes away. they have to handle it. sceness talk behind-the- about how this would work. a very different scenario based on who wins and how that person wins. if mitt romney wins the thinking is they do not have to deal with this in a lame-duck situation. they can wait, come back after he is sworn in. president obama wins, probably have to deal with it more quickly. and the president would argue that -- you have four more years with me.

we have to deal with this now. might as well do it now. look, at the end of the day, both sides understand that this cannot be ignored. big, big, big cuts. very popular programs will be instigated. tax hikes on regular people are going to happen. this is not a question about, we will ignore it for a couple of years. host: headlines "washington post -- closing in on the finish line. as focusing on the undecided. percentage wise? guest: if you because you say maybe it is 3% to 5%. and then you throw in people who are persuade the ball. people not totally committed to one candidate or the other. maybe that pushes up to 9%, a 10%. either way, it is a very, very small number. thank host: . exit polls will be meaningless

because of early voting in swing states like ohio. guest: exit polls taken into account. in states like colorado or nevada or 67% of the vote comes an early, that is factored in in the exit polls. it is not just people standing outside polling places. host: on our line for democrats. caller: hi, amy. you are very personal. and what i wanted to say is that -- host: go ahead. . caller: you are very informative for all of the issues. but the thing about it is that, i am in california.

and everybody writes california off. and we have like the majority of the votes. and nobody ever speaks on that issue. host: thank you. guest: you have a lot of people who feel like they do not have much say. in the discussion when it comes to the electoral college. i can understand the frustration. sorry state like new hampshire with four electoral votes is getting more attention and much more of the candidate's time and energy than the state of california. which is why we hear time and time again about the electoral college and why it does not work. we know that demographics of a big impact on which electoral votes matter in which years. it was not that long ago that california was in the mix as a state of folks competed for. texas, everybody assumes because of the demographic changes that state is positioned as just a

pure red state, that it will be much more competitive, because of the fact that there is a minority there. we expect to see a place like texas, back into the mix in terms of electoral influence. host: i like the way virginia has become a purple state. guest: at the end of the day, it is hard to see that california will be competitive if. is competitive in redistricting. it is turned many seats that were once considered -- into competitive districts. to clear up late wondering which house seat when which way it will be because of california. host: let us look at the numbers. and herbert hoover's election,

the american people voted out of office after a single term, only three elected president and the carter, george h. w. bush -- all of them were successful businessman before there were president. guest: again, it goes to the point i made earlier about, so much of what is happening on the stock market, what is happening in the business, in the private sector has very little to do with government. i think they understand that as well. lot of what is going on out there is happening regardless of who is in the white house. at the same time, but you are expecting is for the president to give a vision about what the what the economy to look like. with the one in terms of the role of the global economy.

we have had that to date. many different views of the role of government. and the role that government should play in either regulating, restricting, however you want to say it, business and regulation. but at the end of the day, these two candidates -- one of them is a point the president and they will be reduced by economic winds out of their control. host: there is always won a race, house senate race that pops up surprising a lot of pundits. which one are you keeping an eye on? guest: certainly pennsylvania, as you pointed out. republicans did not really do much to recruit a strong candidate in that race. that race has tightened up. i would not be surprised to see

a surprise there. the other one is in arizona. the state that we also think should be a competitive states because of the changing demographics. is not competitive in the presidential level, but there is a competitive senate race right now. that would be a very big surprise if you saw a democrat win that the senate state. host: amy walter, abc news political director. thank you for being with us. by the way we are covering many of these races that amy walter just talked about. and many of the debates available on a website. eakin check our c-span.org for scheduling information. a number of debates scheduled this week. coming up, we are going to check in with the three radio talk- show hosts from three parts of the country. joe thomas is next from wchv. and mark some seven from wffe in

orlando. and one from wvko radio. all coming up on the "washington journal." all of the sunday's shows -- amy available online. good morning. >> good morning. on today's network tv talk shows, the topics include the presidential campaign, the lame duck congress, the attack and the united states consulate in libya, and the life of former senator george mcgovern. c-span radio we airs all of the videos of beginning at noon eastern. today the host david gregory welcomes robb portman and marco rubio of a florida. obamacare been a senior adviser david axelrod and republican strategist mike murphy. another appearance of republican senator rubio, also a chicago

democratic mayor robert many well. -- emanu-el. el. cnn state of the union follows a 3:00 p.m. with candy crowley. your guest today includes tom davis, bill richardson and mark warner. at 4:00 p.m., bob schieffer welcomes marco rubio, obamacare deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter, and kevin madden. reairing on c-span radio prayer to as a public service by the network. they began at noon eastern with me to the press. -- "meet the press."

you can listen to them all on c- span radio. nationwide, xm satellite radio. can listen on your smartphone, blackberry, android . or go online tool c-span.org. >> joe, good morning how are you? >> thank you for being with us. >> he told folks who was the ideal candidate for the tea party. he is forgetting what his own positions are. and he is betting that you will too. he is changing up so much. side stepping in. we have got to name this

condition he is going through. i think it is called ronesia. >> this as a point to come down to a choice between two different americas. an america where government makes the rules, where it is larger and takes more and more from the american people. where it runs more of our businesses and increasingly runs our lives. for america where we restore the principles but made the nation that it is. that we bring back the principles of the declaration of independence, recognizing that god gave us our right. and they include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. the right to pursue happiness as richie's. >> watch and engaged as mitt romney and obama meet in their final debate. our debate previous starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern followed by the debate at 9. and your reaction at 10:30.

all live on c-span, c-span radio and online at c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from richmond va is joe thomas. the host of a show in charlottesville, virginia. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you for having us. host: virginia is one of the key states. that will determine who wins the election. give us a sense, as a conservative radio talk-show host, who will win and why. guest: it looks like mitt romney has been gaining momentum since the first debate. and we have been hearing from people who work the finances that the president's reelection campaign has significantly reduced their expenditures and all three of those states to

focus on other states that they feel are more challenged in the presidential race. i do not know if he is conceding all 13 electoral votes or not, but it looks like mitt romney is ahead by about 2% points. it is really within the margin of error. i do not think the president should be, but the rumor is that he is -- has significantly reduce its expenditures year. host: those in virginia calle 202-585-3883. guest: in 2008, large portions staid conservative and republican. virginia a long history of conservative democrats. of course, we have been following the story of george mcgovern's failing health. i heard yet passed away this morning. virginia was one of those

places that we called the byrd machine states. that led a very conservative state representative. and even representatives beijing the virginia democrats, especially in southwestern virginia tend to be very conservative and fiscally. you will still see some vestiges of them. host: you are on the air every morning from 5:00-9:00. guest: 5 years ago we launched the show and what had been called a liberal area. if you drive around the area today, for the most part all you see our mitt romney yard signs.

host: why? guest: i think people realize that at the end of the day many of the independent voters in virginia, and it is about 30% of us -- even when asked will tell us we vote independently. we do not choose just one party affiliation. they went with the president to give him a shot. at the end of it, a lot of this with the president is from the fact that he turned out to be just another politician just like everyone else. they went looking for somebody really spoke to some of the real problems in our country, like underemployment, unemployment on top of that, gas prices, value of our currency and that sort of thing. host: let me ask you to react to what the president was saying. and friday he was in fairfax. used the word romnesia.

he is spending a lot of time in the northern part of the state, which is much more heavily democratic. and richmond, newport news. here is the president on the campus of george mason university last friday. [video clip] >> he is changing of so much. backtracking and sidestepping. we have to name this condition he is going through. to i think it is called romnesia. [applause] i think that is what he is going through. i am not a medical doctor, but i do want to go over some of the symptoms with you. because i want to make sure no one else catches it.

you know, if you say you are for equal pay and equal work but to keep refusing to say whether or not would sign a bill that for tax equal pay for equal work, you might have romnesia. if you say women should of access to contraceptive care, for your support legislation that you -- but to support legislation that might allow you to deny contraceptive care you might have romnesia. host: any comments? guest: it is interesting. and always will practice when they come up with the push button words. and campaigning is so much about

that. because we like to think that every engaged voters want to be out there. but when you are looking at a voter turnout of maybe 55%. in 2008 and was called a historic election. we managed to only get 62% of the registered voters to the polling places. you were for these things that -- when you listen to what the president is actually saying, i think jeff foxworthy is going to call him for royalties on not here to listen to what he is saying and you can unwind all of the points, whether it is equal pay for equal work well mitt romney 74 and open marketplace where gifts and talents a matter where you come from can earn you whenever you get for them. an open and free market. no one is denying access to anything. they are just saying, let us figure out who is supposed to be paying for it and where.

if the president can wrap these words up, we and virginia have always seen these sort of tactical campaigns. bob mcdonnell cure the state with a 17 point margin in 2009, because of ... he and bill and sam went to every town. it was as close to a door-to- door campaign as you could get. virginians did not respond to the -- i am just went to focus on this. if you of 20% support, you better make sure all of the 20% comes out. that is what mitt romney and paul ryan's campaign has been doing. making sure that if charlottesville, virginia is 75% democrat and 25% republicans, one of those 25% is want to come out to the polls and vote, that is how you win. host: our guest has a number radio shows. he is heard on wchv radio in

charlottesville, and virginia. yesterday as richmond. next call is from virginia. caller: good morning karen i am from northern and virginia. i also travelled to charlottesville quite often. but to defer that there are a lot of mitt romney signs in charlottesville. is primarily democratic. and everyone knows it is northern virginia. northern virginia is very transient. a lot of people are from all over. and the decision is going to come at of northern virginia. anyone who is into charlottesville, which is what 2, 3 hours south knows that if there's one to be any change in this election, both of these candidates the to be up in northern virginia, it is not charlottesville, virginia at all. guest: mitt romney was in leesburg the other day.

as i understand 1000 people came out, out its lisa. i would ask you to come out and visit. i live within the city of charlottesville. and within the four block radius around my house, the only road signs are mitt romney, paul ryan road signs. i understand your point that northern virginia does hold a significant amount of population and a significant amount of government employees, which no matter your political ideology, will be worried about your job. that is understandable. in this -- northern virginia elected sam. i do not think northern virginia is as low as you think. caller: good morning. my question for your guest for-- i would consider myself to be an old-time conservative and not a neocon.

and i heard your guest say fiscally conservative. in order to be fiscally conservative, we need regulation. in the last decade or so, all i have heard is deregulate, deregulate. that is what brought us to the brink of economic collapse. and what we need is actually regulation. in particular glass-steagall. and i will listen to the comments. host: thank you. guest: thank you. it depends on what your regulating. certainly establishing standards and practices and making sure that, my favorite founding father were part of the james madison, to do, create a justice system toward a free society that is just anarchy is not going to be a just society.

that was the hard battle and the founding of our nation. creating a justice system that works. when you talk about regulation, it is not to say there are regulations. but what are your regulating? as the more tightly regulate the marketplace, which to develop our business is whose whole goal is to manipulate those regulators. that is where you see these enormous campaign contributions to both candidates. bear stearns, goldman sachs, they made huge contributions to both obama and john mccain. warsaw to the president. -- more so to the president. you could call the regulator. and that is the thing you have to worry about. how far do you regulate the marketplace so but only be businesses that can manipulate that regulation are successful? what you want is a marketplace where, hey, if i have a new idea

i can come up with it. the company doesn't like that because the company wants to keep on with its keeping on. but a little innovator is where all of the new ideas, from. i think one of our stagnation is is the fact that we have become so regulatory in the government sector over the private sector that nobody innovates anymore. we are trying to continue with the status quo so that we do not endanger our portfolios. and the real challenge, the real greatness is from the small innovators who say, i have a better way to do that. whether it is new technologies for automobile transportation, a truck transportation, electricity generation, when you get the regulators involved, then the bigger part of your business model has to be manipulating the regulator, not creating business. host: let me share news from cnn. a series of ads being placed.

last week he met with mitt romney saying, i will do all i can to help you and you can quote me on that. they then prayed about the campaign and their family. in this print a advertisement in the wall street journal, usa today and other leading newspapers, he says as i approach my 94th birthday i realize this election could be my last. i believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of israel. i urge you to vote for those that protect the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and woman. i should point up at his website has taken down a number of references to more monism as a cult. available online at cnn.com. your reaction? guest: polygram has been a leader in the face based

community for so long -- billy graham has been a leader in the face based community for so long. this is a separation of church and state issue here in the capital. we understand that. but the governing structure has to be based on the right and wrong more than legal and illegal. having that route, weather is christian, wherever you gain in your right and wrong in your decision making is hugely important t hugelyoo often -- it is hugely important. and too often we cloak ourselves -- i applaud what he said. host: of ousted virginia. we will also focus on ohio. randy, on our line for

republicans, williamsburg. caller: i own a small business. a mobile trailer that has worked for nine years at west haven community today. i have worked in 1100 schools throughout the state. i am brought about your innovation comments. sudley i run up against the machine. the matter what. charlottesville, williamsburg, hampton, new percheport news. when i run up against the machine, i stopped in my tracks. all the schools that might work for are all from a program geared i believe here in virginia that we are all independents. the cross section of leadership here is too varied for us to focus on one group. we have good and bad leaders. i consider myself a republican

because there are very few. tommy norman, bob mcdonnell. they talk the game, but they do not play. and we are kind of set up around here. with the old way of doing things. host: thank you. we will get a response. guest: that is the trouble. when you start to play the political party game versus the mindset of a conservative. most conservatives i know are republicans. that is where they find the most access to write a minded elected officials. when you look at a party, he confided for the choices. we too often look for personal policy through public policy. we want the public policy to address personal issues. i know several people who have a private business is built around a vacation. and big education is one of the toughest regulatory machines to get around. i appreciate what he is trying to do. because the education machine,

even in a right work state like virginia still governed by clause i-unionized groups but say, this is how we do things. and relieve the student of the educational discussion so frequently that it is no wonder that our scores always fall. we fall behind other nations. we have got to go back to looking at the student and the private entrepreneur is going to do that. they are the consumer. whether it is public transportation, government says we want the bus here because that is where we want to run the bus and that is going to get the votes. a cowhich is better for the environment? the private entrepreneur that will get as many people on his boss as possible, or the government wants to run the bus where it will give them even a news credibility appear the same thing for education geared government education is about getting points on election day. not about finding the way to

give the teachers the best tools they need to put the information in the hands of the students and engage the students. private sprinkle step up all the time. they run up against it. -- private ontaro for nor's see that all the time. host: our guest is:wchv radio. one of our viewers taking aim at me. you are showing your colors by asking non issues like is more monism a cult? no one is asking that question. host: i was sharing with you what pointed out. i will read it you against your surely after the meeting, the billy graham -- the association

said, we do not wish to present debate and a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign. mitt romney is a longtime member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. on our line for democrats, good morning. caller: i am a young a boater from virginia beach. -- a young voter from a virginia beach. i look up to billy graham on of those issues. his support for unions and foreign policy is of the right one. i think virginia should do away

with it. host: thank you. marg comment. let me ask you a question. he is on the ballot in virginia. will his name pose any problems for the mitt romney campaign as they try to win the commonwealth expecting those voters might be romney voters? guest: virgil is a friend purities a good man. he is a passionate -- he is passionate about what he believes in. i was happy to see him get back into. he was one of the bird democrats. he was elected as a democrat. a couple terms of their. then an independent, and then joined the republican party i am not sure how many republican votes outside of the fifth district he will take away. polling data leads me to believe that gary johnson has a slightly better handle, even in the

commonwealth of virginia. but your point about mormon ism, people did not realize the fifth district where i live has many -- charlottesville has six separate churches of watered de saint parishes. these churches exist in central virginia with great number. there are many mormons in the central virginia. i think that may cancel out any impact that he may have on the fifth district which may be the only place where he would take votes from anyone. host: and our reference to bill lee gramm, there are advertisements appearing in many newspapers, his support for mitt romney. but jan has this point on twitter -- keep your religion out of my government. your thoughts?

guest: your government is based on people making choices as to what is right and wrong. when you write a law and we are gifted in virginia, many states are trying to turn to this that we have a part-time legislature. we are here a building in richmond. but we are only in session a few months a year. we do not have these 24 hours a day seven days a week government like i did when we lived and another state. the idea that you can separate religion from anything is mistaken. people make their choices based on their faith. people will have a yardstick by which they measure their decisions for right and wrong. no one is telling anyone what they can do or say or how they should vote or play. that is the greatness of this country. this country is not about that. we are not an agnostic society.

we are not even close to that. we all make our decisions based on right and wrong, and our freedom comes from the fact that we understand that the more than we rely on government. host: it snapshot of virginia. it went to the president by a margin of just 6.3%. carolyn is on the phone. on our line for independents. fort smith, virginia. caller: i had not been voting. and i am a person that does not know exactly who i am for, except i do know i do not like romney. the point of the thing is, here

in the area i live, we have more wealthy people controlling the votes than what we put out. they say virginia is important to the election. yes, it is. even if we vote, it is not counted as a vote when we look can see who gets it. you all have the control over what goes on. i in 65 years old. they are hollering about obama and food stamps. i do not get food stamps. i am disabled. i do not get the help that i need. i am just beginning to get the disability and was supposed to

be getting cents obama been in that chair. do not tell me who is who and what is what. i said i would not vote, but i will this year. people need to open up and see what is going on in the united states. it is not just certain parts of the state. -- it is not what it is proper to -- virginia is not what it is propped up to be. guest: what she is experiencing is what happens when you have such a centralized top-down government in washington. if you fill out the forms correctly and get them to the right people on the right day and wait in line, you might give a little some of what you need.

government is best when it is small and local so that she can find the help she needs in her community and not have to plead with washington. every single thing she is talking about is what happens when you establish a centralized despotic government. we have been doing this for a long time. it is not just the president, but he has created more of this economic structure of washington that does not help a woman like her. , but campaigns on the promise of helping her. she says there are rich people controlling her vote. if you are worried about that, you should be pushing for smaller conservative government so people in portsmouth can be helping you locally.

these are the people that know you and see you every day. what does somebody in washington know about you? nothing until they want your vote. that is where you want conservative constitutional- sized government so that you can find it in portsmouth, but it needs to be local. >> joe thomas joining us from richmond as we take a look at the key battleground states. thank you for being with us on c-span. host: we're going to turn our attention to florida. the state of florida has 29 electoral votes. the latest unemployment rate is 8.7%. in 2008, the president winning florida by just under three percentage points.

thank you for being with us. the intersection of florida politics is the i-4 corridor. will that determine who wins the state on election day? guest: absolutely. you have the two ends of it, tampa, all the way it to orlando beat. there is a big difference in terms of who is supporting who in the election. we have seen the orlando sentinel in doris mitt romney. the tampa bay times has come not to endorse president obama. that could explain the polar nature of the corridor. you have one answer on one end and another on the other.

host: the tampa bay times did endorse president obama saying the road to idealism gave way to the harsh realities of the worst recession since the great depression. it goes on to point out that the recovery has proven more difficult than imagined. the orlando sentinel -- your reaction?

guest: it is interesting when you consider the tampa endorsement. he dial to back t crist, he gave the hug of death to obama that killed his own political momentum. governor scott came into office and you see him rejecting stimulus funds from the president. you have to wonder how well florida would have done if more stimulus funds had been taken. the obama administration was hoping to point to florida as an example of success with high- speed rail. that was moving forward. rick scott rejected the money after talking with other governors. that project with the way. i have spoken to obama aides who said they were planning to use high-speed rail in florida as a

shining example of success from the obama administration, but they cannot point back to that. florida went to president obama in the last election. is it going to go that way again? it is tough to say. i drive around neighborhoods in orlando. i see signs for both candidates. both have been in the area recently. you had mitt romney in daytona beach this past week with oktoberfest. this week, you had joe biden campaign. they are trying to get their message out. will it respond to voters? it is tough to tell. host: this is saying he is a nonentity on the campaign trail. guest: this is the interesting been about rick scott. he is the governor of a large

stake. florida is in government. rick scott is on the edge of the republican party. he came in with his own money in defeated the establishment candidate. he spent a lot of time in tallahassee in his first term with the legislature and not really wanting to work with the politicians in tallahassee and was not able to get much success. he has been refining the image to get in line with the gop establishment in florida. i think there is still some resentment in political circles and arcs got is the governor of the state. because of the outside influence and support of the tea party in florida, you are not seeing mitt romney getting close with rick scott. he is an unknown entity. he is not part of the inner circle yet at the rnc that was in tampa a little while ago. governor scott made a brief influence -- appearance.

he was performing his role as governor during the state of emergency. host: we have 8 tweet that parlays into ads we want to share with you. that is a key part of the electorate that both campaigns are going after, including in these ads that now on the air in florida. >> the policies have not work. 23 million americans out of work. he said he would cut in half the deficit. he has not been able to put in place reforms for medicare and social security to preserve them. that is what this election is about. it is about who can get the middle class a bright future and

insure our kids the kind of hope and optimism they deserve. i am mitt romney and i approve this message. >> i am barack obama and i approve this message. >> the victims, dependent, that is what mitt romney called 47% of americans, including people on medicare. romney would replace guaranteed benefits with a voucher system. seniors could pay $6,000 more a year. aarp says the plan would undermine medicare. you are no been compared you earn your benefits. do not let mitt romney take them away. -- you are no victim. you earn your benefits. do not let mitt romney take them away. host: how is is playing among the florida electorate? guest: spending, health care, and the issue of seniors in florida is big. we have a huge population. we have retirement centers.

traditionally, that has been a republican stronghold. you bring in the issue of health care, seniors are concerned about seeing any changes to their benefits being rolled back. in florida, this is a hot issue on the local ballot. we have an amendment up for voters that would be fiercely -- officially declare that florida will not participate in president obama's health care reforms, that the state would not have any role in expanding medicaid. we think federal law will treat any state action. the republican-dominated politicians in tallahassee are still making it the primary issue. there is a bit of fear mongering going on. both camps trying to take advantage and paid their posts theirpain -- paint their foes in a negative light?

host: who are you voting for? caller: i am voting for the winner, president barack obama. rick scott came in. his platform was let's get back to work. from the time he got into office, he started laying off people. nobody is looking at these things and seen what is going on. host: 84 the call. mark simpson? guest: governor scott did come on the platform in trying to create jobs. that is assuming he gets another term. one issue that is important locally but does not get much play on the national stage is space. we have the kennedy space center 45 minutes away from orlando. the space coast area has suffered major job losses

because of the retirement of the shuttle program. 10,000 jobs lost in that region. there is a disgruntled opinion about the direction of nasa. workers expected the shuttle to go away. but they were also hoping for more money for retreating from the obama administration. president obama did come to kennedy space center and promised $30 million in the training money. it is my recollection most of that did not come through. local lawmakers did kick in money for retraining. we have not heard a platform. neither canada. paul ryan was at the university of central florida. he said the president has not put forward a clear vision for nasa. when it comes down to voters in the space coast area, people just want to get back to work. they're hoping for more direction from nasa.

it is based on whatever those presidents decide to do when they get into office. host: mark simpson's show is called a "intersection" and he is heard on wmfe radio in florida. the next call is on the democrats' line. good morning. caller: c-span ran an ad showing mitt romney speaking about what he would like to do to return to our country back to the constitution in terms of the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. he added "as we choose." and live like everyone to understand -- i would like

everyone to understand that he did not act on where you cannot afford. if you cannot afford more happiness, there are some of those that cannot. i am living near a city, a freeport, ill., where they are shifting jobs overseas because they are making $17 an hour. host: thank you for the call. trade is one issue that will come up in the debate tomorrow. a couple pieces this morning focusing on china and trade. what is your take on it? guest: in florida, the bank angle for trade is looking to south america -- the big angle for trade is looking to south america. we have some expansion the police to infrastructure with the obama administration.

are we going to be able to take the super ships from the panama canal to places like miami? trade coming from south america, that is a crucial part of the economy. people are concerned. they want to see more, is coming to florida. it is a tough sell for the sunshine state because in many ways, it is cheaper to move freight by ship. it is an issue on people's minds. there's a lot of international business here. the brazilian aircraft made during -- manufacturing plant is in florida. it brings up issues of immigration. president obama came to walt disney world a few months back to announce changes in terms of visa policy for children of illegal immigrants who came to

the united states. host: on the republican line, elisabeth is on the line. caller: you must take my call. i tried many times. i was born in a communist country. i do not want to talk about that. i want to talk about mitt romney. i have not spoken my native language for 10 years. they bring to my husband [indiscernible] now because we have mitt romney , in the book, i do not know.

people are undecided because he is a mormon. it is nothing like the bible. joseph smith husband gene -- has a dream. host: religion, is that a factor among your viewers and listeners? guest: florida is a religiously diverse place. religion is huge in the sunshine state. you have a wide spectrum of folks. catholics are very prominent in the sunshine state. you have the evangelical vote. important thing when you talk religion in florida is not to make broad, sweeping statements. there are evangelicals that are more liberal. there are evangelicals that are more conservative. there is a strong and active muslim population in central florida.

you have a wide diversity of religious groups. this is an instance where traditional leanings will likely point them toward their canada of choice. host: a question on our twitter page. guest: hands down is the economy at this point. florida is a tourism based economy. it is a low-wage economy. that has been hit, certainly. florida was on this huge building boom before the economy went down. housing is such a big part of florida. wanted to get the retiree sector coming to the sunshine state. the question is, what can the candidates do to diversify the economy in florida?

in orlando, we have seen moving more toward medical industries and biotech, bringing in more high-wage jobs to the region. we have seen this played out in congressional races as well. what can each presidential candidate due to help diversify the economy in the sunshine state and not make it so dependent on tourism? tourism will never go away. walt disney is the biggest employer in this region. they're not going anywhere. but how can we get more diversity in terms of industry in the state? that is a question people want to hear answers on. host: let's get your opinion on this piece from the new york times. there is a photograph of mitt romney and ann romney from june at a bakery in michigan. he spent four decades inside the corridors of high finance but

has emerged as if in a rhetorical time capsule. guest: everyone wants a presidential kennett to be paid in a certain manner. what has been interesting in florida is to see the interactions with a bolt from the state. republican candidates have been going to farmers' markets in the tampa area. president obama was lifted off his feet at a local pizzaria. joe biden was that a dairy queen. the candidates want to appear attractive and normal to average

voters. one difference between obama this go round and mitt romney is in the previous election, i can recall being in tallahassee when obama was still in relatively unknown senator. i was at the capitol. a ripple went through the roof. the rumor was senator obama was coming in. out of nowhere, there were students from florida a&m. he made an informal dress standing on a park bench. you could feel this tangible enthusiasm for him. it grew into this. wave of momentum that crashed on the election night. mitt romney has been around a long time, campaigning for a long time. i do not know if he has that kind of young appeal to voters

in the sunshine state like obama did back in 2008. host: jacksonville, fla., stanley is on the line. caller: it is a great state. we still have the issue of the underlying jim-crow mentality in politics. we have a lot of good people. we want to move toward. there was pulling done about the stimulus money for the sake of the people to create jobs. we see this in the southern states. politics comes in with this racist mentality and stagnates the southern states. under governor chris, we have a state that was open to the people. we could talk about ideas. under rick scott, everything has been stagnated. we're not able to move forward.

host: thank you for the call. mark simpson, your reaction? guest: there is a big difference between charlie crist and rick stock. charlie crist turned independent trying to get the nomination for the senate seat that he lost to marco rubio. this points out and interesting contrast. if you look at the republican machine from the state of florida, they have two powerful circuits that can speak to voters. those being now u.s. senator marco rubio appeals to the latino community and republicans in general. he is a rising gop star. also, the battleship of republican politics in the state of florida, former governor jeb bush. when he comes out, people on both sides and listen to what he has to say. he is someone who is respected. the democrats do not really have someone with the same level of clout in florida from florida.

the closest they have is charlie crist. he appeared at the democratic national convention and did make an address. charlie crist the spring of issues for voters because of his party change. he went from being a republican to being an independent. there is a lot of speculation about him running for something else, maybe governor again against. scott -- against recall scott or running for congress. it is not clear what he will do. because of that baggage, people look at what he is saying and wonder if he is maneuvering for political advantage. host: if mitt romney is not elected, is jim bush and early candidate for 2014? guest: governor bush has played it cautiously, not giving an indication as to what he will do. his indications when i have spoken to him is that he wants

to stay in the private sector. do not forget he is still actively involved in politics. he is not there campaigning. he is well respected in the field of education reform. -- he is out there campaigning. arnie duncan has had him to the administration to bounce ideas around. jeb bush is campaigning around the nation for various candidates talking about education reform. his shadow looms large. if he were to run, there could be support. you have to wonder if there is name fatigue from the previous presidencies of his brother. host: it has been said that the more number two are in florida, the more so than it is. in southern florida, it tends to be more number one oriented because of the snowbirds in miami and the southern part of

the state. is that a fair analogy? guest: to a certain degree. a lot of people say northern florida is really southern georgia. there are pockets of conservatism in northern florida. the center of the state, you do get more conservative. you have a huge amounts of democrats in the miami area. debby wasserman schultz is from the area. you have these different sections of the state that have different feelings and cultural backgrounds. for the most part, it does run true you are more conservative in that area with a lot of democratic power in the southern part of the state. it is evenly matched. the democrats do have an advantage in terms of registered

voters. you can break that down by county and get some variation. overall, the democrats do have an edge. host: the next call is from texas. good morning, al. caller: i saw on the talk-show six weeks ago a video of romney at a fund-raiser discussing the hypothetical of an iran hostage part scenario. he said he could capitalize on something like that. that was without regards to human life. benghazi happened. there was romney on the stump. what do you think about that? host: thank you. we will give a response. guest: foreign-policy and what happened in libya, everyone is concerned. they want the state department to be safe. it is a tragic loss of the ambassador stevens.

in florida, people are watching what is happening in the middle east. they want to see a positive direction in terms of foreign policy. the muslim community in central florida is paying a lot of attention. many of them have family members over there. they want to know the presidency will have a positive impact of the world wide and not negatively impact the american image abroad, whoever it is up being. host: what is the trigger point for a recount in florida? how likely is that? guest: florida has been through its fair share of election boondoggles over the years. there has been a strong push to improve the electoral process. we went through the issue of getting the digital voting machines on hand. nobody wants to hear anything

about a hanging chad this election. some rain in the background of this election has been -- simmering in the back from this election has been the effort of governors got to purge voters not properly registered -- governor scott to purge voters not properly registered. tallahassee said they will move forward taking improper voters of the rules. we're getting near to the election to be under the 30-day mark limiting whether they can take action. individual counties are in good shape. what will be the trigger point, we will have to wait and see as the votes will in. how close will it be? will we be up all night or will florida rule roll -- roll early 21 candidate or another? nobody wants to see another

2010. host: what is the latest on the senate race in florida? guest: it is looking like incumbent bill nelson could have an edge on democrat connie mack. they just have their first and only debate this week. who came out winning? it devolves into a name-calling contest. nelson did have joe biden campaigning for him. he has to walk a fine line on how close he gets to the administration to still appeal to conservative voters. he has done a good job of it. he has stayed in office a number of years. can connie mack out him? it is tough to say. it depends on the mood of the electorate of election day. host: mark simpson joins us from orlando. did you for being with us. -- thank you for being with us. we want to turn our attention to

battleground state ohio. people say this election will come down to ohio. in 2008, the president won the state by four percentage point. unemployment is at 7%. 18 electoral votes. michael alwood joins us from the capital city of columbus. thank you for being with us. guest: it is my pleasure. you mentioned ohio is the key battleground state. both campaigns are looking at ohio as been the battleground state. to be the battleground state. i came down with a cold on friday so my voice is wonky this morning. the time both campaigns are spending in ohio is indicative both mitt romney and barack obama continue ohio to be a key state.

host: thank you for joining us to a sheriff in sight. why is ohio such a battleground state? you look at the neighboring states that seem to be going one way or the other. what seems to make ohio different? guest: a think the diversity of the population and also the way the districts are don -- are drawn. there is an issue on the ballot but changing the way they draw the boundaries for the districts. that is always a matter of contention. you have a wide range of incomes. you have a wide range of religious affiliations. people in cleveland are different from people in columbus. people in columbus are far different from the people in cincinnati, which is traditionally a very republican area. hamilton county is very conservative.

people in cleveland are very liberal. columbus is kind of halfway between those two. you see a big split. we have a lot of democrats in central ohio. the three congressional districts in the central ohio area have been dominated by republicans in recent memory. host: we have a line for those of you who live in ohio. i want to share, mitt romney made a couple of days ago in virginia, but the issue resonated across the country. [video clip] >> the president has failed women. they have suffered in terms of getting jobs and falling into poverty. this is a presidency that has not help women. as i ask women what i can do to help, but they speak about this

region what they speak about is to help them find a good job, help my kids. host: both sides catering to the keep women vote in this election. your reaction? guest: we are a progressive talk station. our listeners are well-informed. almost as a whole, the female audience listen to, this for mitt romney and consider if a load of malarkey, to coin a phrase from joe biden. mitt romney has gone on record to say he would get rid of planned parenthood. he has made comments regarding the abortion issue that clearly shows he is wanting to challenge roe v. wade. he wants to eliminate planned parenthood. the women in our audience would

take issue with mitt romney on the fact he is the one that would better suit the needs of women voters in ohio and indiana state's. they would certainly take issue with that. i think he is going on when challenging the president's record on women's issues. the president has been strong in his upholding the rights of women. he signed the lilly ledbetter act. governor romney did not even know what that was early in the campaign. he has yet to say he supports that fact, the first law the president signed into effect. -- act, the first of the president signed into effect. host: go ahead, steve.

caller: i live in columbus and drive back and forth on a daily basis. i do not think the republicans will win ohio. i am an independent. john kasick set the groundwork. he did not run as a far right leaning republican. when he got in, he was the opposite of what he portrayed to the people. i think all highlands -- ohioans to know that. they were taken aback. time when they saw what -- big time when they saw what kasich tried to pull off. they see mitt romney as out of touch. he is a creepy individual. i hate to say that.

he is not a true person. host: we will get a response. appreciate the call. guest: i did not catch the caller's name, but i think he made a good point. ohio has seen a different john basic -- kasich since he took office. for lack of a better term, he was trying to dodge public unions in the state. the blow but from his efforts have been. . . -- the blow back from his efforts have been very apparent. the caller also made a good point that many ohioans see the same attitude in mitt romney that they see in john kasich. host: this statement was issued from the family of george mcgovern who passed away this morning. he turned 90 this summer.

we're blessed to nil our father lived a long productive life advocating for the hungry, been a progressive voice for millions and fighting for peace. he continued giving speeches and advising past his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this summer. george mcgovern passed away at the age of 90. he was the 1972 democratic presidential nominee. his legacy in democratic party politics? guest: i can remember those times my wife called me as i was on the way to the studio to give me the news about george mcgovern. he was openly anti-war during his campaign. a lot of people think perhaps his stance on the war in vietnam at that time may have

lost him the election for to richard nixon. host: we will go next to scott joining us from st. augustine, fla. caller: good morning. how are you doing? in ohio, understand early voting has started. how is that going? guest: it started on october 10. it is going well from what i understand. i have not been to the actual polling places. i have friends who have been. there was a woman on my program yesterday. she is backing issue 56 in ohio , which is for a fund to help the aging. they are concerned about that. the last item on everyone's

ballot in ohio this year. i will take this opportunity to ask voters in ohio to please go all the way through your ballot. that is at the very bottom. please make sure you mark one of the other for it. i would like to vote for the issue, but i am not one to tell you to do that. early voting has been very popular in ohio. there was a u.s. supreme court ruling this past week. our secretary of state tried to eliminate the early voting the three days prior to november 6. that was party, saturday, and sunday. he tried to remove it from all 88 counties in ohio. there was an appellate court decision that struck it down and reinstated the early voting on that friday, saturday, and

sunday before november 6. husted suit and took it to the supreme court. the supreme court said the ruling of the lower-court will stand. we have reinstated that voting for the three days prior to the tuesday election. in reinstating it, our secretary of state made reduced hours on all three of those days. even though we have voting on those days -- in 2008, a lot of people in ohio to the advantage of the early voting. it has been very popular in our state. host: michael alwood is with wvko radio in ohio. your twitter how is -- handle is "frumpy carter."

why? guest: i have written a series of fictional articles in a pseudonym. that is kind of a legacy handle. it is a pen name. host: and want to ask you what may happen if there is a recount. this is from a google hangout a few days ago. the next caller is from ohio, the independent line. could hav -- good morning. caller: i am an independent. i have lived in ohio for 10 years. i think the election will come down to five days in ohio. i do not think the republicans -- the voters have forgiven the republicans.

guest: i think you are spot on. i think is a lot of of lingering displeasure, especially with john kasich. i think a lot of people to link him to the party and as an extension to mitt romney. i fear for a recount in ohio. there are a number of reasons for that. the main thing people are talking about on wvko right now, they are talking about voter suppression. they are talking about tabulation manipulation, which ohio has a history of. they are also talking about voter intimidation. there have been billboard's going up an african american communities that such a voter

fraud is a felony and you can go to prison. it is the scare tactics trying to keep people away from the polls. i could show you where they are. they are in columbus and cleveland. i do not know if they are in cincinnati, but one presumes they are. several news organizations tried to go to clear channels advertising firm that owns the billboards, when they asked who purchased the billboards, it turns out they signed a contract with the confidentiality clause. clear channel has said that is not the usual policy. they say someone made a mistake and allowed declined to remain anonymous, and they are sticking to that story. there is no way of knowing who is paying for these intimating

billboards. that is a big area of discussion in columbus. that is the voter suppression, the tabulation manipulation, and voter intimidation. host: i want to talk about one of the number of scenarios. the latest gallup tracking poll has governor romney ahead by six percentage points. this is a national study done by the gallup organization. there is the possibility of the president could win the electoral college vote in mitt romney could win the popular vote. if that were to happen, what would it mean to the presidency and the debate over the electoral college? guest: i am not sure it would mean much. people have been arguing the viability of the electoral system as long as i can remember. still, nobody does anything

about it. it would not be the first time someone has won the popular vote and lost the electoral college vote. i cannot give examples of the top of my head, but i know that has been the case. i am not sure you would see a great diskless following that -- discourse following that scenario any more than it has happened in the past. people seem not willing to take the steps to dismantle the system we have. i think people are reluctant to dismantle our system. host: speaking of the system, jim heath talked to us on friday about the trigger point if there

is a recap in ohio. here is part of that conversation. [video clip] >> the secretary of state is a republican. he will have a recount automatically if it is 0.5%. both campaigns have legal teams on the ground. both have confirmed to me that there are legal teams representing both campaigns in ohio. if either campaign says it is too close and will not concede, a find it difficult to believe any network will call the race. john kerry thought he was close enough in ohio. he held everything up until the following morning. he ended up losing the state by 100,000 votes. ohio held things up with a $100,000 vote margin. it could be even closer than that. there are things in place for automatic recount.

they could hold things up if they believe there are discrepancies or legal reasons. host: could we see a real count in ohio? guest: it is possible. this is a good time to bring up something about 2004 and ohio. one of our hosts is a good friend and lawyer. one of his colleagues wrote a book about what happened in ohio in 2004. i urge your viewers to go to freepress.org. bob is also the publisher of that. the road in the entire book about what happened. -- they wrote an entire book about what happened. the tabulation manipulation is what their book is about.

what happened in ohio with the vote counting mechanism was a tragedy. it was shrouded in mystery. the tabulation was outsourced to a data mining company in tennessee. there were so many anomalies. too many to be mentioned here. many people think the vote count in ohio in 2004 was fudged by republican operatives. our listeners are very informed. they know about what happened in 2004. they are concerned it may happen again. i am not a tinfoil had kind of person. the facts are there. they spent a long climb studying every step and have it in their book. you can see that information at

freepress.org. host: a new poll just came out in the last hour. we will share the results. first, howard from ohio on the line for democrats. caller: thank you for taking my call. allow me to be concise. i recall under governor strickland how the republicans fought to keep the casinos out. now they want to take credit for it. with all of the construction and hiring, that is a big thing for the state of ohio that rarely gets mentioned. i remember standing in long lines voted for john. kerry on a bad day of weather. it seems the republicans will try to win which underhanded tactics. i do not understand why

nationally that appears to be the case. host: thank you for the call. we were in columbus about a week ago. michael alwood, the casinos in your city? guest: the hollywood casino opened recently. i have not been there, but i hear in this nice. host: does it make a difference in terms of how people are seen the state and in come the state is getting from the casinos? there is a proposition to build a casino not far from washington, d.c. guest: i have not heard many talk about it. i think most people are involved look about it. -- ambivalent about it. they would go to atlantic's city or las vegas. people who want to gamble will seek out a place.

for a lot of people in ohio, is simply a matter of convenience. i doubt if increases the number of -- gambling. they have done an outreach trade to help problem gamblers. i do not see a huge impact on the city. i think it helps the area. it is on the west side of columbus, kind of the depressed area. the facility where is, i think it will help economically. -- the vicinity where it is, i think it will help economically. host: consistently, the president has been ahead with a slight lead. the latest is that the contest is essentially tied. the final debate is two weeks

before election day. both tied aty're 47%. your reaction? guest: i am a bit surprised. one of the first things we discussed was the female vote if in this country. and would have fallen more women would be favoring barack obama -- i would have thought more women would be favoring barack obama simply on the issues of abortion and planned parenthood. i think women are more likely to vote than men as a general thing. i am a bit surprised by that. there's a long way to go. these things can change fast. after monday, anything could happen. we have no idea what could

happen in the debate on monday which will be about foreign- policy. i think the president is in a far better position to have a good showing on the supply of farm policy than -- foreign policy than mitt romney. host: in october, there are more than 50 of advertisements about abortion, most being put out by the democratic party. tom, good morning. caller: you do a great job. thank you for c-span. my perception of the 2010 election is the republicans campaigned on jobs. my perception is as soon as they got in, they pivoted to the deficit. that became the huge problem. now we see romney campaigning

on jobs. in freeport, ill., bain capital is seeking to move jobs to china. host: we will give a response. guest: he is not seeking to move jobs to china. that is the plant that employs 170 local people in freeport, ill., which was the site of the lincoln-douglas debates. they not only have those in police training chinese replacements on site, they shipped -- they not only had those employees training their chinese replacements on site, they shipped the equipment overseas. mitt romney was pointing his finger of the president for his record on unemployment when mitt romney is contributing to unemployment by firing american

workers and should in the jobs china. there was a whole program on in this nbc on friday -- on msnbc on friday with all of those workers. he had a gentleman on from the united steelworkers who said nationwide, bain capital and mitt romney have put 15,000 american workers out of work for shipping their jobs to china. i thought it was ironic in the most recent debate that mitt romney was pointing a finger at the present for unemployment lows -- woes when he himself is contributing to the unemployment. host: michael always, thank you for being with us. -- michael alwood, thank you for being with us. in case you missed it last

night, a spoof on the latest debate. [video clip] >> i am glad you brought up libya. mitt romney wants to politicize libya at the same way he wants to politicize the handling of the economy. governor romney want to politicize thinks so much that it makes me feel like we're both politicians. you got a problem? >> i want to know why it took you so long to call the benghazi attack a terrorist attack. are willing to bet here and now that you have never in your life even once used the phrase "terrorist attack." >> he has in fact use the phrase of the " terrorist act." [laughter] >> candy. [laughter] >> i am afraid he did. [laughter]

>> oh, candy. come one. [laughter] >> and that concludes tonight's debate. host: we will continue the conversation tomorrow morning. a closer look at the senate and house races around the country. that is all tomorrow morning on the "washington journal." thank you for joining us on this sunday. live coverage of the debate tomorrow night on the c-span network. enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]