i used to have to do this for eleanor. and susan. thank you for the honor of being part of this evening. as we remember your father, george mcgovern. there were times when we took your father way from new. sometimes we took her father and her mother. sometimes we needed to meld ourselves as unobtrusively as possible with your family. to you, he was your father, your grandfather, and great- grandfather, and a sister-in- law. to the rest of the world, he was an inspirational, dedicated, and honest public official. there are more than 24 senate

staff members and callous campaign staff gathered here tonight. most of us have worked as volunteers for the democrats before we became staff members. we did this because we believed in the senator's vision. we admired his courage, and most will, we cared about the same kind of people he did. we shared a common interest in public issues in expressing them to the public and in helping promote the candidacy of the person we respected and loved. in november of 1963, i attended the convention of the national association of mental health in washington, d.c. our group met with the junior senator for south dakota, george mcgovern. he hosted us for lunch in the senate dining room. halfway through the mail, a

signal was sent for all the senators to report to the floor. that date was november 22, 1963. the day that john kennedy was shot. shortly thereafter, i received a letter from local democrats inviting me to talk about issues and how to address them. i remember bill tell me about my to promote my issues i need to find a candidate to promote them. and then get the votes to elect them. of course, bill was right. political activity began in 1964 with the secretary of the local county democratic party. in 1965, a gathering of local democrats were at the door. federal office holders were allowed to participate in

partisan politics. the group included judge francis done, judge fred, both of whom had been appointed by president kennedy. none of another member was mike sherman who served as the first campaign chairman in 1956. he was later elected the mayor of ssu fallsioux falls. much of the heavy lifting was done by his chief of staff. his son christopher is here with us tonight. judy harrington arrived in 1973. she said of constituent field offices in six cities. one person per office. in those days, we shared an office with the staff. i went to work and the senate

staff in 1975. i was privileged to be a member of the state staff and it was special and the senator was back in state. he enjoyed driving my buick regal, speeding down the road, smoking a cigar with the window down. a typical day was spent going to scotland to visit the consol plant. we then drove north on highway 37 10 miles south. he said he was short of cash. this was before picard's an atm 's. -- credit cards and atm's. he filled out a counter check and the banker gave him the money. we motored on to mitchell where his family was waiting at their lake home. at another time, ralph morse, the president of the local trade and labor assembly stopped at

the office to arrange. ralph stop by often to drink coffee and chat. he looked out the window and he saw my car, a red honda. it was parked in the parking lot. he told me i could not bring the senator to the label -- the labor temple in a foreign car. i could not part in their parking lot. i assured him would not. we would park on fairfax avenue out on the street which we did. this year in august we had a gathering to celebrate the senator's 90th birthday. i told the center, i came to his 90th party because he had come to my 80th party last year. his quick response was he would come to my 90th and he invited me to come to his 100th birthday. i was privileged to spend time

with him and his family, the last five days of his life. the first morning, a man i am working close entered the visitor area. he introduced himself told us he was the man who handled his luggage at the airport. he came to pay his respects. i saw the flowers and letters that came. envelopes addressed to the hon. senator. and others just plain to george. the postmarks were from vermilion, washington, d.c., ariz., colorado, iowa. some cards but mostly were handwritten letters. a special interest to me was the back of an envelope. someone drew a big red heart

with the message, from your waitress. this was the face of those who call him their senator. these were his people, may he rest in peace. [applause] >> we're going to sing together the song that ann said george thought should be the national anthem. please turn to page 696 and we will sing, "america the beautiful."

♪ o beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain america, america god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brother hood from sea to shining sea

♪

♪ o beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life america, america may god thy gold refine till all success be nobleness and every gain divine for patriot dream that sees beyond the years

mhine alabaster cities glea undimmed by human tears america, america god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea ♪

>> the senator held the office in south dakota for 22 years against strong odds in the early races, and then gating the trust of his constituents to win by larger margins. we know in the middle of that career and elected office, one of the most tumultuous times of our country's history in the 70's.1960's and early 7 1970 the college campuses, the jungle of vietnam. they say -- they share stories to us about that time. the uncertainties they were

experiencing as 18-year-olds. my father and stepfather came of age during that time. my husband came of age during that time. two other great public servants in the great state of south dakota came to age at that time. both of them follow senator mcgovern's footsteps it to serve in elective office. senator johnson. both of them during their years of public life have made some of the same commitments to

agriculture, to working families, to veterans. and we learned a lot from both of them. we benefited from their service. someone who came of age during that time and his own son served in our more modern wars, who i had the honor of learning from as an intern at his office. a hero of mine, someone who has the same states men-like qualities as senator mcgovern, the key middle -- the humility that marks the type of leadership great people take.

i would like to welcome senator johnston to share in remembrance. -- senator johnson to share in remembrance. [applause] >> thank you, stephanie. tonight, we are here to celebrate the life of george mcgovern, a man many of us called friend, in a small -- and a small group calls grant but, dad, uncle, brother, or cousin. to all of the family members who

loved him so deeply, thank you. no that you are all in the hearts and prayers -- in our hearts and prayers. when i think of george, i think of a man of uncompromising integrity who dedicated his life to serving our state and our country. as you read numerous prints this is --ek, this since -- the south dakota symphony a few weeks ago. he was one of the last people to leave the auditorium at night as

he took time to shake hands and talk with his many friends and supporters. physically frail, his love for people was as great as ever. like my brother, my mother, .eorge was a preacher's kid i recall from my mother's memory is that it was not always easy. george often talked about growing up not only as a methodist pk who could not attend movies, but also a child of the depression, living in a small parsonage that shared all they had with those in the congregation who had even less. this background provided the foundation for his deep sense of

morality and social justice. it was a force that led him to be an advocate for feeding the hungry. pursuing the cause of freedom as a world war ii fighter pilot, and after seeing the devastation of war, he returned rest of hisnd the wes life working for internet -- on international conflicts. you need faith. people can make a region in order to make a good and moral decision. george had that faith. is life of moral and intellectual literature has made it easier. although he was one of the most prominent leaders of the

democratic party, one of the features i most admired in george was his belief that good and moral decisions extended in both parties. it led to his lifelong friendships with statesman bob dole, with whom he formed a deep friendship, and with a conservative commentator, with whom he delighted in debating the issues of the 90's -- the 1990's, whether they were in public, nationally televised, or over a drink. one of our -- in one of our last conversations, we talked about

today's leaders who forgot to often the importance of respect, corporation, and compromise for the survival of democracy. with all of these accomplishments, perhaps is a racist -- his greatest is his marriage. i will never forget the opening of the library, which eleanor was too sick to attend. he touched a statue of her with him as they sit together throughout their lives. they are now reunited and with two other children, they lived a life that a great methodist

leader admonish temple when he said, -- admonish him, when he said, do all the good you can. by all means you can. and all the way you can. in all the places you can. at all the times you can. to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. i now have the honor to introduce a leader i deeply respect. a man who also with drew inspiration from the life of his close friend, george mcgovern. our vice president, joe biden. [applause]

>> thank you very much. thank you. thank you. dan and susie, and all the great grandchildren and grandchildren. you all had such an intimate relationship with george for so many years. i have to tell you that my son and i are genuinely honored to be here. somebody said to me in the middle of a campaign, how can

you be here? where i come from, the question is how can you not be here? how can you not be here for a man who did so much for some many people -- so many people? i am here with my colleagues, jim, you crazy son of a gun. [laughter] [applause] i love you. jim and i served together. we became friends right away. we are both nouts. we say what is on our minds. all the years i worked in the united states senate, and tim, your courage, you have such incredible courage and character. [applause]

stephanie, thank you for helping hunter get through georgetown. [laughter] you really screwed him up. he went to yale. it bothered me a lot. it is good to see you, old buddy. you are still punching. thank you for the help. 1980 was a tough year. a real tough year. in 1980, we lost gaylord nelson, we lost george mcgovern, we lost the heart, soul, and spine of the united states senate i have joined. the speech you heard george giving, i remember like you do,

but maybe from a different perspective. i was a 29-year-old kid. i was a senate nominee from the state of delaware. at my first convention. sitting there, men summarized -- mesmerized by the man who was speaking. much too late in the night, but speaking. i ran with your father in 1972. i was not old enough to serve. i got elected when i was 29. i had to wait to be eligible to be sworn in. i not only served with your father in the senate from 1972 to 1980. i kept contact with your father and, to my great good fortune, he kept contact with me. i admired him from the day i

became aware of him to the day he died. his face in his speech, we do love this country, i do not know anybody who love this country -- loved this country more than george mcgovern. i tried to get a nomination and i was not successful as he was in 1988. i used to end my speeches in the same style from the george mcgovern speech in 1972 but with a different phrase. it is a him in the roman catholic church. he will raise you up on eagle's wings and make the sun to shine upon you. that was my notion of the

country and the obligation we had that i had learned from george mcgovern. our function in public life was to raise people up on eagles' wings. and let the sun shine upon them. if we did, the one thing i shared from my family upbringing with george mcgovern was i had never had a doubt i am more optimistic today than when we were elected, i am never optimistic than i was now to shed a little light in the dark corners of this country. the american people respond. they are capable of anything given half a chance. that is maybe what jeff and i

-- i have not seen you in a while -- but we were attracted to george mcgovern for the same reason i got involved in public life in my state as a kid. my state was segregated by law in the state of delaware. i got involved in a civil rights movement. i was no congressman louis. i was picketing and marching to desegregate our movie theaters and working on the east side of my city. .t was the dog's call toorge mcgovern justice to end the war in vietnam to help to shape my political sensibilities -- helped shape my political

sensibilities. i will leave you with that and line. he said, i am fed up with my years -- to my ears with old man dreaming up wars for young men to die in. -- old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. [applause] he not only spoke for our generation, he spoke for our souls. i still feel the same way. i marvel at the courage. every time any event or historical footnote reminds you of that moment, that speech, i think, as tom and jim and anyone

who served in the house of senate can tell you, particularly in the senate, what incredible political courage and gumption and it took to make that speech before the senate. the only thing i shared different with my friend who served is i suffered from having served their longer than all the 13 people in american history. [laughter] an't that a hell of indictment? [laughter] excuse me. [laughter] [applause] the reason i mention it if i had been there for 36 years. you have no idea the institutional unintended but intended pressure that

everything from the walls to the marble, this feeling preying upon those of us who served to -- the hardest thing to do is to actually confront the body of women and out of line. ouare it takes remarkable political courage. can you imagine anyone doing that? i think to myself, and i remember as a kid, a young man, the phrase, this chamber reacts with blood -- reeks with blood. the only speech i ever heard

that came close to that was a iowan, a speech onenan capital punishment which was similarly profound. i always thought to myself, if i ever got there, and i was not thinking at the time, but as i ran, i hope and pray i have that kind of courage. i tell you what courage i did draw from george mcgovern. i come from a family not like most of you, i suspect. a typical middle-class family, three bedrooms, four kids. gramm redeyes, grandpa moves in, and it's and uncles -- aunts and uncles. it was great for the kids.

probably hard for mom and dad. [laughter] i am the first united states senator i ever knew. [laughter] it was literally true until i ran. other than my opponent, i am the first united states senator i knew in my family. it is a typical american story. people say to me now and i wonder now, what ever gave you the courage as a 29-year-old kid to announce to the united states senate against a man who had an 82% favorable rating, in the year where we knew it would be tough, senator mcgovern knew it would be tough, it was solidly red, overwhelmingly

republican, but gave you the courage to run? some thought that made you so foolhardy. the answer is your father. i did not know him but i believed i could maybe go help him and the war. i honestly believed it. what an incredible privilege it was to serve withi him. i remember what frank church, i was on the foreign relations committee, the young kid on it. serving with your dad.

we got a notice that dr. kissinger was coming to an executive section, that meant the private section, before we have for 07 in the senate foreign relations with a big conference table. it looks like a table in the over all this, it to old office, excuse me, cabinet room. looked like a table in the oval office, excuse me, cabinet room. he did not say anything and everybody thank them. -- thanked him. i said, he did not say anything.

i said, we should have the president come up and tell us. [laughter] jack saicalledorget sai down and arranged that afternoon for us to go down in the president, gerald forward, kissinger, and the whole team. as we were walking in, your father turned to me and said, i like you. [laughter] [applause] the irony is i am taking too much of your time. i apologize. the irony is the chair i sit in now as vice president is the

chair directly across from the president. in the middle of the conference table, facing inward, and i face in the middle. based on seniority, you can see when you attend a cabinet meeting, it is not the cabinet itself. the most junior members sit with the price president sets. i was sitting there -- sits where the vice president sits. i was sitting there. it got to me and i will never forget how nervous i was. i look at president ford and said, i beg the president's pardon, but i am sure if the president were in my position, the president would ask the president migh questiony. -- my question.

[laughter] i said, with all due respect, you have not told us anything. with that, the president turned and said, henry, tell him. that was the first time it was decided we were not going to try to sustain our presence. it was five weeks later helicopters were taking off the roof. not because of me. that was the plan. the point was, i remember walking out of their thinking, i was right -- there thinking, i was right. i got to go to washington and the with george mcgovern and play a little tiny part. people do not realize had your father not been there, had your father never been in the senate,

so much more blood and some much more treasure would have been wasted. the war would have never ended when it did. it would never have ended how it did. your father gave courage to people who did not have the courage to speak up to finally stand up. your father stood there and took all of that beating. your father who was characterized by these right wing guys as a coward and unwilling to fight. your father was a genuine hero. the irony is to make the so angry -- used to make me so angry at your father would never speak up and talk about his heroism. your father had more courage, physical courage, in his little finger, than 95% of those guys.

they continue to fight a war we should not have fought in the first place. because he took such a miserable beating, even though he did not win that election, he won the end of the war. it would never have happened. the other thing your father did, which will not go on spoken -- unspoken. his instinct for decency transformed my party. unrelated for the war. opened it to women, young people, minorities. he is the father of the modern democratic party. your father is the father of the

modern democratic party. [applause] that is a fact. that is a fact. i am proud to be a member of it. [applause] i was determined not to become emotional about this. [laughter] i had more to say here but i will skip it. let me just end by saying this. my dad had a great expression. he would say, you have got good blood, kid. just remember whenever you are down, think of literally

hundreds of thousands of people who are alive today because of your father and the lesson he brought back. everybody brought back different lessons. but your father brought back the lesson of seeing the italian women and children searching through garbage pails and decided he was going to make part of his life to end hunger in the world. you said you hope that there is a threat of connection that continues to tie us half -- thread of connection that continues to tie us. my son, hunter. kid,your dad when he was a a little boy when i got elected.

he had the good fortune of knowing your dad and being able to work with your dad. today, hunter is the chairman of reorganization that exists only because of your father. to fight hunger, feeding hundreds of thousands of millions of people around the world and teaching them to feed themselves. the world food program usa is your dad's. i cannot tell you how proud i am of my son. proud because that thread, the same thing that brought me into politics, and that's my son to

your dad, and, in turn, my son to you. the idea your grandfather must have smiled knowing my son is holding a fund-raiser for you. [laughter] i know this sounds corny but i cannot tell you how much joy that gives me. it makes me believe -- we irish catholics believe there is that thread. it does run. so, folks, george mcgovern did what probably no more than two hands full of men and women have ever done in the history of this country. he summoned the public life. he's inspired a whole

generation, literally, of leaders to get engaged in the '60s -- in the 1960's. many people in the room tonight and so many in washington and capitals all over the country, people who served with passion, conscience, conviction, and they literally, not figuratively, got started because of george mcgovern and the courage to stand up and holler for jusitce. -- justice. he summoned thousands of people who now summon new people. think about it. all kidding aside. think about it. maybe more than a handful of

other women and men in american public life who had such a general right -- a generational impact. it was a great honor to serve with your dad. it was a great honor to know your dad. it was a great complement one that told me his grand pop watched my debate with paul ryan and said, i want to call joe. [laughter] [applause] i appreciate it. it means a lot. maybe one of only two irish catholics in this church. i will have to rely on you to testify what i am about to say is true. the highest compliment irish catholics can give to another man or woman, literally, my grandpa used to say, a

complement i paid to your dad, george mcgovern was a good and decent man. [applause] >> thank you so much for honoring us with your presence. it is a privilege to introduce some of that good blood, my friend, matt mcgovern. [applause]

>> i want to thank everyone for coming tonight. i will tell a couple stories. we all heard the great job titles we all -- he always had from the other speakers. we always called him grandpa george. i was out there earlier this week. someone asked me, what are your earliest memories of your grandfather? to me, when i was thinking back to being a tiny little kid, i think about that big smile on his face when we would come to the door to visit him at his house and he would greet us with a big hug and a big smile and he would say, look who is here. he would make us feel great. i see everyone else laughing along in the front row because they know what i am talking about. this picture is one of my favorite pictures of my grandma and grandpa. they are looking down at my cousin, tim, when he was a

little kid back in 1972. you could see the smile and warmth that came from the both of them. i would say i feel likely to be part of this family -- lucky to be part of this family. i feel very fortunate i was able to have him here for 90 years. i have friends in elementary school who did not have their grandparents at all. i was lucky to have grandparents 40. into my 20's, 30's, now we miss him but i feel lucky to have happened -- had him around. we would go on christmas and he would visit us. a couple times during the years. there was a lot of fun. i remember a lot from the

1980-senate race. going to every campaign rally, fares, rodeos, -- fairs, rodeos, . it was a great year. a graded venture to be with my grandpa. a lot of times, it was just my grandpa and me. it seems now that i am older and ave worked on other s' campaigns, a lot of times, it would just be he would be driving me somewhere off to a rally and he would point to something, and would say, do you see those trees? back in the dust bowl, farmers were going broke and franklin

roosevelt came in and changed all that. that is the way he would talk to us about public policy. he would always have a story behind it and how it would help people. he once said, being in politics is the best profession because you can either do the most good or the most harm for people. it is obvious which one he chose to go to. for him, it was always about helping people and there was always a story behind it. in 1980, i was 8 years old, and we would go to help stuff envelopes and help in any way we could. one day, he came to the office and he had a smile on his face like he was about to get away with something. he said, do you want to go on the airplane? i said, yes. of course. we drove down to the airport. we got a plane and flew off to somewhere in west river. i do not know where we were. it was me and him. a big adventure.

he made it a lot of fun for us to see the look of horror on my mom's basface. [laughter] i remember another night, we would go to a dinner, made out of white fish. to kids, especially, i do not think it takes that great. [laughter] -- tastes that great. [laughter] he dropped us off at a amw with a $20 bill. we loaded up on chili dogs, onion rings, and root beer floats. we spend every last penny we could at the vending machines for candy and toys. that was a lot of fun for us. probably not so much for everyone else on the campaign that night. but a lot for us. he tried to make things fun for us.

as i got older, he took us to disney world a couple of times. i made an offhand remark about the space shuttle launching soon. he made it happen for us. he had a little bit of pole. he would use it to spoil his -- pull. he would use it to spoil his grandkids. he would continue to do that throughout our lives. he had the common sense that is hard to argue with and that great sense of humor he always had. one time, i guess i was about 28, and i was deciding whether or not to go to law school. he said i should go. and the grand warrant -- grandparent would tell their grandchild. i said, we are not done. i will be -- when i am done, i will be 32 years old. he said, you will turn 32 in a matter what. do you want to be 32 with a law

degree or not? [laughter] he had the common sense it is hard to argue with. i went to law school. i was fortunate enough, when i finished law school, i came here to south dakota and it was great to spend more time with rapid george, both as an adult's -- grandpa george and, as an adult, you realize no one lives forever. some of my favorite things would be driving him places because he needed rides and i was always happy to oblige, except some of those 5:00 and trips to the airport were not a lot of fun. i do not complain now. i remember one time, this is just maybe this summer, we were driving from mitscher to sioux falls, and it was late at night and dark out. he looked out the window and said, look out there.

look at all the lights out .here whe when i was a kid, there weren't that many lights. " franklin roosevelt changed that. [laughter] again, he was talking about politics and bringing life to places where there were not any. it is hard to imagine today, but he remembered the day where there was not any electricity and he was not shy about having public policy come in and fix that. one last story about driving, this is maybe two winters ago. a bitterly cold winter. he decided he wanted to go back. it was sometime in january. you know when you get out to the interstate in the winter, the

wind blows your car to the side. my little car feels like it can blow into the ditch. the interstate was not close, but there was a travel advisory. do not to any non-essential travel. mike gravel of wanted to go -- my grandpa wanted to go. the car was blowing to the side. i said, this weather is terrible today. he was never one to brag about his service in world war ii. ever. except this one time. [laughter] he was a great storyteller. it was one reason he was so successful in politics. sometimes he would slow it down a little bit to make a point. you had to listen. he started to talking really slowly. he said, matthew, when i was in the war, a lot of times, we had to fly in bad weather. you would get out there behind

the cockpit and you would have 20,000 pounds of bombs in the plan and another -- plane and fuel. the weather was so bad, you could not see the end of the runway. you just had to go. that was the end of his story. [laughter] i thought, i guess i will not complain about the weather any more. he had been through much worse. i will wrap it up there. if anyone else from the family wants to tell more stories? anyone else who is next? [applause] [laughter] >> thank you very much.

before we have another song and a benediction, i want to announce the doors will open at the pavilion at 11:00 tomorrow morning. the service will be at 1:00 p.m. and then there will be refreshments on the second floor at 2:00 p.m. and you are all invited. we look forward to seeing you all there. one more song. ♪ your landland is this land is my land from california to the new york

island from the west -- from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me the ie shadow of steeple by the relief office i saw my people as they stood hungry, i stood there wondering if this land was made for you and me

as i went walking that ribbon of highway and saw above me that endless sky way and saw below me the holdrgolden valley this land was made for you and me ♪ please join us. ♪ this land is your land this land is my land. from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me

when the sun came shining, then i was strolling in wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling the voice was chanting as the fog was lifting this land was made for you and me this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me

god bless america for me this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you eneand me

this land was made for you any this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from california to the redwood redwood foresthe to the gulf stream waters as land was made for you and me on that sign, no trespassing on the other side, it did not say nothing that sign was made for you and me. this land is your land

this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me ♪ one more time. ♪ this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me this land was made for you and me this land was made for you and ♪ ♪ [applause] >> funeral services for 1972 democratic presidential nominee george mcgovern will be held

tomorrow in sioux falls, south dakota. now through election day, watching our coverage of the presidential candidates, plus the dates from house, senate, a run the country. in a few moments, a look at how the political campaign is shaping up nevada. in about an hour and a half, the senate debate ohio, followed by the ohio -- the iowa fourth house district debate. >> for live coverage of the 70 annual texas book festival. hear from douglis brinking, mark

updegrove, michael gillette. the texas book festival, live on book tv. >> washington journal is focusing on key battleground states. up next, a discussion of this year's campaign in nevada. votes in this election. demirjian according. i want to start with a few statistics.

according to a recent report, between the end of 2006 and the end of 2011, says home values fell nearly 60%, higher than any other state. in 2011, home prices fell. that is on top of the state having the largest unemployment rate, about 11. % in september. talk about this election using those numbers as a backdrop. it is about the economy. these numbers can matter very much. the nevada housing market continues to be bad. almost 70% of homes are under water at this stage. the unemployment rate has dipped below 12% for the first time since september. you are having a population contending with the worst brunt

of the economic crisis. when the candidates come to town they hammer home their economic philosophy. there are anchors on the economy that will continue to weigh it down. the housing sector got so bad and there is so much that equity in the economy now and in the housing market that is going to take a while to buy that out.

host: are those numbers the difference for obama? in 2008, he won the state by 12.5%. guest: people are extremely frustrated because it has been so bad and so hard for so many of the residence. you are seeing that gap, which was 12 points several years ago come down to something within the margin of error. obama has been holding a steady

lead. the closest romney got was within a tie. democrats have a voter registration advantage in this state. host: going back to to thousand a, i want to talk about -- to 2008 statistics, from bloomberg news says nevada has the largest swing state demographic shift since 2008. talk about how that is impacting this election.

guest: 26% of the state is latino. this voting block has been shown to hear a lot about the economy, a lot about education. immigration does not rank as the highest this year of interest to these voters. it is an underlying across the board thing. are you saying the right thing on these topics. it is 2/3 versus 1/3 that the

voters are split on this. this is what candidates are fighting about. obama made a promise to address it in his first year in office and did not do that. he said he did not have time and did not have a cooperative congress. that has not stopped republicans who say, we can bring a comprehensive immigration reform, which is a term both parties defined differently. they are trying to make that a sales pitch. if you turn on spanish radio, you hear nonstop commercials from both sides. this is a swing state for the president and it is also a swing state for the senate and one of the congressional races on here as well. host: if we are talking with karoun demirjian from the washington son. you can call in on the republican line.

we have a special line set up for nevada residents. in talking about demographics out there, talk about the mormon vote in nevada. guest: you can count on the mormons to come out. there has been a push to highlight how the democrats are making inroads with the community and how it is possible to turn out a mormon

democratic vote as well. it is not going to be anything that will develop momentum or will really rock the boat lay here. it is not being despite any stretch of rock the vote here. in this election, it will probably still be a republican stronghold. host: talk about early voted out there. what are the rules for early voting? guest: early voting started on saturday.

early voting goes from october 20 to november 2. not every polling station is open for the entire period. we have entirely electric voting machines in nevada. this is a state that is over 80% urban. most people congregate around las vegas and reno and carson city. voter registration went online. there have been more people turning out early in both parties than they did that on years ago because it has been drummed into them that this is a good way to go because it is the parties some peace of mind that people are turning out. you mentioned the recount,

which is all is a scary word. there are at least 5% of precints in the counties that are thought to be suspect. in the larger counties, it takes a long time. nevada has not had issues with a recount recently. there was an extended counts that happens with the republican party in february because there were ron paul supporters who contested the results. that was not the same process

that will be employed for the general election. that was just the republican party. this is now the whole state. host: as goes the data, often so goes the country. here is the alleged as those nevada, often goes to the country. one of the big political reporters out there has put out a blog post on how nevada could really mattered. this is from sunday. he gave hypothetical on what could happen on election night that could make nevada be deciding state. it involves president obama winning ohio and losing florida, colorado, and most other battleground states.

when the polls are open in the west leading it to 67-265 00 267 to 265 for romney. i have callers waiting to ask you about nevada politics. jeffrey is a democrat from north las vegas. good morning. caller: i am calling in reference to the hinchey candidates. -- two candidates. president obama -- i am calling in reference to the two candidates. president obama is considered to

have when vanity. -- considered wind energy. he has every type of finance -- president obama is considered to have win energy he has. the price in everything a president can do -- wind energy. he has done practically everything a president can do for his constituencies. i have not seen anything from candidate romney. he is the one who stated, that the people go into bankruptcy and then we can read their property out for the rich. host: here's your story from the las vegas son from yesterday. obama finds his old groove in

the las vegas rally. what did he present talk about what he was out there yesterday? guest: he addressed many of the points jeffrey just brought up. he mentioned energy. that has been something obama has been pushing. there has been some push back from the republicans. there is a corridor of the data that is tapped into the california grid and there is a -- there is a corridor of nevada that is tapped into the california grid. jeffrey also mentioned the housing market and the obama surrogates being in nevada all the time. there was an editorial board interview last year where romney said the housing market

should be allowed to bottom out. you cannot say that in nevada. there are so many people who need some sort of assistance. the parties cannot agree about whether it should take the fund -- if washington should be tried to force some principal reduction programs. -- washington should be trying to force some kind of principle reduction program. they are not sure the bank should be pushing -- the government should be pushing the banks around.

people criticize romney about being callous about the particular problems of nevada and how severe the problems were when he made those comments. host: we have another caller from nevada. caller: i am looking at the bat out of 50 states -- nevada being 49th or 50th in education. i just moved to nevada. i cannot see where they are on

education. host: carrie brings up some of the personalities in nevada. guest: education is a huge issue in nevada. nevada has not qualify for a race to the top funds. it is a turnaround school system. we will see where the education issue those. you mentioned the sheldon

adelsons and steve wynns of this world. adelson has put a lot of money into this campaign against obama. that has been the new twists to this election. it is the citizens united decision that allows this to happen. this is the full -- first full election cycle where that has played a role. you have ideological divisions

and some people have enough money to put behind it and pushed the way this election conversation is going. host: a question from twitter. i heard the front hall supporters were so dissed by the gop that they may give from the some trouble in nevada. guest: many are disappoint -- disenchanted with the republican party. they want to stay part of the republican party. they will more than likely turn out to vote for around the. -- romney. the question for the ron paul supporters is do they turn out at all. if they do, they were trying to make inroads into the republican party. if they do not, it will be because 2016 is not that far

down the line. ron paul supporters seem to be more interested in waiting for his son, senator rand paul, to decide to throw his hat into the ring than they are to find somebody else in this election. the 2016 cycle start sooner than we want to think about. host: another question from twitter. has the population shifted out of las vegas from high unemployment and has that affected the core of the democratic vote? guest: that is an interesting question. i cannot say with full authority one way or the other. the nevada population has risen over the last several years. it is why we got an extra seat in congress and why we have an extra electoral college vote. it seems to not be affecting the fervor with which people

are turning out to vote. the early vote numbers are higher than they were before. you may have had flight at both ends of the political spectrum. host: we have special nevada line set up for residents in nevada. we will go to a caller on the democratic line from wisconsin. good morning. caller: i have a problem with this whole election. you have one party who is only thinking of the middle class, only of the wealthy, only those that can benefit from the republicans being in office. what about those who were born

into poverty, whose parents did not have the opportunity to go to school because they have to work? what about those forced to live paycheck to paycheck because of the economy or do to they are because they are a minority. who is thinking about the drugs that are killing our people? what about those who are not financially stable enough to go to school? no one cares. it is all about who can benefit from doing what. it is completely unfair. i think something should be done about it. it should not be about who is going to benefit more or who is going to pay more taxes. it should become who is pointing prosper, who is one to make this country better? know what to make it better if everyone is thinking about themselves. host: a couple more statistics from bloomberg insider on nevada's makeup. the ethnicity in 2011 is 53.6%

white, 8.6% black. the annual median household income in 2011 was $65,000. from go to larry stockbridge, ga.. you are -- let's go to larry from stockbridge, georgia. they have a question about the nevada election we can talk about? caller: how do the latinos feel about that stuff.

guest: what you've brought up are issues that everybody in the nation is talking about a little bit. i do not know if they are the number-one issue for the latino block. economic issues, family centered issues, immigration seem to be a much larger part of the conversation. and the caller before, she is right. poverty is not getting a mention in this cycle. people are talking about the middle class and the upper class. there has not been a detailed conversation about the poor. both candidates will tell you they care about people on the lower end of the economic spectrum, but it has not come up much or as much at all in the conversation in 2012.

host: someone writes on twitter, is there a information on the results of early voting? the democratic firewall in clark county is at 25,000 as a result of early voting. steal plea -- gop playing catch-up. guest: the early vote numbers are oneupsmanship from both parties. if you are a registered democrat, you are probably going to go to a democratic and if you are a registered republican, you will probably vote republican. democrats have registered more voters than republicans.

it ends up being a 90,000 voter advantage by the end of the registration season. they are trying to push that out. the more they can do that before election day, the more momentum they build behind these candidates. this is a swing state at various levels of this race. obama has had a pretty consistent holing his advantage over running going back several -- polling advantage over romney going back several months. that is something hope their registration advantage can push her over the top. there are congressional races

that depend on that turnover machin host:e. the republican candidate -- that turnover machine. heller's advantage is the northern part of the state. she has to perform well. she does not have to be able to win them.

obama performed well in that county that years ago. district 2 has always been in republican hands. we have another swing district given the redistricting. obama has an advantage in the southern part of the state. the parties, when they go to

these sorts of events, they are presenting a united front. obama makes sure he mentions everyone on the ticket. host: we have a caller on the republican line. caller: i live in colorado springs and a lot of people that i know are out there getting food stamps or welfare.

they laugh about it. they think the government owes it to them. nobody knows you nothing. nobody is talking about libya and nobody is talking about nothing like that. it is another thing that even spanish people -- i am spanish myself. they are not saying anything about those fast and furious guns. remember, spanish people. if you mess up with any black people in your lifetime, obama is coming after you. he is the president and he cares about the black people and

that is it. host: do you want to talk about fast and furious and policies play into nevada races? guest: people are listening to the sequestration, stations to a point. foreign policy does not seem to be driving this election. fast and furious -- and has not come up to a large degree in this election at all. it ties into the cross border issues as a group package and is the other side of the immigration issue. nevada is next door to arizona. we had a lot of immigration issues.

those issues have gone to the supreme court. that has been a pervasive concern. we are not talking about the fast and furious issue particularly. immigration laws have been a pervasive concern for people in the states. your caller mentioned race issues as well. that is an undercurrent that has been around that no one discusses very much. it is an issue if you look at the numbers. obama won with most minority categories in 2008. the same thing happened in 2010 when harry reid was running. the numbers are there which sometimes can contribute to the tensions you heard from your caller. host: key counties on election night itself. guest: like i said before, much of this comes down to two

pockets of the state. clark county i think has over 70% of the population. the northern part of the state with another 20% of the population. with the republicans are going to be making a huge push to turn people out from rural counties. those are counties that count and will matter for the congressional district 4 race which is the new district. i will be looking at different sorts of groups of. people have been talking to blocks of voters whether it is women, seniors, or veterans. i am going to be looking to see how these messages are playing out, how this war on women message is affecting people to go to the polls.

how is the medicare conversation actually affecting seniors? they are another block in nevada that did not go for obama in 2008. if you vote in republicans, goodbye to medicare as you know it. i will be looking to see how and whom these talking points are really selling at home with. host: one more call for you from now that at this morning on the democratic line. caller: hi. listen, what they want to know is that senator from indiana said that rape was preordained by god. i was wondering how that would affect the vote in nevada and that is such an offensive statement for you to make.

guest: i cannot predict exactly how that statement is going to affect nevada but the democratic candidates, especially shelley berkley, have been driving that point home saying because the republicans are not disavowing murdoch, they are supporting him. they are trying to build this connection between these comments that have not really been very feminist. that has come out in the last few months. you have seen democratic candidates it just driving home this point bringing it up as much as they can. host: karoun demirjian, thank

you for joining us this morning. host: we are back with nevada and democratic strategist andres ramirez to discuss president obama strategy for winning the silver state. andres ramirez, we spent a lot of time in the last segment talking about unemployment and under water mortgage rates. how much of a liability are those stats for president obama? guest: no doubt that nevada has been struggling to recover from the economic disaster that has happened both with unemployment and on the housing effect. the area i live in is the highest foreclosed zip code in the country. the unemployment numbers in nevada have gone down. in the unemployment in. and las vegas have continued to

decrease which is a positive sign. anticipated home values are beginning to rebound in las vegas. all of these things are happening at a crucial time in this election. nevada voters are going to the polls. they are positive signs for obama. obviously we would like unemployment numbers to be lower and the foreclosure crisis to be better, but the indicators we are seeing are showing positive momentum. host: mitt romney and paul ryan were on the ground out there on tuesday. romney talked about what his time in all this would bring for the state. >> can you afford four more years with 23 million americans looking for a good job? can you afford four more years

with housing prices going down? can you afford four more years of doubling of the gasoline prices if you are paying? how about this? would you like to have four years where we create 12 million new jobs? how about four more years of rising take-home pay again? how about four years getting now that unemployment down to 6% or lower. host: your thoughts on some of his promises in that speech. guest: they certainly make for great tv sound bites but he has been on record saying he would prefer people to lose their homes and the foreclosure crisis to bottom out.

mitt romney has a good record of creating jobs but not in the united states. most he created were offshore or overseas. voters looking at this will begin to really look at what mitt romney is offering and what he is really bringing to the table. i think voters are going to determine that the economy is improving and it has nothing to do with what mitt romney has done and has everything to do with what the obama administration has put forward. host: we have the phones open for your call if you want to talk to andres ramirez, president of the ramirez group, and former harry reid staffer.

the republican line -- the democratic line -- if you are in nevada resident, give us a call at -- can you give us a better picture of the nevada economy? most people realize party time is limited. what else goes on besides gambling and glitter? guest: one of the biggest industries we have is we have a large mining industry. in the rural parts of nevada, they have been experiencing rapid growth over the past few years as prices have increased. we have been able to add new dimensions to stabilize the

economy over the last several years. we have the hoover dam, red rock canyon. they are great avenues to create jobs and revenue in our state that are completely off the strip and have provided a diverse stream of revenue. host: zach is on the independent line. caller: good morning. i just muted my button as you started talking about tourism but that is an area that can be expanded. people back east probably do not realize how big the county is. there are a lot of possibilities. there are a lot of other issues that are coming into play up here this year.

i want to talk about mitt romney. i think everyone wants what he says. i think obama would like to see 22 million new jobs but you have to say how you are going to do that. that is all my comment was. it is good to hear from you this morning. host: we will go to wisconsin on the republican line. james, go ahead. did we lose you? caller: hello? i am from louisiana. mitt romney makes and lot of promises. how is he going to prove what he is saying? i am going to turn down my tv. host: if you want to talk a

little bit about how the obama campaign has gone after the mitt romney campaign on nevada issues. guest: mitt romney as a lot of great platitudes and sound bites with the media but if we look at his record, he constantly says what has obama done in the past four years? mitt romney's record is not a positive record of creating jobs and improving the economy in the united states. a record of creating jobs and improving economies here in the united states, he does not have that record. where is he going to create 22 million jobs? what are they going to pay? his previous record does not have a great indicator of helping to improve salaries of

american workers or the quality of life. let's judge people on their records. mitt romney's record is just a tragic example of what we would want in the white house to move our country forward. host: another nevada caller for you from las vegas. caller: i want to know why no one is talking about the oil company that mr. mitt romney owns in china and pumping out to iran. in illinois, he is closing down, sending jobs to china for his other companies. this guy is a liar. he lies all the time. host: something you can speak to?

guest: sure. again, mitt romney has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaign and he thinks by spending that money on commercials and campaign propaganda people are going to forget that he has a record of shipping jobs overseas, hurting american communities and workers, and hurting our economy. we have 24-hour access to media and the internet and fabulous companies called google where we can access information independently. all of the money mitt romney thinks he is going to spend about his record, it is going to come to light. we know you are spending money to ship jobs overseas. we are not going to fall for it. we need strong leadership in this country. host: let's talk about the tens of millions of dollars being

spent on advertisements in nevada. here are the top state's overall. ohio is number one with $177 million spent in commercial advertisements this year. how effect of is that spending at this point? has nevada been saturated? guest: nevada is over saturated at this point. you cannot open your mailbox without being inundated with political mail. nevada is a battleground state and it is notorious for being independent. we have ticket splitters,

libertarian voters. these candidates are investing significant resources to ensure they will turn out there bases and persuade undecided voters. the democratic party has invested significant resources over the past year so we enjoy a 90,000 voter advantage statewide. we have been able to turn out our voters in significantly larger numbers than republicans. these investments have continuing diminishing returns as more and more voters will vote early. host: for those of us not in nevada, i want to show some of the ads taking place right now on the air.

this is a mitt romney advertisement. >> there is a soft spot in my heart in nevada. unemployment is probably double digits. i voted for barack obama. i really lost faith in him. i am supporting mitt romney. i think we have heard enough excuses. i do not think we can afford four more years. host: just to get your quick take on that ad. guest: it sounds like a very compelling ad. it was surprising that he supported obama in the 2008 election. no surprise that he has left his roots and pushes the republican party agenda. host: i want to show you an obama ad that is being shown in

nevada as well. >> so much is at stake. comprehensive immigration reform, education, making sure every young person in this country has access to good schools, and i could go on and on and on. that is why the vote is critical. host: mr. ramirez, a democratic strategist, i want to get you on the phone with michael from wisconsin. michael, go ahead. caller: how are you guys doing today? i got some things i want to say. i am really heartbroken about that lady who said president obama is a racist. i am an independent and that

offends me. another thing is i don't understand how many latino in their right mind could vote for mitt romney because of everything he says and what he does behind closed doors. they will not respond to accusations of millions of dollars in d.c. that is ridiculous. nobody wants to be poor or on food stamps. we don't want this. if i am doing really well, i would not mind paying extra to help out my neighbor. host: could you talk about the

importance of the latino vote in nevada this year? guest: the latino vote has been growing every election cycle. then senator obama received 76% of the latino vote in the state of nevada. in 2010, the election was also extremely decided by the latino electorate here in nevada. we are expecting latinos to continue to play an important role. over the past year, spanish surname voters have registered at a higher rate than the general electorate. the general population only increased voter registration by 26%. it is extremely exciting to see

latinos are engaged in this process. what we have been seeing for early voting so far has been very encouraging. a record number turnout for spanish voters for the first week so far. we are very excited about the role that latinos will play. we think they will exceed the numbers in 2008 and 2010. both candidates are investing resources to communicate to the voters in spanish and english. to use one of the most well- known figures in the spanish- speaking community bodes well for president obama. host: a question for you on twitter. a viewer writes in --

guest: yeah, well, we are blessed that we have a competitive presidential race and senatorial race. it makes for a very exciting opportunity for us who are political junkies. it is the home state of harry reid and could help determine whether the democrats keep control of the united states senate. a lot of money is being invested from outside groups, super pacs, independent expenditures. shelley berkley is running against dean heller. the democratic machine who helped deliver harry reid to victory is in full force to help president obama and shelley berkley. we are going to continue to see

positive successes up and down the ticket this cycle. host: i have a caller on the republican line this morning. caller: thank you for c-span. as a republican, i know most of us are concerned about growing democracies and so forth because it anybody who works for the government does not contribute to revenue and it takes more money away, compounding the problem. which party would be contributing more to a bureaucracy and which party will try to cut down the bureaucracy in nevada as well as the country? thank you. guest: that is a great question especially coming from a state like nevada which helped to grow las vegas and it billed ourselves economic determination several decades ago with the

construction of the hoover dam. 85% of nevada land is owned by the federal government. the department of interior, the department of defense. we have the department of energy locations here. i take a negative reaction from people who say government employees do not contribute to the economy. i think most historians, republicans or democrats, would agree if not for the construction of the hoover dam, we would not see las vegas as we do today. we have significant resources being invested here and so forth. all these employees of the federal government are buying homes and paying taxes when they buy their homes.

they are buying groceries and shopping at these private industries and it visiting our casinos. for people to suggest because you are an employee of the government you do not contribute to the economy or our community, i think it is a false statement. host: let's go to emma from texas on the democratic line. caller: good morning. my comment was for the mexican lady who called in during the last segment talking about president obama. president obama has done more for the mexicans than blacks. i am black. the mexican women have all the jobs here and are very disrespectful to black women. i don't know where she got her education.

host: let's go to ohio on the republican line. caller: my husband happens to be mexican so i understand a little about the mexican community. they are hard-working, pro- life, religious people and are all the things the democrats are against. they are all about -- they took god out of their platform. they are all pro-choice. everything i see the mexican people are not. the only other thing i want to say about that is there have been democracies before ours. it starts out people are in bondage. they go from spiritual faith to courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to great

abundance, from great abundance to selfishness. host: we have about a minute left for you to get a response. guest: i am an american with latino descent. as a mexican american here in the united states, i like to have this conversation with my republican colleagues. rim is small business owner and go to church frequently -- i am a small business owner and go to church frequently. these statements are simply a fallacy and it is untrue that the democrats removed god from their platform. i am a proud democrat and am proud of my religion and christianity. so far, i have not seen anything coming from the republican party that will make me feel they are better for the latino

community then what the democratic party has to offer. that is why we have the same poll numbers of latino voters choosing to vote for democratic candidates. host: andres ramirez, thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: up next, former executive we will be right back. a top political adviser predicted that mitt romney will lose the race in nevada this year. i think that obama will carry the date battery -- state between 1% and 3% and that dean

heller win the senate race. i want to get your thoughts on this story and what you think will happen this year. guest: it could very well be. i still think that governor romney has a good chance. if we can keep democrats to 45% in las vegas of the total votes, and republicans around 35%, i think governor romney has a great shot. the last really competitive race here for presidential was 2000, where the democrats came out with 51% in the clarke county yet george bush still won. there is still a good chance the governor romney can make it. host: has the race comes down to one or two issues out there in nevada? what you think we will focus on in the final 12 days here? guest: everybody is going after the last three people were

not made up their mind. we have got such an ad war going on here. we have got both the democrats and republicans working like mad. people trying to make sure they get out the vote. the democrats of done much better job with that right now. they have -- to see that in our two major population areas.