bayless on her book on public diplomacy and pop culture in shaping america's image abroad is live on c-span. " is live onjournal c-span. a shot of the capitol christmas tree. thanks for starting your day with us. later this morning, we talked 2016 presidential politics. discussion about pop culture and public diplomacy. we begin with a discussion on the american dream. still attainable and has the definition changed over the years a? we would love to talk to you. give us a call.

you can also catch up with us on all your favorite social media pages. twitter, facebook or e-mail. a very good christmas morning to you. we are talking about the american dream. traditional polling has the american dream defined as possible to start up poor in this country, work hard and become rich. a that measure according to recent poll in the new york times, americans are less optimistic. the story from earlier this month.

alongside the story is a timeline of the polling over the years on that question. possible,think it is since 1996, started dropping in 2010. now, down to just above 60%. those who think it is not possible, that has been rising since 2010. we want to hear from our viewers this morning. republicans, democrats, independents or outside the u.s., the phone overs are there.

-- phone numbers are there. is the definition of the american dream still the same in your mind? thatcolonists picked up on poll. comments for the washington post. the much excited statistic stems from the question is it possible to start up port in this country, work hard and become rich. she says the american dreams and strength is its ability to --nsform as we said, you can participate in the conversation this morning on facebook.

alongtter, you can follow http://twitter.com/cspanwj. that the american dream is not attainable unless you plan on working 70 plus hours a week without multiple incomes and moving out of state -- it is not easy. a man cannot put in 20 years into with factory like our grandfathers did. scott says, yes, the american dream is attainable. been traditionally . there are only multinationals who open up stores in many malls paying below subsistence levels. we are talking about the american dream this morning.

tell us about your definition of it and whether you think it is still attainable. we start with mark from orlando, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i think it is getting much harder because of the concentration of power in the hands of corporations. i based that on an article i -- awhere a gentleman said nurse could actually stab herself with a used needle and become infected. when they went to try to solve only two, there were or three distributors that sell to all the hospitals in the united states. if you did not hand over the idea to one of them, he had no outlet for success.

the idea that corporations -- they concentrate things in the hands of a few. -- ares the obstacles the obstacles getting bigger? caller: i think so. it is harder to break into the marketplace when you have three companies running all the media outlets in the united states. host: when did that start changing in your mind? when was the moment when it started getting harder? 1980's i remember in the , i was living in chicago and a sellingf mine started at a store in chicago. everybody theyt hire is part-time.

everybody now is part-time without benefits. there.gone from host: we are talking with our viewers for this first 45 minutes about the american dream. whether you think it is still attainable and what it is. definition,onal whether or not you are able to start up poor in this country, put in hard work and get rich. karen says on her twitter page -- in the huffington post, stephen writes his column on searching for the american dream.

that is stephen in the huffington post politics section. we want to hear from our viewers this money. michael is up next in silver spring, maryland. our line for independents. caller: good morning to all. i believe the american dream is doing well. it is attainable. , ithave covered quite a bit has evolved. it is no longer the same. i grew up in the 1970's.

i have seen things change here in america as well as the makeup demographics. for some, it may be just a monetary dream, attaining riches . for others, it may be having freedom or the ability to live with one's family. all those simple things we so many times take for granted here. that is my comment. host: michael from silver spring this morning. up next is frank from new york. our line for independents. thank you for calling us christmas morning. caller: good morning. the american dream is very much alive. i believe america is the greatest hope to mankind.

what i want to say is the economy is roaring right now. you don't hear anyone talk about how great the economy is right now. the democrats always allow the republicans to tell the story of how the economy is. nobody is coming out to say how great the economy is. god bless everyone. host: frank in new york this money. -- this morning. the party of the american dream.

we're wondering if you agreed this morning. your thoughts on the american positive orssibl pessimistic. page --witter we are talking about the american dream. on our line for democrats,

joseph is waiting in pennsylvania. caller: good morning. we have tohat believe this american dream is going to get better. we have to change with the times. as highwhat's known costs. if we want to survive, we have to pay those prices. i came up in the 1950's when things were really cheap. strenuous --r more they are for more strenuous -- far more strenuous than they were then. host: what is making it harder now? the policies in washington, something beyond the politics making things harder than in the 1950's? plays a partial

role. you have a lot of programs being shut down due to whatever reason , which makes it harder for youth to attain government money for medicare, schools. you see a lot of the schools shutting down. corporationslarge that were here long time ago are gone. we are buying stuff from out of the country. if we as a consumer want to survive, to pay for a house that may be used to cost $25,000 but now costs $200,000, we have to work two jobs if that is what is necessary. if there is only one parent, you might have to work two or three jobs. you might have to make the children go on some sort of -- you have to adjust to everything going on. host: jan on our twitter page

rights -- poll, theyyork times discussed the definition of rich and did some pulling on it. they write the definition of rich appears to vary greatly. 26 percent of respondents in the northeast said the annual income -100 and $9,000 constituted a rich family in the said a family earning less the $100,000 would be considered rest this could be considered rich. that is part of the story they did on the feeling of the american dream, being out of reach for many according to new pulling that the new york times did on this topic. we want to get your thoughts for the next half hour. eric in pittsburg, california.

our line for republicans. caller: thanks for having me. and i think ald lot of the previous commenters grew up in the 1950's or 1970's. they have a different opinion of the american dream. past 15-25ad in the years bought the house, had a differenteer, had a judgment will view of what life is like. you graduate college, you're in debt, you get a job and you can barely afford an apartment. you try to get married -- all we really want is just to have a decent job, 60,000, something like that. , have antunity to grow

apartment, a car to get to work and not worry about food or getting evicted. host: owning a home at some point, is that part of the american dream? caller: definitely. it's one of the main foundations of the american dream, don't you think? host: a lot of people think that according to the poll in the washington post. this is from the heritage foundation report that looked into several different surveys to try to define what exactly the american dream is. poll from lastis year, 75% of respondents said that the american dream constituted the freedom of choice and how to live one's included a 60% said it being rewarded for hard work, saying that's 61% part of the american dream. the ability to balance work and family life, 56%. included being able

to do better than once parents did. 52% said it included being able to get a college education. said it included being able to become wealthy. the definition of wealthy also the subject of debate. roger in alabama on our line for independents. caller: good morning. i think the american dream has not changed that much. is a useful job. number two was a good education. number three is fair prices. leases four.an up homeowners is five. medical care is six. is an seven. that was the bill of rights for roosevelt. i don't think it's changed that

much. all of it wraps around that. unfortunately, our congress does not look at it like that anymore. those seven things that roosevelt offered us with the are the things th we all look forward to. i have lived it and lost it and gained it back again. easieras it harder or the second time when you gained it back again? caller: harder now. much harder now. is becoming smaller and competition is the name of the game. we just have to meet the challenges of the future. peoplees i feel like the

vote against their own interests and we must keep this world at peace without having racism and religious strife. you gain and lose it the first time? caller: the first time i gained hard and worked my nay up and it was easier the because of the fact that everything was new and the conditions were new. but now, it does seem like the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. i am 73 years old. i just lived at a great time to be an american. host: thanks for the call. speaking of alabama, story from

alabama.com. a story about the american dream lived and lost as well. -- the story noting that he believed in many things, but little was more important than doing the right thing for the right reasons, especially when it came to money. honorableand honorable da dollar. the irony that he was killed forng a robbery -- he came the american dream but it was shattered by american greed. al.com out of birmingham, alabama. we want to talk to our viewers about the american dream this morning. brandon in florida. our line for democrats. caller: thank you for taking my

call. me iserican dream to basically freedom. being able to walk the streets and go any place you want to go. is not a big house or a big car. that may be part for some people. for me, it's about education, freedom of religion and to enjoy life with family and friends. talkrd the gentleman before saying is harder. no, it's not. education is everywhere. you can get education online, junior colleges. there are all kind of programs. there are all kind of car loans. you areds on where headed. if you live in a big city, it will be a lot harder because

prices are much higher. you go outside the city into the suburbs, rural areas come a lot of places are better off. sometimes people of the city because it's more metropolitan, you can go different places. the american dream is still here and it will always be here. be able to feel free wherever we go. host: we are talking about the american dream. our phone lines are open to talk about this on this christmas morning. we want to bring to you the president and first lady's thistmas greeting on christmas morning. they released it last night. [video clip] >> merry christmas, everybody. ofwill not take too much your time because today is about family and being together with the ones you love.

that means i get a little help on the weekly address as well. >> the holidays at the white house are a wonderful time of year. we fill the halls with decorations, christmas trees and carolers. we invited more than 65,000 people to join us this year. our team was a children's winter wonderland. americans young and old had a chance to come together and celebrate the season. family will join militants across the country celebrating the birth of jesus. is birth of the message that changing the world. to reach out to the sick, the hungry of the troubled and to love one another as we would love ourselves. >> we hope this holiday season will be a chance for us to live out that message, to bridge our differences and lift up our families, friends and neighbors and to reconnect with the values that bind us together. that also means celebrating and honoring those who have served

and sacrificed for all of us. our troops, veterans and their families. inavenue, at mission afghanistan will be over in a few days. our longest war will come to a responsible and. that gives us an opportunity to step back and reflect on these families. we are able to gather with family and friends because our troops are willing to hug there's goodbye and serve. we have come home because they're willing to leave their families and deploy. we can celebrate the holidays because they are willing to miss their own. >> as our troops continue to transition back home back to our businesses, schools, congregations and communities, it's up to all of us to serve them as well as they served us. you can visit joining forces.gov to learn how you can honor and support the troops, veterans, military families in your community. that is something we can do not only during the holiday season

but all year round. >> merry christmas, everybody. may god bless you all and we wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2015. that was the president in his christmas greeting in his weekly radio address released yesterday. some news about former president george h w bush remaining hospitalized. the former president had a good day according to his spokesman spokesperson but remains hospitalized in houston. he had a good day in his prognosis remains positive. he will remain at houston methodist hospital overnight over christmas eve as a precaution. he was hospitalized tuesday after experiencing a shortness of breath. he was taken by ambulance to the houston methodist hospital as a precaution after experiencing that shortness of breath earlier in the evening. the former president will be

held for observation again as a precaution. we showed you the president's christmas greeting this morning. here is a bit of a christmas poem released yesterday by john boehner. [video clip] 'twas the end of the 113th and the countdown began, the new american congress would should be at hand. time to take on the tough issues like taxes and spending. the gridlock in the senate may finally be ending. reform is needed from homes in ohio to hear capitol hill, but not by executive order but instead by a bill. the american people have spoken, they expect real solutions. for now, we celebrate god's glory and light it happy

christmas to all and to all a good night. host: john boehner's christmas message release yesterday. we're talking about the american dream. is it still attainable? getting your thoughts and comments over twitter, facebook and taking your calls as well. michael on twitter says -- stella writes -- ron has been waiting in hollywood, florida on our line for republicans. is the american dream still attainable? caller: it is a lot harder because of the way the economy goes. the rich are scooping up things. i'm a carpenter. i took a ged. i started my own business in 1995.

i ended up getting some foreclosures in the crisis. started a little rental business. i'm not rich, but i have everything i need and i don't have to punch a clock. that is my dream. i will be semiretired rest of my --e wit host: which business was easier to start? caller: i started carpentry in 1995 by starting as a helper. illegal immigration really affected it big time down here. i was looking for work and they were paying $10 an hour and all these spanish people were taking that and i asked them if they -- you haveaxes out to pay 30% tax on a 1099. at $10 an hour, i would be making six dollars an hour. i walked out that job.

that is the way is working. it is achievable. you have to work. you have to put the time in and do the work. there is a little luck involved. you just have to go at it. host: randall is waiting in saint robert, missouri. good morning. caller: good morning. my question is, how do you define the american dream? i'm 35 years old. child, myife, one mother-in-law lives with us. it seems like i can never get ahead. when i do get ahead, someone comes back and says you still os so much money. i've got for food.

definedou attain tesh the american dream when you think you are going to get ahead and someone says i want everything you've got? it isdo you think that government policy making this situation for you? or something outside the politics and policy of washington? caller: i don't have credit cards. life or ave a lavish house that is lavish or anything like that. i rent my house. government policy -- i don't even know. that i'm doctors bills working with, trying to get them paid off. they're mostly my significant i don't mind

paying because i know that everyone has bills. i really can't say because i skimming over the show now for a little over a month. that is only when i have nights off. i sleep in during the day and work at night. i have been learning a lot of stuff about politics three you guys. guys.ough you i don't really have a positive hunch was going on in their. host: a question about the american dream is when we occasionally ask and revisit here. just to check in with our viewers to see if they think it is still attainable and how they define it.

the new york times poll this morning uses one of the traditional definitions of the american dream. is it possible to start out poor in this country, work hard and become rich? we got an e-mail this morning. in florida.from joy working hard is not enough. one must work smart. that means keeping in touch with what's going on in your industry, keeping your skills up-to-date, changing fields if your industry is dying and reading the handwriting on the wall quick before layoffs and mergers and not staying with one company too long. that is joy from fort myers. her suggestions on how to attain the american dream. .ndy in salem good morning. caller: good morning.

i think it is still attainable. there are people who can rise above whatever obstacles they have and try to get somewhere. it has diminished so much, the cards are stacked against summit of people. where i live, there is nothing here. there is one big industry and that's about it. people are living on the fringes. the cost of trying to survive anymore is just horrible. groceries and health care, you name it. people are being left behind. i have been a democrat all my --e and i'm pretty dismayed i don't think republicans get it at all. it is a rigged deal. once they get up there, they have lost touch with reality.

i don't think they understand what's going on in the real world. host: what is the one big industry in salem? caller: a food service that has been there -- tarted out as a real small deal entered into a national chain or whatever you want to call it. -- i'm know how it will guessing they employ one of people or so. -- 100 people or so. you can never tell what's going to happen with it. host: is it possible these days to stay with one company and put in decades of work and be rewarded for hard work? and probably depends on who you are with. my brother-in-law works at this --ce and he had three years

said that's the end of it. culture.e corporate i don't know anything about it. i don't know how to explain it. it seems like it is such a rigged deal. i was born in 1955. my dad was an attorney. to -- back in the somebody,ould watch my mom could stay at home and ur kids.r ki he was able to build us some net worth. thing altogether. money.able to save his insult, the 0%, what

that has done with people. it's robbing people of their wealth. aen you get 22% interest on cd, that's an insult to people who have tried to get somewhere and you can even make any money off your money anymore. tweets --optimistic we have about 10 minutes left in this segment. for thisn't get in segment to talk about it, we will have open phones in our last half-hour. we will revisit this question. you can call in. some other news stories this

christmas morning. some news on an ebola scare at the cdc lab in atlanta. there is no risk to the public. one of the stories making headlines this morning, this in the washington times today.

we want to get to as many calls as we can. is the american dream still attainable? gone is in chicago. don is in chicago. our line for republicans. haser: the american dream been killed by the corporations off shoring our jobs. the government, by giving these trade deals where we are competing against people in china, like child labor, prison

labor, there's no way americans can compete with that. it is corporate treason. the bankers and wall street got their own in jail. host: tommy in westminster, maryland. good morning. our line for independents. caller: the american dream, the american way of life are two different things. the american dream people think of money. raised in the rock 'n roll era. there is a big difference in yes,you talk about, money, the first time the kids had money to spend. thathad the second cars parents would get them and stuff like that. freedom is a lot different than

it used to be. you don't have the freedom you used to have. host: when did that change? and why? i think i started seeing it -- i used to be a democrat with mcgovern when he ran. i think i started seeing glimmers of what people wanted to do in this country. , back in theber 1960's, i could not vote until kennedy was elected. i voted for him. i can't remember whether mcgovern was before or after. it did not change every night, but it has gotten really bad. now, used to think murder was murder. if they have a lot of proof of it, you should pay for it.

now, forget the murder part. now, they arrest you for what your mind thinks. they call them hate crimes. they're taking a comb to your life. if you say one thing wrong, you kill this person because of their color or religion? i've never heard of such a thing. caller: beverly is up next in north carolina. our line for democrats. good morning. ♪ good morning and merry christmas -- caller: good morning and merry christmas. hypocrisy.run by wall street and the big corporations -- 90% of the or really notr rich.

he used to be these same people could get jobs in factories and could survive very well. factories have been taken over to china. the middle guy has to depend on the government or the state to help him. we elect people for congress. they have their pockets being filled by the big boys. it has gotten to be sort of ridiculous. i hope one day america will change. i don't see a change in it yet. host: donna writes on her twitter page -- pamela in clifton park, new york. our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning and merry christmas to everyone. i do think the american dream is very much real and alive. it is a lot more to get there and to hang on to it.

more families will have to come together, the young and old to keep it together. you may see more extended families having to stay together in order to have a home. i do believe that the corporations have brought about a long demise to this country first andockholders taking jobs overseas. bornoping to see -- i was in the 1950's and i have seen both sides of this. andave obtained the dream we are barely hanging on to it. the taxes are killing everyone. the high gas prices have sucked at once wallets -- everyone's wallets dry. we need to get our jobs back here in this country and taxes

down and gasoline has to be affordable. iron river, michigan. randy on our line for independents. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. school ind from high 1987. to try to make money and then went and got myself a truck drivers license and drove over the road. gone and it was lonely. i started working as a custom fabricator in a steel shop and got my certified licensed or stainless steel and certified -- i did that job for 17 years. i busted my back in five places and i could not work for about one year. i went back to work and i was

, ik working full-time started smoking pot because it was the best pain reliever. i ended up getting busted for having pot and now i'm a felon. there are 24 million felons who can't work in this country. host: do you think the american dream has been taken away from people like yourself? caller: of course. 24 million felons. it totally affects them. when i got busted, i had over six months work to do it i worked for the government. as i got busted come everyone in my shop got laid off . how was it their fault?

jim from's get halifax, pennsylvania. our line for democrats. caller: good morning, sir. good morning, america. wasink the american dream severely assaulted by ronald reagan when he started stealing from social security and not putting anything back. to this day, the use of social security for things it was not intended for. the republicans who listen to the people, trickled out affects, how can anyone get ahead when we are just supposed to take the trinkets that corporations want to drop down to us? host: one more tweet from sam --

that's all the comments we will take in this segment. open phones in our last half hour or so. first come up next, we talk about the early contenders and the early jockeying underway for the 26 election cycle. the day the interview is set for a limited release, the influence of american culture and america's image abroad with martha bayless. first, on newsmakers this week, the new chair of the democratic governors association. newsmakers airs on sundays. this clip, he talks about the money flowing into campaigns from outside groups. [video clip] >> truly, one of the biggest challenges to our democracy and

a representative government is the amount of money pouring into the system and the amount of -- when i was attorney general, it was called the biggest threat. a 100-year-old montana law up to the supreme court. we lost it on a 5-4 decision. say if wean bill to are going to have to work under these rules, these new rules of the road the supreme court put down, at least let's find out who the wizard is behind the curtain. let's disclose the dollars. spent in thes congressional races by outside groups in 2014. 75% of that was undisclosed dollars in the public in sight. we need to do more for transparency. -- on the republican side.

i don't think it makes sense to make sure that every individual 's voice matters if yours don't have a seat at the table. mica's taste for the overall process and we say we will hold our cards and watch this money come in these days. >> does that mean we can be more transparent going forward? this trying to get a sense of what all the overall budget is come at the end of the day, if we are going to be spending money on elections, we ought to know where the money is coming from. >> "washington journal" continues. host: rebecca berg joins us this morning.

week witht news last jeb bush announcing that he is now exploring a presidential bid . what was the strategy with that announcement? why get in so early? it seems like the announcement was thrown together quickly. it was posted on facebook heard it was not a committed announcement by any means. he really said he was exploring actively the option. theresh put his name out becauseential contender at some donors are starting to think about who they might support in the presidential election. he wanted to make sure that knew heparty activists was serious about potentially running. some people doubted that he was really considering it. this tells them it is a dog whistle for them to tell them don't forget about me.

don't go support chris christie or mitt romney or someone else before you consider supporting me. loser?ho was the biggest whose job got tougher because of jeb bush's announcement? guest: marco rubio, a fellow floridian, shares many of the same big donor bases. they will now be competing for donors if both are running for president. also, chris christie. , theook at his approach types of voters in the republican party he would try to appeal to, there is a lot of overlap there. you talk about the donor base. let's talk about the positives and negatives of the bush name. that was explored this morning in the washington times, the american dynasty.

what if it's a push-clinton -- bush-clinton matchup in 2016? w bush is still very fresh in people's minds. they will associate jeb bush with his father and brother. especially if you have those two names running together, it might take away from some of that legacy talk. it might turn off a lot of americans who would have been excited about voting. the bush name has been on the ballot most elections in the last 20 years. we are talking about both sides of the possible 2016 matchup. of the washington examiner. let's go to hillary clinton and the clinton name.

guest: much like the bush name. it comes with a lot of baggage. the clinton presidency a little more in the rearview mirror. clintonsd hurt the because some people have forgotten about what happened in the clinton presidency, some of the finer details, some of the controversies. when hillary runs again, some of these things could be dredged up and repeated. then she has to address these stories all over again. , when a she runs again potential elizabeth warren bid could do to the democratic primary field. do you think she will run? guest: right now, she is saying she is not. she has been adamant about it. about not running. rightake her at her word now.

even if she doesn't run, she will have an effect on the democratic primary because you look at the role she is taking in congress right now. she will be a member of the senate democratic leadership. her platform will give her a megaphone on all these issues she has been fighting on. just by being out there and being vocal and in the spotlight, she will potentially require hillary clinton to address some of these issues and move a bit more to the left. host: this slate piece coming out last week talks a bit about that influence being the reason why the author thinks are i elizabeth warren will not run. the ambiguity of her status is a strategic choice. more likely it is that person will try to adopt her positions or sway to her concerns.

sounds like you might agree with that. guest: exactly. there is a reason she is keeping this buzz alive that she might run for president. she said she is currently not running for president. she has been careful to couch that statement. she is a very smart woman and knows how to manipulate the media. host: we're talking with rebecca berg of the washington examiner about 2016, a very early jockeying for 2016. less than 700 days away from that election. if you want to call in or ask questions, our phone lines are open. we will be talking about this for the next 35-40 minutes or so. we start with tom from new jersey. our life for independents.

good morning. caller: good morning and merry christmas. i'm curious if your guest has read the book "family of secrets" by russ baker. an in-depth study of the bush family, their connections with and oillligence agency and gas industries. guest: i have not read it. you bring up a great point. george h.w. bush being in the cia. he has close ties to the intelligence community. in this election, we will see a very robust conversation about foreign policy and the role of the intelligence community, especially in light of this recent torture report in the senate. when you have candidates such as rand paul who this is a cornerstone of his foreign-policy, national , this will beorm

a conversation had in this cycle. hundreds of thousands of e-mails from his tenure as governor. a goodse going to be thing or bad thing for jeb bush? plans to release these e-mails eventually on his own. through that freedom of information act, beat him to it. we have learned very little. the e-mails were pretty asinine. one of the takeaways was that he lot of emoticons in his e-mails. he was very casual with his staff. responded a great deal to constituents on his own.

he was a very hands on governor. christine from illinois. our line for republicans. i am a republican, but i was not very impressed with the republican theme. elizabeth warren has it going on out there. i don't think it matters what you are, republican or democrat. everybody in the government, all the american people want is honesty. we are a very honest country. we don't come off that way to other countries. are and i think who will win will be whoever is upfront and honest with the american people. the republican party is going down. is very embarrassing these days. host: talking about the

theme, the field of potential presidential contenders. there are 21 republicans ranked in the various tiers. that compares to just eight democrats who are ranked as possible contenders. what does that tell us about how these matchups will go? guest: right there, you see the hillary clinton affect. -- martininton o'malley looking at running. bernie sanders and a few others. ,illary clinton is such a force she has pretty much cleared the democratic field of any sort of competition. on the republican side, we will

see a robust discussion of where the party is going from here. pretty much every segment of the party represented in this primary. it will be very interesting to watch. host: hillary clinton ranked by herself. the second tier talks about elizabeth warren. equation? guest: in most polling, we're seeing him still something like 40 or 50 points behind hillary clinton in the public polling we've seen so far. usually when you're talking about a sitting vice president, that's a top contender for the presidency in the next cycle, but joe biden is not seen by a lot of people as presidential material. he's kind of always a bridesmaid, never the bride. and so he's so not taken seriously, but he has expressed interest in running for president. he has tried to keep that conversation going. we'll see what he ultimately

decides. host: john's up next, spring, texas, independents line. john, good morning. caller: all you got to do is look at what happened when jeb was governor. he had massive foreclosures in florida. unemployment skyrocketed. people losing their jobs. he stole the election for junior bush. you got junior bush who caused an illegal attack on iraq, and you had $3 trillion disaster war over there. you got veterans coming back. i wouldn't -- i wouldn't vote for a bush family member in my life depended on it. join john, you're calling on our line for independents. would you vote for another clinton family member? caller: yeah, i'll be voting democratic. the bush tax cuts have caused , s country a massive debt it's directly related to the bush tax cuts.

host: john with his feelings on the upcoming primary battle and where he's going to fall as an independent. how important are going to be the independent voters like john in this race? guest: they're always important, john, but in the primary, not as much. come the general election, it could be very important. guest: is that jeb bush's strategy here to not alienate the independent voters over the course of a republican primary? guest: absolutely. he said recently actually that republicans should be willing to lose the primary to win the general election. obviously practically speaking, that wouldn't quite work. but he means, of course, that republicans shouldn't pander so these at they alienate independents in the general election. a lot of republicans are unhappy with the way mitt romney did go a little bit to the right in 2012. they're kind of using that as

their frame of reference for trying to be a little more moderate this time around. you can look at jeb bush to be that sort of candidate, maybe chris christie and mitt romney if he's to run again. join an individual on twitter said i'd love to see rand paul as president. you've written a bit about rand paul for the washington examinerer. guest: sent he's been one of the most named candidates. he has not masked his intentions to run for president. but he has an interesting dilemma, because he's up for re-election for kentucky senate, and there is a lot that prevents someone from being named on the ballot twice. rand was hoping to get that law changed, but one of the houses of the legislature is still controlled by democrats in kentucky. he says he's still going to move forward and potentially be listed twice on the ballot. but obviously just lost to mitch mcconnell, and she's still secretary, and she says she's going to challenge him

legally if he does that. host: mark in melbourne, florida, our line for republicans. mark, you're on with rebecca berg of the "washington examiner." caller: good morning. merry christmas. join thanks, mark. go ahead. caller: i was going to say that i'm looking at rand paul possibly, i don't know that much about him, but he seems to have some progressive ideas. as far as hillary is concerned, i just got done reading the book, "obamas versus the clintons," and bill and hillary have been gearing up for this ince she lost in 2008. i think we're going to have another co-presidency if they nd up being elected. we'll see what happens. anyway, have a nice day, folks. host: if you want to talk about the impact of a bill clinton on

a hillary clinton nomination, a primary and general election contest if it gets there. guest: absolutely. well, his popularity has rebounded sense his president simple he's one of the most popular points he's ever been at when you look at public opinion. but you can also look at someone like rand paul, as we were just discussing. he's already come out and started attacking the clintons as relics of the 1990's, tying hillary clinton to bill clinton's presidency, and some of the less positive points of his presidency, and so that is going to be the bill clinton effect on hillary. people look at bill clinton and see a natural politician and charismatic politician, and then hillary by contrast is a little more reserved, a little more predictable, and when people make the comparison, sometimes she ends up looking less attractive to voters. host: you bring up rand paul.

he was also one of the several republicans who sought to tie hillary clinton to the 2014 losses suffered by democrats, i believe saying the obama-clinton slate of candidates were rejected or something to that effect. guest: yes, and even took to social media, posting pictures of some of these losing senate candidates with hillary clinton at campaign events with the # hillaryslosers. he was not being subtle. host: mark williams on our twitter page, please let the american voters have a fresh choice for 2016 for president, no clinton, bush, mccain, and no romney. claude is up next, our line for democrats. caller: good morning. happy holidays to both you folks. i want to say with the enormous amount of funds that just went into our midterm election, how do you foresee that? i'd like to get your take on how you see the trend going

into next year's election cycle with the presidential sandrace how that would affect against a genuine candidate versus the best candidate? host: politics? guest: yes, well, it's only going to get more potent going forward. we are looking at one of the most expensive election siblings ever in 2016. on the republican side, the have never oups been stronger. host: do you want to talk about the impact of outside groups versus the party committees? there was an effort in the spending bill that was agreed to to allow donors to give more to the party committees in what's being said as a way to sort of strengthen the hand of the party committees who have perhaps been weakened after citizens united and some of the law changes that have allowed

outside groups to spend so much money? guest: right. what the republicans and democrats agreed to was allowing 300% the current limit of contributions to the r.n.c. and d.n.c. for certain categories of donations. to fund the political convention that is we every four years, the national conventions, also to rehab the party headquarters, and then in case of an election recount to go into a fund for that. and part of this was actually a response to a bell that was passed through congress when he was a legislator here. he took the federal funding for conventions, redirected that funding to go to pediatric research, pediatric, and so that money was no longer available from federal funding. they decide that had money should now come from private donations for these national conventions. but it is a huge hole in the

campaign finance, in campaign finance law that we've had. host: let's go out to california, our line for democrats. randy is waiting. randy, you're on with rebecca berg of the "washington examiner." caller: thank you, c-span, and merry christmas. i just woke up about 15 minutes ago. bear with me. anyway, there was a caller that called in, a fellow democrat, nd she commented about the it licans going down, and sort of shocked me, you know, a fellow democrats saying the republicans are going down, and i see what has happened to the democrats lately. i would think that my fellow democrat there would have said, you know, how things are changing for the desms anyway, that's all i wanted to say. she has it backwards.

i think with what's going on, she didn't like the way republicans are handling things in washington. i think she has it backwards. host: appreciate the call from california this morning, coming the losses that they sustained. on the other side, how do republicans move forward and win again after a big win in 2014? guest: well, working in democrats' favor is just the map in 2016. on the senate side, as opposed to this year, where you saw many of the battleground states were democratic incumbents fighting on republican turf, we're going see the opposite in 2016, so many republicans who were elected in the republican wave in 2010 citing for their re-election on democratic or swing states, so it will be a little more difficult for republicans in that respect. on the house side, of course, republicans have a historic majority in the house, but what that means from an election

standpoint is that republicans have maybe two battleground districts they could possibly go after on the house side. and they're just defending the revpls it's going to be difficult for republicans to keep the number they have in the house right now. host: and how much in the 2016 election is president obama's approval rating? how much of a shadow is president obama going to cast, not just over the presidential general election, but the house and senate races that you're talking about? well, if you're looking at a race with hillary clinton, he will play a big role, because republicans will try to tie hillary clinton, and they already are trying to tie hillary clinton, to her tenure as secretary of state under president obama. so he will cast a shadow in that race, perhaps, if hillary clinton is the nominee. when you're looking, though, at the senate and house side of things, because we will be moving forward to a new presidency, have a new nominee on the democratic side and the republican side, usually voters

tend to associate these nominees with the general election nominee for president. host: why don't we hear more about jim webb and clinton or warren? webb is a solid candidate. guest: well, he could do very well in a place like iowa. he's a very moderate democrat. some people are doubting how serious he is about actually making a serious run for president. host: he's announced he's running. guest: yes, but he was only a one-term senator. he left the senate because he didn't like it. he didn't want to run for he reelection. now he's out there promoting a book, so that could be part of his deciding to run for president. he is giving it a go. host: line for independents, you're next on the "washington journal." caller: hello, good morning. i just wanted to make a comment

. here in colorado, when in the president obama was here, and he stumped for hickenleerp, and hickenlooper won. jeb bush was here for cory gardner, and hillary clinton was here for udall. the point i'm trying to make is bush has already flip-flopped on immigration because was totally against any kind of immigration reform here in colorado. i think that's why cory gardner won. host: we're talking about immigration. we'll show this headline from the hill newspaper from just yesterday, immigration action jolts the 2016 raise. guest: we're still looking at an election cycle where we don't know what the main topic of conversation is going to be. we're coming off of multiple

elections where economy and jobs have been the main talking point and the main concern for voters, not that the economy is rebounding. we're seeing it move in a very positive direction. it's unclear what is going to be the driving issue. immigration is one of those issues that could rise to the forefront of the conversation. and the trick for both parties in the next couple of years in congress is going to be laying out some sort of policy platform for their party's candidates come 2016. republicans will have to show that they're not completely anti-immigration reform. democrats will have to show that they're willing to work through the congressional process as opposed to the president taking his own action. so challenges for both parties on that front. host: steve is up next from ohio on our line for democrats. steve, good morning. caller: good morning, john. good morning, rebecca. and merry christmas to you. and all the viewers on the "washington journal." i have a couple of years ago, i

saw a documentary on free speech tv, and it was about the world's largest pumps that were sold to the city of new orleans through the army corps of engineers. this deal was brokered through jeb bush and the pumps were never testd, and when the hurricane hit, they never worked. and i have just two questions aid like to ask. i'd like to know, do you know anything about this? and also, why was this never put on any other news channels or explored? and this was all shown with the chief officer of the army corps of engineers, apologizing to the people of new orleans. it just blows my mind in the way there's no news or any commentary on this. host: republican acan a berg, something you've covered in your work for the "washington examiner?" guest: this isn't something that i have covered, but i'm glad we're talking about jeb

bush and some of his history here, because if he does end up running for president, there's going to be a wealth of his experience to be litigated by the press. not only his tenure as governor, but also his business ties. he has been a member of multiple boards of companies, , s been involved in investing just actually resign from the barclays, also resigned from a healthcare company's board, and so there is going to be a lot to look out with jeb bush and a lot of history that has really only been explored on a local level with florida press, and it will be completely new to this national audience. host: we've got about 10 or 15 minutes left with rebecca berg of the "examiner examiner," a political correspondent there. before that, worked as a capitol hill reporter, and before that, from the "new york times" as a political reporting fellow there, here to answer questions and take comments. howard is next, miami, florida, on our line for independents. howard, good morning.

caller: good morning. merry christmas. host: howard, turn your tv down and just listen through the phone and ask your question. it's easier for us to hear you. caller: ok, my tv is down. i had it on speaker. i believe that jeb bush is the next president of the united states, and i think what happened in the recent election in florida tells you why. the republicans have taken total control of the election process. according to the center, there's been fewer than five million vote differential in between the winner and the loser of presidential elections. the republicans have effectively eliminated, i think, that many voters, if not more, with all of the voter i.d. requirements and all of the other measures they've taken. for instance, in florida in manatee county, the republican county control commission eliminated 30 of 99 veeting precincts. in florida, pennsylvania, wisconsin, now in michigan, and

i believe in virginia, they've introduced legislation to change the way the electoral college voted and allocated from winner take all to, on the basis of the gerrymander districts, what happened in the current election in florida, you see rick scott was losing to charlie cris, and then by sheer money, which citizens united has made available, and hundreds of millions of llars, in the last few weeks he was behind and then rode check and had saturated the airwaves. i'm watching the news, and there would be an anti-crist ad, an anti-crist ad, two minutes of news, an anti-crist ad, an anti-crist ad, an anti-scott ad, an anti-crist ad. and rick scott ends up winning. the totality of all the voter suppression making it hard for people to register, making it

then harder for people to vote, if they are registered, changing the way the electoral college vote is going to be allocated, and that legislation will be introduced in the spring of 2016, so it will be impossible to have it undone by the courts. host: rebecca berg, a few topics from political ads to what voters have to do when they get to the polls. guest: exactly. well, we'll start with the ads. we saw in this election cycle, of course, the airwaves saturated as this caller noted with political advertisements to the point where many voters were actually becoming rather desensitized to them. but i think what we saw is that this does not always have the effect that some people think it does. scott, for example, in the governor's race against charlie cris, outspent him by a massive amount. it was completely ridiculous. still only won by one percentage point. it was barely a margin of

victory. money does have an effect. host: and voter i.d. laws and changes to look down the road in 2015 and 2016. guest: right. that will be a state-by-state basis, but many of these laws have popped up since the last presidential election. and so this will have an effect. democrats, of course, say that the voter i.d. laws limit people's ability to go and vote, narrow the pool of potential voters, discourage some people from going to vote, and so their argument, of course, has been to fight these laws wherever they pop up. republicans argue that it stems voter fraud. it's still too early to tell, really. host: we've been talking a lot about 2016. we should note in 2015 there's three key gubernatorial races that will happen in kentucky, will you please will you, and mississippi, and perhaps a few

special elections to watch for, perhaps a michael grim house seat opening up if he does resign after pleading guilty this week to one federal, one count of federal tax evasion. can you talk about the 2015 elections and what they mean for the storyline heading into 2016? guest: well, people always like to look at these special elections between election years as a bellwether for the general election that is coming up. n 2013, we saw a house race in florida, special election, and then a governor's race in virginia, which terry mcauliffe won. obviously we were not able to draw very much from the governor's race in virginia, because a democrat was able to weigh in, and then we saw this election for republicans unfold in 2014. some people took this house race in florida as a bellwether, and in that, the republican candidate did end up winning. it's very limited in terms of what you're able to draw from some of these elections, but

they can offer hints at what is to come. scommoip they get a whole lot of media attention when they're happening in the off year. guest: they do, and a lot of money since we were talking about that. everyone jumps to spend money when there's only one or two races happening. host: elizabeth, up next in massachusetts, our line for democrats. good morning, elizabeth. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i wanted to ask ms. berg about ted cruz. that i know he was born in canada, and i was under the impression that in the , in order to qualify to run for president, you have to be born in this country, and i know that he was quoted as saying he was going to fix that. and people talk about him running as if he, you know, there's no problem. i'm kind of confused about that, and i wondered if you could confirm that for me. thank you. guest: it can be confusing. ted cruz was born in canada as an american citizen, but

canadian law states that if you were born in canada, even as a citizen of another country, you have dual citizenship. so ted cruz discovered recently that he was a dual citizen of canada and the united states and has been working to actually rescind his canadian citizenship. but he is still technically partner an american, an american citizen, and would be eligible to run for president. host: mark is up next, texas, our line for republicans. mark, good morning. caller: is this me? host: yes, mark, you're on the "washington journal." caller: outstanding! yeah, i just to want bring up three topics and see what our guest, ms. berg, has to possibly predict that the national party might come out with as their stance on this, like police. the militarization of our police, law and order, are the republicans still the law and order sneart and the percentage of our population that we have incarcerated, and i will hang up and listen. guest: well, i'm glad that

these issues were raised, because these are some of the most prominent issues being talked about right now. actually, if you're going to choose a candidate who's maybe most equipped and eager to talk about these issues, that would probably be rand paul on the republican side. when you're talking about incarceration rates, he's been working with cory booker on the democratic side to try to reform, to work for prison reform and actually reduce incarceration rates, especially for drug offenses. the militarization of police is also very much in rand paul's wheelhouse. but this is being talked about, of course, by all politicians right now. and it's only going to be moyer of an issue as we've seen these proceed tests unfolding in new york, over police action there, against terry garner, and then, of course, ferguson is still very much on people's minds as well. host: right now, why would you rank in terms of economic issues for people, foreign policy? are these the top issues for

voters right now? or potential voters 700 days away? guest: right, 700 days away. i think economic issues are always at the top of people's minds and jobs, but foreign policy, very much up there as well. and as i said earlier, because the economy is improving, as it is, this could be an election where we see an issue like foreign policy move to the forefront, especially if hillary clinton, a former secretary of state, is on the ballot. host: back to florida once again. scott is on our line for independents. scott, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. merry christmas. happy holidays to everybody there. robin, i tend to differ from your point of view on the point .f jeb bush running you know, he was last in consideration of rung, and he just drummed it up. i think everybody knows that president obama is contemplating -- knows that president bush is contemplating rung, so much so that nobody talks of it, but do you notice

that the day jeb bush announces he's going to run for president, he's got a cuban background, cuban family. he's got marco rubio possibly running with him, cuban background, cuban family. the very next day, the situation with cuba, all the sudden opens up with obama. how much do you think has played into that that they're trying to grant the votes that jeb bush could possibly get in the future by making this political maneuver now? and my second -- host: rebecca berg, i'll let you take that on, because john on twitter has the same subject area, questions, both hillary clinton and rand paul will underperform in florida due to cuba is what john says, push polls mislead on castro engagement policy popularity. guest: well, the cuba issue has certainly evolved politically when you look at florida,

because many young cuban americans don't remember why they should be opposed to this cuba scombargow. they weren't around when it was first imposed. and so marco rubio and jeb bush have taken the position that many republicans have taken opposed to the president's action, opposed to him restoring relations with cuba, but actually when you look at the florida political landscape, it isn't so clear-cut that that is the position most cubans support anymore, and also have a burgeons latino population that is not cuban in florida. and they support the opposite. host: hear from another florida caller, john on our line for republicans. john, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. host: go ahead, john. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i was curious about the experience that being a first lady has. i personally like michelle

obama and like to see her run for maybe a house of representative or senate seat. i'd let you comment. thanks. guest: michelle obama has been absolutely clear that she does not intend to run for senate. there were some rumors that she might consider that. but she has said that she's want going to be engaged in politics in that way as an elected official. but we will see one first lady potentially on the ballot this year, hillary clinton, former first lady. and she in the past has actually cited that experience as a selling point for her, because when she and bill were in the white house, they worked as a team. obviously she led the house care initiative, the healthcare task force in his white house, and was very involved in a number of mode i can't policy issues, more so than you would usual associate with the offices of first lady. host: time for one or two more calls. mike is in beverly hills,

california, our line for democrats. mike, good morning. caller: merry christmas to you all. my point is that, in order for the republicans to win this election, they must have crossover votes from young democrats and democratic workers, and none of the people that you have mentioned so far on the republican party will hold a candle to hillary clinton, except george pataki, the ex three-time republican governor of new york, who has a moderate background and experience. his record in new york is phenomenal, and he has the ability to pull in the crossover vote. you haven't mentioned anything about pataki, and pataki to me is the only guy with a clean record that could put up a fight against hillary. host: larry and his crystal ball outlook on 2015 ranked

pataki in his seventh tier, 20th out of the 21 potential republican candidates ranked by larry sabido, just ahead of bob ehrich, and just behind peter king. in that category, the seventh tea is wanna buy a book category. guest: so promoting themselves essentially. pataki has been making some moves, but still, as sabido is pointed out, not considered a serious contender. host: rebecca berg is with the with the washington examiner." you can follow her on twitter @rebeccaberg. we appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: up next -- on the day that "the interview" is being released in limited release in american theaters, we'll talk about the influence of american culture and america's image abroad with author and humanities professor martha