are doing, and try to get people to be more involved. to make it a little more personal, so they understand the impact on them and their families, and children and grandchildren. >> tonight on q and a, thomas of cystatin --ts citizens against government waste, talks about his organization's efforts to bring attention to federal spending. they also publish a book compiling a list of unauthorized government programs. >> we worked with a bipartisan coalition of members of congress, which was then called the congressional port busters coalition. it eventually became the term earmarks. we went through all the appropriations bills and started the pig book. it went all the layout to $29 billion in 2006. every year that we can find your in the appropriations

bills, we released the book in april or may. >> tonight on c-span's "q&a." >> we want to move from south carolina to super tuesday. a number of candidates, including senator rubio and donald trump on monday, in virginia. just how contested is the commonwealth primary? >> we are having a traffic jam of candidates in the countdown hours to the primary on tuesday. it was a good deal of activity in the past week. president clinton, that would be bill, was in virginia for mrs. clinton. ted cruz also in virginia. john kasich promises to be

active. rubio, making a swing through the state. that will be for stops for him, and all the media markets. donald trump coming in on monday, as will hillary clinton with two stops. one in northern virginia outside washington dc, and in the southeastern corner of the state, hampton roads. those are the two biggest vote troves in virginia. once a very rural state, now that lopsided the suburban. >> in a purple state, is it one of the primary states that is up for grabs? a mrs. clinton seems to have comfortable lead. senator sanders is showing some strength in the areas where he has shown strength elsewhere in the country. college communities, among younger voters, many of whom are angry and frustrated over the

direction of the economy. mr. trump continues to lead in -- his leadough he has narrowed. one of the more recent in-state public polls showed him narrowly ahead of senator rubio, about six percentage points. we have senator cruz in third place and senator -- excuse me, kasich way back. , estate that reflects the nation as a whole, is something of a reflection of this national race. county in terms of student population, fairfax county, closing tuesday. the administration is expecting a huge turnout. what about the rest of the state? >> to your point, at least 20 school systems will be closing

on tuesday to accommodate polling. there will be another -- number of other school systems opening late to accommodate polling. virginia is not a state in which voters register by party. to simultaneous primaries. voters have to go into their polling places, request a ballot, express their preferences, and then take their leave. but there are a number of new restrictions put in place on voting in virginia. many of them pushed by republicans, including a photo id law that is now under challenge in federal court. in fact, in the run-up to the primary, the trial at which that law is being contested is unfolding. in presidential

primaries in virginia recently have been particularly happy on the democratic side -- heavy on the democratic side. nearly one million votes cast in the primary in 2008. barack obama easily carrying the participation in the republican primaries is falling . and primary night, 12 primaries forward democrats and republicans, virginia seems to be one of those where it rubioor kasich or senator wants to pull out an upset to stop donald trump on the republican side, and slow hillary clinton, would be one of those things. >> that seems to be the view at this point. particularly among establishment republicans, as you indicated. whoever they may be. shopping around, since the collapse of the jeb bush candid ac. -- candidacy. a number of them gravitating toward senator rubio. whether that will be enough to

stop mr. trump, really remains to be seen. the point about mr. trump is he is drawing people who are new to the system. he has made a number of appearances in the state. the people who show up at these one in richmond on a school day drew about 5000. these are not the face is one ordinarily sees a republican committee meetings or conventions. >> have you ever seen a race like this? >> certainly, this is unusual in virginia. we are seeing more and more of these big personalities, particularly at the state level. governor terry mcauliffe is a member of the clinton privy council, and clearly he hopes to

deliver a big win for mrs. clinton on tuesday, and hopes to hold the state for the democrats in the general election in november. this was a state that was on autopilot for republicans for years, for about four decades. the republicans carried the state for the presidency. a very rapid shift in the demographics of the state, explosive growth in population that has turned this into a very purple state, in very short order. >> finally, we are talking with jeff schapiro, a political columnist. how much political capital does governor mcauliffe have in this state among democrats? >> keeping in mind, governor mcauliffe would acknowledge this, he won by plurality in 2013, largely because of who he was. ken cuccinelli, fiercely , and governor 's momentum has not

really been maintained in the succeeding years. it was a very big legislative election last year. he was unable to take the state senate back to democrat control. here is a chance for him to demonstrate a measure of muscle in this fast-growing and fast-changing state. >> i'm assuming when the results are coming in in the republican primary on tuesday in virginia, you will keep a close eye on the center part of the state, to see that eric -- the seat that eric cantor much help, much more conservative district that ted cruz would need to do well. mean doesn't, that would something for senator rubio and donald trump? >> correct. and the guy who knocked off the men who would be speaker of the house, at this point, it doesn't -- does not seem to have wildly credible opposition.

his growing standing in the is thatdistrict, republicans have decided to nominate a candidate for congress by convention, which was preferred by congressman brad. >> jeff schapiro, covering politics in richmond. virginia, one of 12 primaries on super tuesday. we wanted to focus on one that is very competitive. thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> our road to the white house coverage continues with republican presidential candidate senator marco rubio of florida, and a campaign rally in atlanta. that is at 12:30 p.m. eastern on two.n texas senator and republican presidential candidate ted cruz holds a rally in san antonio. also speaking there, governor greg abbott and former governor and presidential candidate rick perry. that is at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span three. democratic presidential

candidate hillary clinton has a rally at george mason university in your facts my virginia -- fairfax, virginia. that is that 4:15 p.m. eastern on c-span3. at 6:00, presidential candidate donald trump at a rally in georgia. we had that on c-span3. >> it is a whole different campaign now. we had basically moved beyond the early primary and caucus states, and now we are on super tuesday. 12 states, voters in each of these 12 states will have a defining impact on who the democrat and republican nominee. -- nominees are. we have moved from that retail campaigning, that we saw in iowa and new hampshire, and now we are in 12 states where the candidates are literally going from airport to airport, trying to appeal to as many voters as possible, and make last-minute pitches. advertisement is key, organization is key, but it has

moved to a different level where the candidates hope the voters know what they are. in those cases, the name ideas out there. with the candidates have to do is convince voters that is the person they should vote for. since this network began in the late 1970's, one of the hallmarks has been the ability for people to call in, ask questions, provide opinions. a lot of polls out there, but there's nothing better than actually talking to voters, especially in the states where primaries or caucuses were held on that day. what were the lines like, why are you supporting this candidate? you really get a sense of the pulse of america, which you don't get anywhere else. the other networks have pundits and analysts. we had the ability for people to question leading reporters on tuesday, but the best pundits are the viewers, the people tuning in on c-span radio are watching on c-span television. >> next, "q&a."

british prime minister david cameron takes questions from members of the house of commons. after that, presidential candidate donald trump had a campaign rally earlier today in , thomasweek on "q&a" schatz, president of citizens against government waste. he talks about his organization's efforts to bring attention to government waste over the years. thomas schatz citizens against government waste. you are president of it and you have been around the organization for 30 years. what does it do? thomas: it was created following the release of the grace commission report.