important, or even more important, than what we leave and. than what we leave in. i am so concerned about fact checkers, these arbiters who determine what should and shouldn't be. there is a lot of misinformation and junk online but i feel like we are better off in that environment than one who is shaped by people that want to continue to shape an artificial reality online. they may use it for purposes you agree with today but they may use it tomorrow to keep you from getting information about mri safety, because they decide that is not right, or controversial. i think we are better off being our own cheerleaders -- our own curators instead of letting people curate our lives. sign-upld be able to for a service if you want but it imposedot be imposed --

by government parties. is onryl atkinson twitter. thank you so much for joining us this morning. less than one week to go, we are joined by ohio democratic party chairman david ever -- david pe pper. let's talk political fiction. who is jack sharp? david: he is a fictional character i wrote about. about themory american election -- an american election being great. politico with the recent story about david pepper's story.

saying it reads like a you user's guide -- a user's guide for the last two years, mentioning russians flipping election to put publicans and power and how politics played and outside role. -- played an outside role. you wrote this before the election so how did you come up with this idea? david: i came up with the idea years ago. a couple of reasons but mostly, i am a frustrated person when it comes to gerrymandering. that is the origin of the book. i wanted to talk about how gerrymandering creates dysfunction in our system. but also, border security systems and other things. -- voter security systems and other things. goid not intend for this to the way it has but we do have a

severe vulnerability in our democratic system. it's a foreign -- it is a vulnerability that a foreign power could look at. host:: the original -- host: you talk about voting machines. can ohio voters count on them in the buckeye state? states that are purely electronic voting, with no paper backup, they are the most worrisome. but we have a lot of work to do. there is no doubt that they were poking around in 2016, trying to breach the system. i think this is something our national leaders need to be very serious about. point the book makes is that our elections are run at a very local level in small counties.

fundson't have the because they struggle economically and they shoulder the cost of these elections. update,e going to that's part of the point the book makes. the reality is, it makes it tougher for smaller counties. i think that state and federal leaders need to step up. aree local communities trying to balance election withts with shared budgets courthouse budgets, and there is a bigger picture of support. we need to take it very seriously. it's one thing that i wish congress could work together on. host: do they come together at the end? say, people told

me when they read my book, they were disappointed saying that the ending was unrealistic because they come together. they come, of course together. in the real world, they still have not. in the real world, when it becomes clear that something bad happens, congress crosses party lines and tries to solve the problem. gerrymandering, and they actually do a debtor job of it. david pepper joining us as morning -- this evening. in --icans can call as folks are calling in, we know that primaries are less than one week away in ohio.

hold 11 out of 16 house seats in the state. have been in power for most of recent decades. state?hio still a purple in november.l know yearsseen for the last 50 that the party who has the white house goes on to struggle winning our state. when republicans won big in our , democrats went on to win governor's office and other statewide offices. ohio is a close state, and you take nothing for granted. our primary has been positive

for republicans. we have a civil war and people are moving to the right. if we can repeat history in the past, i think ohio will be competitive and potentially blue this november. but you take nothing for granted in ohio until election day when the votes come in. donald trump won the state by eight points in 2016. of those congressional seats currentlylicans control, how many are you looking to put in play in the fall? >> it actually 12 out of the 16. ohio is saddled with the worst gerrymandering in the history of our state. despite that, we have a number of a viable candidates who are out raised and outhustled -- who

outhustledised and others. the men and women have stepped up, people of high caliber, everywhere from cincinnati to northeast ohio and everywhere in between. district --ne the won the district. if we do everything that we've been doing, i think we will pop through enterprise people. we have a number of red to blue districts this year. the prognosticators are moving district closer to the tossup, so we feel good. but it starts with candidates who are on message, and really good grassroots energy that has been pushing these issues and republicansnst -- in ohio don't even do townhall

meetings. they voted for this tax scam, and they won't even do townhall. a lot of people on the ground have been protesting, democrats and independents, protesting townhall meetings for the better part of the year. i think that's going to serve the candidates running across the state. host: you mentioned, inside elections, as a group has ranked 70 different households in play for the fall. a vacant special election in the fall, that makes the list in the likely republican category. do you take issue with the ranking? david: i don't care too much about rankings. i know that we have candidates out hustling opponents on the ground. we have one district where a republican is so worried about a , he is a sending

mailers in the democratic primary trying to get a no name opponent. he clearly is worried. the different prognosticators only account for so much. we havehe best things going is a group of republican who aredered candidates overconfident and flat-footed. i think that is how you win elections. you surprised people and outwork them. host: let's take some calls. we are speaking with david pepper until my :00 this morning -- until 9:00 this morning. jane from newark, ohio, go ahead. >> good morning. ticket straight democrat

in 2016. donaldave gotten is trump wanting money. i get that in the mail all the time. how come? i voted democrat. while i getting republican? -- why am i getting republican? david: the caller should know that she is referring to, and ohio, a hugen battle is taking place between the john kasich wing and the trump wing. it's playing out in the statehouse, congressional elections, and the governor's office. i cannot explain to you but it sounds like they are wasting money sending you mail. don't tell them

that. thank you for voting that way in 2000 hopefully vote that way again. one thing we are excited about is that we have a candidate running in every state district, house districts, in ohio. every congressional district, we have a democrats running, across all 80 counties. whether it's folks northwest near michigan, or elsewhere, they have a candidates to vote for. that hasn't happened four years in ohio over worst -- ohio or most states. good people are stepping up to say that people deserve a choice. when you have the kind of corruption we're seeing in columbus, they should have a choice word brings new leadership into the state house. kucinich ande a cordray wing on the democrat side?

david: i wouldn't say that. i did say that the republican side is fierce -- i would say that the republican side has a split that is fierce. two different candidates are running against john kasich. millions of dollars in ads are saying that the other is working with john kasich and they are far more like trump. it looks like everyone is running towards trump, away from medicaid expansion, which john kasich supported. on our site, it is not that fierce. we have disagreements, and for candidates, certainly disagreements -- can we have. candidates so for they are disagreements.

i think that they will win with little to no momentum. they are dropping in the polls because it's a republican primary. the republican party tried to anoint -- they haven't had one debate. we didn't endorse. our view was that it is up to the voters. the irony, they have gotten far more nasty and wasted more money. it is chaos at this point on their side. host: an article from the new york times focusing on the democratic gubernatorial candidate. richard cordray and dennis versus left.t we have a line from democrats. >> good morning.

david, we're putting far too much time into this russia issue and collusion, and not enough time being on the ground in our counties. i believe, and my fear, is that while we are all caught up in what did trump say or the tweets of the hour, that in fact, russians and people with high technical skills can manipulate our elections. no matter how hard we work to put our candidates in office, we may not be able to do that, just because our voting machines can be compromised. i know we have a good system but it can be compromised. theuld like for exposure to be happening a lot more than the exposure we are giving to trump and collusion.

thank you for an excellent comment. two things. and it is ironic that i wrote these books, but they were my side hobby, i agree with you that when we run around the state for office, our focus should be on the issues that matter most to people. especially voters who have not made up their mind. that means health care, making it affordable, accessible, and standing up against efforts to get rid of medicaid expansion. it means we should be focused on fixing public schools in ohio. it has struggled because of the for-profit charter school spare but has turned into a scam. school planharter that has turned into a scam.

think, not getting distracted by the washington, d.c. chaos and the latest trump tweet, i think our candidates are best serving focused on those issues. is a great example of a senator who does not get distracted by that stuff. people's, focused on pensions, wages, on trade and community that have suffered. at the same time, wallace not part of our message, we should always be focused across -- while it is not part of our message, we should always be focused across party lines on these issues. the issue with partisan squabbling in washington dc is that it's making something hard to solve that everybody should agree on. we need to make sure our systems are strong. we have a secretary of state clyde, whokathleen makes that a part of her

message. candidates for office, from governor to senator to statehouse, to win, their focus should be on the bread and butter issues. in a place like ohio, health care, wages, jobs, to, they are frustrating people -- student debt, are frustrating people. that is the winning message in november. not getting caught up in trump stuff. doingonnell or ryan are stuff that isn't appropriate and getle do that, but don't debated into only talking about that. get back to the core issues that people worry about in their communities. host: dan from canton, ohio. >> good morning. i wanted to know what you think about the democratic movement to ban most guns in the state. stuff like that is important for a self-defense issue.

i wanted to know what your opinion is. host: to be clear, how do you feel? >> i'm a big advocate for self-defense. thank you, dan. i was there and drove past the hall of fame in canton. with all due respect, i think theoverstated the views on democrat side. we have a primary were each candidate has a poor -- put forward reform on gun violence. i'll think they are saying take -- i don't think they are saying take away all the guns from ohioans. they are trying to ban things like bump stocks, create better background checks, and things that the statehouse -- and i want to give john kasich credit on this.

he's had bad decisions on the past and these issues but in the last couple of months, he's come forward and try to work across party lines in the statehouse with a package of reforms on gun violence. -- it's aboutt good ideas to make progress. this is an issue that, i think, i we take a partisan timeout, think that, as democrat candidates are showing, there is overlap where most americans could agree without violating the second amendment. it could keep our communities and schools safer but friendly, our overall country safer, from gun violence. host: wayne, and independent from nebraska. >> why do the democrats want socialism? david: i got the question. some may, and i certainly do not.

athink democrats believe in free-market economy but they believe there are ways to make sure our democracy gives everyone a shot. i don't accept the premise of the question. host: from ashland, ohio, gary, and independent. -- an independent. >>i don't accept the premise of the question. i asked about the legal immigration. $100 billion a year. it took me 355 weeks to contact him, asking him once a week, to get an answer out of him. i have asked for an answer to the question and i wanted to remind them that they work for me. told that i could get the answer someplace else at the immigration department.

i said, i want to know that he knows. he answered me in just under 11 months. i personally talked to him and all i got out of him was a bunch of b.s. i want a person who's going to put american citizens first. david: thank you for your question. one thing, he mentioned bob gibbs. if the candidate running most scared in ohio. candidate running most scared ohio. -- his opponent ran team rubicon. mantra of his

campaign is country over party. is one of these congressman has not felt the need to have a single town hall meeting in his district. i think across party lines, even independence, can agree that if you are in the body that is called the people's house, you shouldn't be afraid to meet with the people and to do it in a town hall

host: the cook political report has share brown's race is certainly one that is in play in the fall. birmingham alabama, line for democrats. caller: good morning. sheriff brown is going to be fine, he will win that race. chairman, youtic know what, speaking of democrats , speak up. democrats is donald trump. this is need to say, america. it are dealing with a pathological liar in the white house. we are americans. i'm very concerned about my social security.

i am a retiree. working.re is the republicans are trying to take away everything. speak up, democrats. do not likbe like those republicans in congress. i hope you will visit this fall and help us campaign for sheriff brown. in ohio, the thing i say -- i can't take any election for granted. we have to make sure we are working for him until the last day. let me just say to her question, i think that she captured the spirit of a lot of activists in ohio and will assure that we have a very high turnout. people are very upset by what they are seeing in washington and are worried about some of the things that have been done

with issues such as health care. we need to win back voters we lost a couple of years ago. in addition to working with our core democrats, who are obviously very energized and we need to continue to fire all of our folks up, at the same time, we need to communicate with people who may not have loaded with us in 2016, who are up in the air like some of the colors callers are and make sure that they know that we are the ones of fighting for them and making sure that their health care is intact. i think we have to be energized, and i certainly am, but i also think we need to reach out to people who aren't quite with us yet and make sure that they see at the end of the day that democrats this november are fighting for them on their health care, on their wages, on things like student debt, far more than republicans who right

now are running so far to the right, they are way out of the mainstream at this point. the core planks of their plans at this point, are really sort of underwater when it comes to what most voters in ohio would want to see. host: if democrats do take that the house of representatives in the fall, do you think need to collect you should be the next speaker of the house yet go -- house? david: i will leave that to the candidates that are running. i will leave that to the house members as they run. and their wrapup of campaign ads so far in this cycle have looked at the various targets of midterm advertising noting that nancy pelosi has been the target of some mind thousand 700 ads run on the republican side.

-- 9700 ads run on the republican side. david: they attack health care nonstop, they won't go to town hall meetings, they spent millions trying to sell this tax scam as americans are finding out that it will not benefit them as much. lambhing the connor clam race. >> we are going to break away from this program and take you to live coverage. those watching online as well as watching in the future on c-span are welcome to send us comments at any time. leading our discussion this evening on what is