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thing out. now jeb bush is going to speak in a little bit. it's interesting that pappi george h.w. bush not invited. george w. bush not invited but jeb bush. is it moderate bush, is that the image that they want to put out. >> jennifer: is they going to

speak in spanish? >> he could. i thought his son did a good job. and his older son did a good job. they seem to be a nice man. >> cenk: i don't speak spanish so i don't understand what they said but it sounded good. >> john: i liked it when romney spoke spanish. i call him gringo starr. he did mention how his grandfather came to this country, omit requesting his great, great grandfather left this great country, which is something you can google. >> eliot: there was a couple of years ago when jeb bush said he was the son who was supposed to be president. he and w. ran for governor. jeb lost in florida. w. won in texas. he moved one step ahead. jeb was a good governor. don't you think jennifer. >> jennifer: yes a reasonable

guy. >> eliot: did a lot of stuff on education, bipartisan issues. he had a much more centrist image and is still well respected. >> jennifer: i'm curious about the family legacy. obviously he comes from a family who was involved in politics. you see his son. i wonder if the sons of romney are, in fact, going to be taking up the mantle? jeb and the bush family, we've got jeb bush, as a matter of fact, in the hall. [applause] >> welcome to florida. [applause] [ speaking spanish ] thank you. before i begin my remarks, i have something personal i would like to share with you.

i've been so blessed to be part of a family that has committed its life to public service. my grandad. [applause] my grandfather and my father have been incredible role models for me, and served our country honorably. and my brother well, i love my brother. [ laughing ] >> jennifer: whoa. >> cenk: that was too harsh. >> jennifer: whoa. >> he's a man of integrity courage and honor. he faced challenging times and he kept us safe. [applause] >> mr. president mr. president i think it's time to stop blaming your predecessor for

your failed economic policy. [applause] you were dealt a tough hand, but your policies do not work. if your fourth year of your presidency a real leader would accept responsibility for his actions, and you haven't done it. [applause] >> cenk: he was dealt a tough hand. >> john: by his brother. >> this election is about the future of this nation. we can shape that future with what we do here, with what we do on november 6th. we can restore america's greatness. that starts with a strong economy, a smart energy policy, lower deficits, and a president who puts america's workers and job creators first. but to have a great future, a

secure future, a future that is equal to our potential as a nation, we need to do something else. we must make sure that our children and grandchildren are ready for the world we are shaping today. [applause] it starts in our homes in our communities, and especially in our schools. as a candidate and governor i visited over 400 florida schools. i saw children read their first sentences, solved their first long-division problems, explore the chemicals of physics. that's education. children with a chance at their future. there are many to believe that children of america's future is bright. but also to worry. of 34 advanced nations american students rank 17th in science 25th in math. only one quarter of high school

graduates are ready for their next steps. china and india produce eight times more engineering students each year than the united states. this is a moral cost to our country, our failing schools need to be fixed. [applause] we say that every child in america has an equal opportunity, but tell that to a kid in whose classroom of learning isn't respected. tell that to a those who have no leadership. tell that to a talented teacher who was laid off because she didn't have teen tenure. the sad truth is equality does no exist for many of our schools. that's the moral and economic issue of our time, and it is hurting all of america. >> cenk: that teacher was

probably laid off because of republican policies. >> we need to set high standards, provide students and parents the choices they deserve. the first step is a simple one. we must stop prejudging children based on their race, ethnicity or household income. [applause] we must stop excuseing failure in our schools and start rewarding improvement and success. we must have high academy standards that are bench marked for the world. you see all kids can learn. the data proves it. while he was governor, massachusetts raised standards and today their students lead the nation in academic performance. [applause] here in florida in 1999 we were at the bottom of the nation in education. for the last decade the state has been on a path of reform

under the leadership of governor rick scott and local leaders. our focus every day is whether students are learning, that's it. today more students are reading on grade level, passing prep courses and graduating from high school. most exciting, those traditionally left behind are showing the greatest gains. among african-american students florida is ranked fourth in the nation for academic improvement. among low-income students we're ranked third for our gains. among students with disabilities we're ranked first. and among latino students, the gains were so big they require a new metric. right now florida's fourth grade hispanic students read as well or better than the average of all students in 21 states and the district of columbia.

[applause] these kids were once written off. but today thanks to teachers like sean duffy we're changing that. >> cenk: you're right. >> john: you're seeing the beginning of the anti-tea party moderate campaign. >> the next generation of leaders, thinkers, builders, and entrepreneurs. >> jennifer: the remarks that he made about his brother. >> al gore: well, i saw him two days ago. >> these labs helped with science, technology, engineer

and mathematics and helped students learn proficiently in these fields. we turn students away-- >> cenk: i believe jeb bush is going to come back in a minute as well. you know, you watch him speak and actually i loved doing the play by play. we did it for newt gringrich and we did it for jeb bush. but there wasn't a lot there. unlike the other republicans. that's why he has the reputation that he does, a little more reasonable moderate. probably the reason why he couldn't run this time around. the bush name has a huge impediment but also i don't think he could have survived the primaries. >> jennifer: well, the reality--hanging on. >> we need more teachers like you. teachers who don't give up on a kid. who recognize that every child can learn and don't waste a precious year of a student's life. if you are a great teacher and your students are mastering their subjects no matter your age or years of experience you

should have a job. education is hard work, but if you follow core principles, and you challenge the status quo you can get great results. here's another thing we can do. let's give every parent in america a choice about where their child's in school. [applause] look, everywhere everywhere in our lives we get a chance to choose. go down any supermarket aisle and you'll find an incredible selection of milk. you can get whole milk, butter milk 2% milk, low fat milk or skim milk, organic milk, milk with extra vitamin d. flavored milk, chocolate strawberry and vanilla and it doesn't even taste like milk. they even make milk for people who can't drink milk. my question to you shouldn't

parents have that choice in schools? >> cenk: okay, shouldn't we have the kind of choice of the kind of army that we have? a soy latte army. no one army. >> eliot: i'm not sure that i agree with you on that one church. >> cenk: it's a false analogy. >> eliot: i think what we're seeing here is jeb bush who was and still is the compassionate conservative that george w. wanted to be at one pointish and then he morphed after 9/11. jeb is that compassionate and let's not forget, "no child left behind"," the non-partisan build and then the world change and george w. bush changed but i think that's what jeb bush is

trying to hearken back to. >> cenk: i used to be in favor of it and then i worried that it was a plot to privatize the school. take up a the talented kids, move them into private schools and then say look at the public schools, they can't do as well, give them less funding. >> eliot: there are different ways to permit choice. it works in the private sector and the government. competition works. the fact that you can give parents the opportunity to say that we prefer this model to that one. put funding aside. they can all be public schools fund them in the same way. competition works. >> cenk: i have a different perspective. i think the entire model needs to be changed. we need to move it into the internet age, into the digital age. the khan academy. google khan academy. kids can do the lesson plan

back it up, repeat what they don't understand, and then use the classroom time to get the individual help on the things that they're having trouble with. kids can serve out the subjects that they want to explore. we are still in a model of classrooms that come out of the industrial revolution. i mean they're using all these devices and often the school is the most boring part of the day. they're still using the blackboards. now great teach efforts make all teachers make all the difference. we need to change the model. no one has come up with a great new model. this khan academy that i mentioned is one that i think is an outstanding new model. some school systems have abandoned their curriculum and have gone aggravate to it. i think we need to leapfrog the way we've been doing. >> cenk: we need to take a break, but i want to tell but the finland model. if you haven't heard what finland has done with their schools, it's a near miraculous

story, and it's the opposite of what we would expect in america. let's come back in one second and continue the current tv coverage of the convention and this debate as well.

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learn in school will reinforce the good habits you've already taught them at home. to learn more, visit lysol.com/schools. lysol. mission for health. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of >> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the republican national convention. we just watched jeb bush give an interesting speech which we rather enjoyed.

i thought he did a pretty decent job to be fair and honest on that. we were having a discussion about school choice. i think the really interesting question, don't get me wrong i'm not against it. i think it's an open and fascinating conversation to have. as an american i'm competitive so i think competition works. but finland has done something really ready clay different. they say no one will be able to go to a private school. all schools must be public. we all swim in the same pool. they said we're not even going for excellence. as an american what! how can you not go for excellence? no we're going for quality of opportunity. we're running the same education education. teachers were valued, higher degrees, etc. they didn't even start testing their students for decades. i believe it was 17 years later or so, all right why don't we enter one of these international tests to see how we do.

number one. >> jennifer: number one. >> cenk: number one. amazing. as an american i have trouble believing it. you look at it and you think maybe we ought to try it. >> jennifer: they really value their teachers. their teachers are honored. they are like the highest form of calling and they get paid them mess come commiserately. >> cenk: one thing that would an possibility, and i don't know the answer here. but if you put everyone in the same pool, then people who make more money, the middle class, we have to pull everyone up because we want our kids to have a good education. if everyone has the same education, then we have to pull everyone behind. >> eliot: that's the notion behind social security. if you have a program for the less well off it wouldn't have the broad support. but back to your teachers, in countries such as finland.

those in the top third of graduating classes go into the teaching of classes. we have never had the muster oher pay to attract the best. >> jennifer: the other country i think it's really important to benchmark international standards. that's one of the points that jeb bush was making in his speech. another country that does enormously well with a different model is korea. and another country that does enormously well, a country we can relate to is canada. the korean model they have a huge amount of time--they require mastery. the canadians have twice the access to college that we have at half of the price. they have the highest rate of college graduates of any country in the world in canada. what are these other countries doing right that we can create uniquely american education system that takes best

practices. >> al gore: part of the problem when we dress that as soon as what do you mean other countries, we're number one! we're not losing to anyone else. >> john: my dad was a teacher both my brothers and my wife were teachers. my definition of patriotism is having the best education system in the world. where we heard candidate after candidate talking about abolishing the department of education in an era where we see teachers teaching the test to keep their jobs is very chilling. i liked jeb bush's peach. i didn't hear him criticize president obama's education policies directly. >> cenk: now we're going to go back to l.a. and jacki schechner and shana. >> how uninteresting do you have to be to be the republican candidate for president and not even be trending on twitter.

what does that tell you how people felt about mitt romney. he did spike one time. >> he spiked a couple of times in the last few months. he's running for president spending all of his monday. the day they announced paul ryan. had a big spike then. yesterday, a big spike then. what is interesting throughout this convention, even as much money they spend on this convention we see the different speaker names trend and not traction for mitt romney. he'll be on in an hour, hour and a half, and he's not trending in the top ten topics. >> he's trending in non-existent hologram of ronald reagan. most missed guest. >> cenk: that's really funny guys. i think that speaks to something that we started the show with, the invisible candidate. partly out of design he doesn't want to share a lot of things. there is his business records his tax records, etc. and so

that's why part of the reason he's not trending is because he didn't put anything out there. >> jennifer: you know what else is absent from this entire convention so far are the words tea party. 38 speakers and not one reference to tea party. >> john: seven of them birthers. >> al gore: there was an indirect mention to it. >> eliot: that's a fascinating point, not referred to by name, but the platform is the tea party platform. that's the platform on social issues todd akin platform. ted cruz is a todd akin candidate: huckabee--you're right. the words aren't there but the substance. >> jennifer: do you think the tea party is radically anti-choice? do they care about that or not? is that one of the sections of the republican party that may an little bit at odds with the economic issues that the tea party has professed to be so interested. >> cenk: i have to be hospital when the tea party first came

about and they were angry by the bailouts i was encouraged. look at this, a right-wing group that might have an earnest ideology that might be legitimate. you should be angry about the bailouts and what we gave the bankers, etc. it morphed so quickly. later on i saw a poll that they're actually more pro-life than the average republican. they were misdirected by the koch brothers who sent in buses. >> jennifer: absolutely. >> cenk: to have them fighting against healthcare. and then they were taken over by the most try dent voices in the republican party. >> jennifer: what is really interesting is that yesterday there was a poll out about the republican party platforms just on this issue of abortion. 75% of americans are opposed to a ban on abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. so it's very unpopular. >> eliot: i think the tea party initially was purely economic

expanded or contracted depending on your view. the vice president keeps saying you have the theological party and the tea party and they have emerged to this crazy quilt fabric that is hard to define. >> john: and the etch-a-sketch of mitt romney is in progress tonight. >> cenk: we'll take a quick break. when we come back we'll have more news on the ron paul faction. today having watched the news i thought there was going to be a much greater chance. they are not going to vote for romney. they might vote for johnson. it could be a close election. it certainly could be. we'll talk about that when we return. by communications workers of america. bringing jobs home now.

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>> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the republican national convention. we're going to go to michael shure in just a little bit to talktalk about ron paul and the latest drama surrounding him. right now grant bennett is a friend and fellow mormon of mitt romney. let's listen to the relationship they have and if it informs me. >> i'll arrange for meals, and i will visit her on my way home from the airport tomorrow. in our early morning calls mitt didn't discuss questions of theology. he found the definition of religion given by james in the new testament to be a practical guide. pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction.

[applause] so what specifically did mitt romney do as our pastor? for one or two evenings each week and several hours every weekend, week after week and year after year he met with those seeking help with the burdens of real life burdens we all face at one time or another. unemployment sickness, financial distress, lonelyiness, mitt prayed and counseled with church members searching for direction single moshes raising children couples with marital problems, youth with addictions,

immigrants separated from their families and individuals who's heat had been shut off. to uphold the dignity and respect the privacy of those who came, he met with them in private and in confidence. he has upheld that trust. [applause] >> cenk: i wish he had been a little more charitable to the tax payers: that's grant bennett. he's going to praise him to high heaven. we hear about this wonderful mitt romney and how charitable he is, i wish his policies indicated a similar level of concern for the middle class the poor and the fact that he's giving money to the mormon church, great. i wish he was concerned about giving money to the american

taxpayer rather than sheltering it in switzerland bermuda. >> al gore: let me make a point. i actually really feel deeply that it is a victory for america, the american spirit the american idea to have a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints be able to get the nomination of the republican party which has an evangelical wing. there were so many questions if that would be a bar to his nomination. look i'll do everything i can to defeat mitt romney in the election but from the very beginning, like most people, i felt--i really hope this is just completely disappears. and it's great that mostly it has. second thing i know so many lds members who are extremely

successful, nice people, you know pillars of the community and i think that this has--this has some resonance. this man worked with him and final point. this may be the only good thing i say about mitt romney, but i think that this convention was wise to put this front and center, to have this presentation. i think it's great. >> cenk: all right, and by the way, democrats unfortunately don't poll that way on feelings whether a mormon should be president. it's actually the one religion that they hold the worst views on. and we've got to get beyond that. it doesn't matter, democrat, republican harry reid, also mormon. discrimination is not acceptable no matter what on this issue. we go to michael shure who has an interesting update on ron paul for us. go ahead. >> before we go to ron paul, a little bit on what the vice president is saying. it's true.

you see them talking about the religion of mitt romney. they're not saying it very loudly. they're not using the word mormon and just as vice president gore were saying, they're saying, as cenk would say, we have this and blah, blah-blah-blah religion. >> they've been talking about it on primetime. >> they don't want to talk about it. it's an uncomfortable issue for them. this is where progress starts, i don't want to rain on their parade but it feels like people are skirting talking about it. but you're right. >> al gore: sometimes that's the way change happens. i remember my grandmother who was a yellow-dog democrat and a kind-hearted woman had a hard sometime that john f. kennedy

was a catholic. thank goodness that's completely gone. >> eliot: and as we talked about race with president obama. there was a question, how up front are you in talking about it. this was well considered on the last day talking about it, saying to the american public, we're proud of it and that's a dramatic step forward. >> that is true, but let's get to the compassion to the ron paul voters. they don't feel like mitt romney and his people have been compassionate to what they want. them out in force today. the other day they walked off the main delegation walked off as we talked about. but today they're talking about walking on, walking in on this convention saying, you thought we were rid of it, but you're not rid of us. we're still in force and they have to walk through many, many of the delegations here of ron paul supporters on the way into the convention. who knows what is going to

happen when they're going to come in, but they're going to make a statement. >> cenk: michael, i have to ask the same question that i asked the ron paul supporters at this convention. so what's the point? they walk back in, what do they want to accomplish? >> i think what they want to do, first of all in technical terms they want to change rules 12 and 16 of the platform committee. that's wantish. fair and square we won the delegation. dedon't want our votes suppressed by the republican party, and that's exactly what happened to them. when you talk to them, cenk, as you alluded to in the last segment, none of these people are going to be voting for mitt romney. none of them are going to vote for barack obama. it makes you wonder if this sort of thing takes hold, and if enough ron paul supporters out there, does that increase the ron paul changeses in virginia, a very close state as well.

they're angry at their party. they're angry that their voices are not heard and they say they'll keep going with that. >> cenk: it will be the height of irony if in any shape or form. speaking of discrimination, one of the most discriminatory congressmen that we've had in a long time with comments about muslims. michael shure thank you as usual. we'll take a break and then marco rubio and mitt romney. we'll give our analysis as well. coming right back.

admitted that that look, we were able to keep a lot of the folks because of the stimulus. >> bill: absolutely. again, do you great work, judd. thank you. all of your colleagues at think progress. we'll see you again next

[ male announcer ] the inventors of twix had a falling out, so the production of twix was divided between two separate factories. left twix factory cascades caramel and chocolate onto cookie, while right twix factory flows caramel and chocolate onto cookie. today they share nothing but a wrapper and a driveway. try both and pick a side. >> jennifer: welcome back to current tv's coverage of the republican national convention. we've been watching one of a series of character witnesses on behalf of mitt romney. the one that were just before the current speaker was one family whose son had leukemia and who died. it was apparently very touching moment on the floor. not a dry eye in the house. this is now--that was one of a series of people who are really trying to present the real mitt romney. probably as any trial lawyer would know, a very effective way of establishing somebody's

character without that person having to take the stand. so you guys, i think this is really a great moment to have real people up there. >> cenk: you know, of course, unfortunately in the reality of the world depends on how many people are concentrating on watching it at home etc. but if you did watch it, you're right. i think this humanized him more for me than the ann romney speech did. this is a guy who is counseling people, trying to help them, family after family in his role within his faith. no matter what faith you are you can relate to that. as he sat through the tough times, that's as tough as it gets and helped them through it, of course, i can't help but help see him in a better light. >> jennifer: yeah, i don't know if we can go in and listen to a little bit of this particular woman to hear her story. >> that morning i opened my door to find mitt and his boys arms loaded down with a thanksgiving feast.

of course, we were overcome. but i called to ann later, she sweetly confessed it was mitt romney's idea, most of the shopping cooking and chopping had been done by him. she and the boys happily pitched in. eventually we moved from boston. our daughter grew into an amazing girl of faith and love. [applause] but complications of her birth remained with her. after 26 years of both miracles and struggle she passed away just a year and a half ago. in the midst of making the final decision to run for president which had to be the most difficult of their lives when they heard of kate's passing both mitt and ann paused to personally reach out to us and extend us sympathy and express

their love. it seems to me when it comes to loving our neighbor we can talk about it or we can live it. the romneys live it every single day. [applause] >> cenk: more than anything else we've seen, you can't fake 26 years of at the pointing a family. >> jennifer: right. >> cenk: and you know, if i was them--but they're showing as much as they can on the last night of the convention. >> al gore: this is very effective for him. of course in our democracy all of the series are you focus on the policies. the truth is they focus on who the people are who are running. there has been--there have been a lot of stories about mitt romney from people who know him well as an individual who speak up for him. i have democratic friends who

worked with him in business, and i think eliot you've had the same experience where the people who have worked him closely say really good things about him. that has not come through in his public appearances. of course, again, the policies hurt low-income, middle-income working americans. this stuff matters and it's very effective for him. >> eliot: you're right. i have a close friend from way back who has been a partner of him who has nothing by fine things to say. the message that comes out of this is that you can do wonderful, good things outside government. the sort of helpfulness of the community does not need to be government program. that's how they're going to pitch government, mitt romney and his faith are doing it. >> cenk: why the disconnect between the policy and this guy that these families live with,

the help that he gave them. poor middle class who didn't matter etc. but when it comes to the policies, huge breaks to the rich. huge breaks to the energy company. >> jennifer: that's the disconnect. disconnect is right there. >> cenk: and one last thing the tax policies to me are the most telling part of the plan, it takes $500 from every average american and gives it to the rich. it's one thing to give the rich a tax breaks break. but it's another thing to take it from the rest of us. >> john: one of the great tragedies from this campaign is that he's running away from romney care which was a profoundly humane and intelligent thing to do for the state. in terms of policy and in terms of the way he ran his campaign and in terms of the way he ran bain capital. i got news for you you're not liberal. >> al gore: that's something that i wish we would change

about our politics. i'll give you an example that may surprise you. but when i served in the states united states senate, one of the nicest guys was jesse helms. everything that he stood for i really opposed with everything in my being. but he was a really nice guy. i enjoyed talking with him and having lunch with him. >> cenk: what do you do with problems like jesse helms. you remember the white hands crumbling the piece of paper saying the black guy got my job. that's as vicious an ad. but he's perfectly pleasant guy. you worked with him. when i see that ad i think, i don't want to work with that guy. >> john: you have to separate the man from the work. you can disrespect the work that they does, and still value their humanity and the good deeds that

they bring about. >> eliot: there are policies that speak to moral values. when that crosses the line then you have to deal with them as a person differently. but other policies like tax policies. as much as i disagree with mitt romney there is nothing that says thou shalt tax the rich or the wealthy he disagrees with us fundmentally it doesn't make him a bad person. >> cenk: we got to take a break here. when we come back, cofounders staples, that establishes his business acumen and the jobs that he created. and then coming up, clint eastwood. i'm interested to hear what he's going to say in favor of mitt romney. stay right with us. at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts

entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

>> cenk: we're back on the current comfortable of the national convention. we have a speaker with the romney campaign. less interesting less credible in that essential but he did work with him at bain. bain is a significant issue for mitt romney and they're bringing it up as well. and a new article eliot.

>> eliot: this is an article from tim dick dickinson from the rolling stone. he said the hypocrisy with mitt romney saying we built it on our own. government does nothing for any of us. bain, if you credit this article, which i do, he's a great reporter, bain was teetering, and if bain had not gotten it's support it would have gone under. wait a minute. are you saying that the government should not have done that, and then the hypocrisy attacking government. >> cenk: would you like to give the money back. >> jennifer: mitt romney was the orchestrater of getting that support for pain bain so it wouldn't go under. >> cenk: even more interesting adelson was benefited by the bail out. many donors in the country

enormously helped. many of these guys doubled their fortune under obama who might have gone under without the bush and obama bailouts. >> jennifer: 9 president, let's see what he does with his speech next week, i think he can make people feel so great about our american spirit helping one another, being one together that i think he can turn this whole "we built it" to be really a "we" and not i "i." >> john: for years ago we had country first. but it turns out it was just the music. by saying we built it, they're building obama by saying we. it's all of us versus the few of us. >> jennifer: the ironry, of course, is that mitt romney and

bain. the whole business model of bain, that's why it's such an effective attack is really about the partners, the "i," and not about the "we." it's such an anti-american concept that these business partners would profit enormously and successfully undo companies to gain fees and that's it. >> john: that's what governor romney was good at. bain capital was never about creating jobs but for investors. whether jobs were gained or loss was not considered in their main purpose. >> cenk: in the priorities of super pacs on behalf of president obama said announced they're going to release ads attacking his record, and then less attacking him on bain. i wonder if this is a transition and they're done with bain or

will they continue to pound away at the bain message. >> jennifer: they're going to pound more. there will be more people they'll roll out about specific ads of how people felt. you cannot let this go if you want to win, honestly. >> eliot: i was going to pop in on the chris christie keynote speech the first pronoun was "i." it was deeply egocentric and offensesive at the end of the day. i think we, and i know you're speaking and you'll use it. >> jennifer: we want wouldn't have advised in michigan without using the "we." >> al gore: yet again slicing off the meaning of his phrase. >> eliot: we're going to pop in and listen to tom stemberg, it's co-founder of staples bain company and ubiquitous around around

the country. i think he'll tell us what they did for them. >> i had a crazy new idea for business. i wanted to do for office supplies what home depot did for home improvement. i pictured products for owners of businesses. theit was first called "staples." then i made mitt romney. he helped make it alive. mitt was unusual guy. he already enjoyed great success in bain and company but he knew the value of the dollar. when i told him about staples he was really excited with the idea of saving a few cents on paper clips. funny thing, now i ask you, who would make a better president? someone who knows how to save a dollar on pens and paper or someone who knows how to waste

$535 million on solendra. [applause] mitt was not a typical investor. he was a true partner. where some saw an unproven new business he saw a store that could save people money. he recognized that efficiency creates consumer value. and he never looked at staples merely as an financial investment. he saw the engine of prosperity would come. today staples employees 90,000 people. it has over 2,000 stores, over 50 distribution centers, and is a competitive industry that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses to get started on their own. [applause] for me as a founder it was the

realization of a dream. so you can imagine my dismay when i see this white house and their campaign demonizing mitt romney demonizing bain capital and demonizing the private equity industry that has created so many new jobs. over and over and over again fiction, half-truths, and down-right lies. >> cenk: now, of course we know that bain has had successes in business with companies that has done well. staples is kind of among them. it's more of a complicateed story than what he's making out. but there were case where is they shut down the plants and made money any way. i'm curious,th ideal eliot what you

think of that. they shut down the plant and people were out of work. >> eliot: i said this before private equity is a struck structure that is investment that is important. hesitant to change and so rigid and ossified it does come in and change things up. it's been more creative for our economy than traditional corporate forms. let's move away from the notion of private equity and talk about in individual instances the business model embraced by bain is wrong. that's where you have to look. don't condemn the notion of the capital coming in. the question is did they overleverage? when the economy cass expanding you could guy at great leverage with cheap capital the national increase in value borrow, take

out your capital is enormous. that's very different from being a goodbyes man and the deals that left workers on the outside more ethically wrong. >> cenk: i don't think people at moment realize how that works. sometimes when they leverage a company, and the company has so much debt on it, even if the company is fundamentally sound. they make a widget, they make a profit on the widget, they can't pay back the debt. oftentimes in private he can equity they'll take dividends and then the company is now under more debt and the company goes under not because of the fundfundamentals but because of the financial games that were played. do you prevent that? >> eliot: that's a good question to ask. one thing i would add to the way you described it, and we could go through the numbers. for a guy like romney who does not necessarily put equity in and gets 20% of the override, he

gets enormously wealthy. whether or not he has added great value i want to weigh in whether he did or didn't, i think that's why you need to look at this deal by deal before you generalize. >> jennifer: the fundamental issue in this campaign is when you're running on creating jobs and you're very successful and your business model did not have job creation as a goal, isn't it fare to attack that underpinnings to what you claim to be the main teeth of experience? >> cenk: if the man was a company and he said i'm going to make more money for america. okay, that might be good experience but you need jobs. >> jennifer: he made progress-- >> eliot: i agree with what you said eliot but the very last part of what you said just kind of got under spoken there. you said some of the specific deals you feel were unethical. >> eliot: absolutely. >> al gore: give us an example.

>> eliot: the one where they overleveraged and then closed down a facility merely because they've overleverageed and they have taken out their profits their fees and then said we're walking away. that is where i think you walk into a serious problem in my mind of how you structure a deal. it's kind of like the banks who say we're going to extend a big mortgage securitize it, and then they take their fees up front and they're not around with the carnage that it creates. where you have that debt and you take out all your money up front, that i think is wrong. >> cenk: those will be the stories that we hear next week. >> eliot: i imagine so. >> cenk: we got to go to a break, and in this convention we've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. we might see clint eastwood next.

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you've already taught them at home. to learn more, visit lysol.com/schools. lysol. mission for health. >> jennifer: welcome back to current tv we're covering the republican national convention. during the break we had a robust discussion about the bain capital business model. we're going to go to los angeles. jacki, i understand that bain has been trending or there is discussion amongst the twitter. >> yes, bain is trending. we had mitt romney trending for a millisecond. they're trying to turn the spotlight on to bain and try to make it a positive for mitt romney as opposed to a negative. we know at the beginning of august that the campaign hired

michelle davis, a pr person, to focus on changing the narrative around bain. we're starting to see that online. whether or not it's working is a whole another story. >> today the romney campaign put up a site called sterling career.com. the title that comes from the quote said bill clinton said about romney's record, they have done that. they've put up a new youtube ad. one thing that is interesting about this election is how quickly that youtube rapid response, and the democrats have been great at this. >> we're getting fact checking and in mitt romney speech he said in building bain capital they used $12 million of their own money and they had investment money on top of that. i don't know how many small businesses they start out with $12 million of the small business owner's own money. we're finding all sorts of things coming online and through

activitier. >> you can see quick pics from our editor and a couple of people are saying they're not going to shop at staples any more after watching that. >> interesting. they're trying to get better pr for bain but worse pr for staples. >> cenk: those are interesting reports, guys, thanks so much. two things. one, the rapid response is amazing. this morning there was a two-minute web ad picking apart paul ryan's speech. they had the facts and they must have been up all night. it was amazing. as romney is speaking he has got to be thinking they're going to do that to me tomorrow. he has to be careful with every sentence give how much paul ryan's speech was picked apart. i wonder if he's editing thinking, should i say that? it could be in an ad tomorrow

morning. >> jennifer: i heard that he wrote his own speech. i don't know if i believe that, but that was what they were putting out from the romney campaign. if he's as good of a man as everyone is testifying, he better not be telling any fibs. >> cenk: and to to that point, when ann romney spoke, it was a small business. he and a couple of friends got together and sweat it out when they started bain. that's not really how it went down. mitt romney negotiated with the owner of bain and said if this is a failure i want to you bring me back to bain consulting, a different company but the same branch there. not only that, i want all the raises i would have gotten. not only that i want you to do a cover story for me and say that you desperately needed me back in the consulting branch. >> al gore: he had a way of shutting that whole thing down.

[laughter] >> cenk: exactly., and by the way, no risk taking. oh, you got to be a risktaker and all of this. they were very successful with bain capital, no question. but there was not level of risk. this was no facebook. it was high finances with some of the risk taken out for them. >> john: speaking as a business neo-fyte speaking, how bain capital helpedter helped tara cycle, they may have had a different perspective. >> cenk: so they recycle fetuses. >> john: these dispose of terminated fetuses. >> cenk: if this had known that in enough time, imagine what newt gringrich could have done

with that in the primary. that goes to an interesting issue of mitt romney's ethics. here is a man of faith helping families, etc. etc. seems to care about that faith. on the other hand, does not mind making money off that company. >> john: this is during one of those nebulous period where he said he was not working for bain but he was. >> al gore: let me make another point about the whole bain story story. as i said earlier i agree with eliot private equity companies and partnerships have an important role to play. but if you take an overvalue of what's been happening in the last two decades. the role of financial engineering in the economy has grown to an unhealthy level. it's intimately connected to this trend of much greater inequality with more and more of

the income going to the very top. that's not just a populous complaint about inequitable distribution of income. that hurts the entire economy. at the bomb of these complaints traces the examples of where they did shut down companies and take huge fees out the people who were hurt were the low-wage employees. they lost their jobs. even in those cases the people who did the financial engineering always came out with huge sums of money. now you can look at specific examples and you can find some stories that really don't look very good. you can find some successful stories well. but his policies would increase this trend increase the inequality. hurt the middle income and lower middle income family.

it hurts the country when they get a much larger share of the nation's network. >> john: it hurts them in the long run. the more money the middle income have the more they buy their products. >> eliot: one way to understand washington what these firms do is play with other people's money. take the risk of other people and shifts the fees. it leads to inequality and it leads to leverage and taking other people's money. >> cenk: we look forward to mitt romney speech. one we have not discussed so far is foreign policy. we might get more into that going forward and marco rubio and clint eastwood coming up later in the program. special event is brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

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tv's coverage of the 2012 republican national convention. of course i'm joined by governor eliot spitzer governor jennifer granholm vice president al gore gore, and cenk uygur who has a name almost as difficult as mine. i'm john fugelsang. thank you for spending this convention with us. we're in the midst of the massachusetts proceedings, and i find it rather interesting. i wanted to ask the opinions of all of y'all because massachusetts is a state that is not in play. there is no serious effort on part of the romney campaign to try to gain any votes in massachusetts. they've written off the entire state. does that give anyone pause? and should that give any of our republican friends pause, as well. >> jennifer: that they've written off massachusetts welcome? >> john: indeed. >> jennifer: don't tell scott brown because i'm sure what he's not. >> john: no, but romney. >> jennifer: romney is not putting any money in there.

it's all for scott brown. that validates that he can run something. >> john: but the greatest accomplishment is his healthcare system, that which he has been running from. >> jennifer: however lately he said if people in massachusetts they would have gotten healthcare. i'll be curious if he claims credit for having constructed a healthcare system that is different from the state as in the federal government. the whole point is that the state should be free to do these things. >> al gore: that goes to a broader point. can we recognize the elect traditionalthe electoralis irrelevant. i was trying to talk my nephews

into vote. how do you get them to believe it does matter when it doesn't matter. >> al gore: i've got strong views, even after the 2011 election i supported the idea of the electoral. >> jennifer: really. >> al gore: amidst regional conflicts and it goes back through our history with legitimate concerns. but since then i've given a lot of thought and i've seen how states are written off and ignored and people are effectively disenfranchised in the presidential race. i really do think it's time to change that. it's always tough to amend the constitution and risky to do so, but there is a very interesting movement under way that takes it state by state that may really have a chance of succeeding. i hope it does. i think that it's time. i think our country would be

stronger and better if it went according to the popular vote. >> jennifer: doesn't it describe that movement in how it would take it state by state? how would that work. >> eliot: you're really throwing me the hard ball. it states with 270 electoral college votes. they would vote their electoral college votes. >> jennifer: at each election? >> cenk: no, each state would pass a law. i was going to propose it in new york. the constitutional issue would be is this an interstate impact that would require congressional approval. if it does, then states would block it because it diminishes their standard. >> john: but it would require congressional approvement. >> eliot: the arcane

constitutional is buried in there. >> al gore: it started in california and it has gained a lot of moment. >> eliot: you're right about the negative corrosive impact about the electoral college. the other element is that it effects governance. i think presidents and republican president who knows he's never going to get california or new york electoral votes is necessarily going to focus on states that are in play. we in new york feel like we're left behind sometimes. >> cenk: let me connect both of those topics. new jersey, chris christie is not giving money to the cities. he's saying i have to give $1.5 billion tax breaks to companies that are not creating jobs and, in fact, some people have fired people on their watch and they're collecting the money any way. camden police department fired their police department, and then crime could skyrocket. why is chris christie not going

to get a single vote from camden so he doesn't care. if you're not going to get votes or dollars from one of these tates, they could careless as a politics. it shouldn't but that really does. >> jennifer: is that chris christie or is that the way the tax structure has been set up because they have state legislature that has perhaps redistricted itself in such a way that it has gotten more disproportionate represent representation outside of the cities inside the cities. that's a classic pitting of cities versus non-city and it happens in every state in the country. >> cenk: chris christie said it's the unions who are taking it. it was within his purview to say i can't have one of the largest cities in my place going without a police department. that's crazy. so let me just take a small fraction of that $1.5 million that i'm giving away to multi national corporations and give it to camden to protect it's citizens.

to that point about money and the donors, think about how much more you can concentrate the money if you only need to worry about 12 states. if every vote counted and you needed to convince the whole country, then we would disperse your money. but if you don't have to worry about california, texas etc. you can concentrate your money and make it even more-- >> eliot: let me give you counter argument. if go to a popular vote you'll focus your money own in the popular states where you can run up big numbers, california florida, etc. and you might ignore oklahoma kansas. that's the argument made by the other side. i don't buy it-- >> al gore: i don't buy it either. you can make a legitimate argument that it would have a legitimate impact on cities versus rural areas. the entire world is becoming more urbanized. i mean, the united states is part of that trend and even leading that trend. rural areas need attention. but i think on balance it is time to move to this.

either we believe in democracy or we don't. >> john: that takes us to the massachusetts point that i began the segment with. if people feel like they don't want to show up and vote for president, they feel like they're missing out in their local elections. that hurts. >> cenk: we're closing in on one of the larger speakers eastwood rubio, oh my god! this is so exciting. and mitt romney later tonight. so come right back. [ singing ] special event is brought to you by communications workers of america. bringing jobs home now.

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(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the republican national convention with vice president gore, governor jennifer granholm, governor eliot spitzer and john fugelsang. >> jennifer: tailor hicks was just on here. i wonder if they have ambulances on hand in case people overexert themselves in the rousing taylor hicks number. a lot of people were dancing on the floor. >> cenk: i'm mad we missed that because there is nothing funnier than republicans dancing. convention goers are not known

for their dancing. >> eliot: are you a good dancer. >> cenk: absolutely not. i had a girlfriend--and this will lead to foreign policy. i had a girlfriend who banned me from dancing. oh no, sit down. >> john: white people being horrible dancers unite us bipartisanly. >> cenk: even when we have olive skin such as i. foreign policy, we haven't had a chance to discuss it yet. the republican plan for foreign policy can be summarized as, we're number one! and we would like to start a war somewhere. it appears that will probably be iran. look, i want to emphasize this. i don't think it has been emphasized in this campaign enough. i think if mitt romney wins the election it is a near certainty that we will be involved in some significant conflict in iran. >> jennifer: well, john bolton, the secretary of state.

>> cenk: can you imagine? he might be. >> jennifer: he has been his adviser. >> cenk: john bolton is a maniac. he said to get rid of ten floors of the united nations and then he couldn't get confirmed. that's how radical he is. but he's one of the top foreign policies for mitt romney. we also have news about iran, which might make all this more likely. >> eliot: let's hope not. there was a news item i saw online that iran is now installing and potentially complete--i don't want to get it wrong--the centerfuges they need for nuclear weapons. no one knows what that means. are they going to, are they not going to. this is the big debate. how close is the time frame. in terms of iran, obviously mitt romney has been much more bellicose saying bomb and interestingly has said to israel if i were president you would have the green light to go ahead an do this.

whether israel wants to, with intelligence and defense saying, hey guys, premature. but this is might be where we reach a red red line very soon. >> cenk: have we been left behind. >> eliot: basically saying rather than waiting for our decision we would let you make the decision which could pull us into a conflict which the white house these days does not want. a complicated issue. >> cenk: let me serve my role on being controversial. if israel bombs iran, if i were the united states, i would not help that effort. israel is one of our own top toppallies. let's take another toppally turkey. let's say they can'ted to bomb kazakhstan. i wouldn't support that. >> al gore: there is a difference though. there is a difference. this is an extension existential threat.

they deny the holocaust while trying to carry out another one. >> cenk: i disagree with that. >> al gore: i think his professed hostility to israel's existence coupled with the evidence that you can interpret it different ways, but this new evidence that is consistent with the view that they are moving in a determined way toward the acquisition of nuclear weaponry. now,-- >> cenk: do you think that should be a red line for the president? >> al gore: i think it should be, and i think it is for this president. with the two highly sophisticated computer viruses that shut down the centerfuge operation previously, and when israel has apparently been doing in a covert way there is--and also saudi arabia has an

existential threat in iran. >> cenk: let me go one step further. we set back their nuclear program, great. that's what we're supposed to do, if you ask me. that's with our spy operation. >> al gore: expect we're the most vulnerable. >> cenk: and iran having nuclear weapons and saudi arabia, god that sounds so incredibly dangerous for that entire region having nuclear weapons. but north korea having nuclear weapons is an existential threat if ever there was one. >> eliot: there are rogue states. when rogue states have nuclear weapons you have to react. and the professed intent to use whether that would be followed

through, we don't know. but where you're wrong even for this white house. it's not whether we would use arms but when we would and how we would make the decision. >> al gore: all of a sudden one of their nuclear facilities showed up obliterated and no one said anything about it, including iran. >> cenk: and a similar thing happened in syria. >> al gore: of course. >> cenk: we do have disagreement. and i don't believe that it's our business but that's a very fair disagreement to have among friends and allies. so now when we come back we'll check back in with the convention. david shuster has a report for us, and much promised speakers are, in fact coming. cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere

including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

>> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the republican national convention, and we've got our own correspondents on the scene there. of course, david shuster making news at this convention, everyone quoting him on bringing that cnn camera person story and michael shure and we're joined by both of them. what do you have for us, fellas? >> well, we were just listening on the conversation you were having you. four minutes that we had of the conversation going on in new york at the currency is more foreign policy. >> also of course you count the foreign policy of kicking the

russians all over the ice going back 42 years. but seriously, longer discussion of what you're talking about. >> i will say tonight david there has been more energy in the room here than we've seen any other night. >> yes three reasons. anticipation, and it could be mitt romney's speech and a lot of anticipation about that and it could be the journey is going to be playing tonight. >> the thing about journey playing, instead of steve perry they have a filipino lead singer which means they've outsourced journey. [ laughing ] >> jennifer: i wonder how much they have to pay for the talent. >> cenk: i've seen a report that they paid one of the bands $500,000.

>> jennifer: i've seen that david polk is a delegate there at the convention. he made some news today which says that he actually disagrees with the g.o.p. constants on gay marriage, and he believes that the u.s. needs to consider raising taxes to balance the budget. that's david koch. as in the koch brothers david koch. have you seen him down there? >> i haven't run in to him. we've seen ryan ross who said he jumped off of a boat, covered his nametag and walked right into his car. i don't know that story. but if david koch says it i guess the republicans are going to raise taxes. >> jennifer: and gay marriage will be part of the platform. that's clear. >> they'll have a difficult time arguing with him just like they have a difficult time arguing with him with all the other things that he wants done. but i think this is more about david koch trying to be more

reasonable. >> but in his defense he is the only one who is out here, the only one who is saying that's who i am. >> jennifer: the rumor is there is a lot of vips in the seats. you say the seats are more filled. rumor has it there are more higher profile people from the delegations. are you seeing that as well? >> yeah, i think it's fair to say. members of congress, senators, and even some of the money people who avoided the first couple of nights in the sky boxes, now everybody wants to be on the floor in the hall for the balloon drop and take it in themselves. >> jennifer: we got to go, but i know we'll be back to you. keep your ear to the ground. that's our great correspondent. all right, michael shure and david shuster on the floor of the convention. we will be right back because we do have great speeches to bring to you as well as great information from what is then happening on the floor while we've had a great foreign policy discussion. come on back.

but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

>> cenk: we're back on current. we're covering the republican national convention. obviously the last day here. mitt romney is going to speak in a little bit. he'll speak for about a half hour from four different areas and obviously try to reach out to women as well as they've been

trying to do throughout this convention. after the convention is over we'll have debates. we're doing the convention coverage with vice president gore, governor jennifer granholm granholm governor eliot spitzer, john fugelsang. we were talking about voter i.d. laws and how critical they are to this election. tell us, vice president about your experience in 2000. we remember the speech from 1980 where they said, i don't want more people to vote. i only want our guys to vote. tell us what happened in 2000 and has it gotten worse? >> al gore: well, it's been written about. [laughter] more interesting is what happened after the immediate aftermath of the 2000 election when there was seemingly a bipartisan determination to fix the chaos and to have more

justice in the procedures for registering and voting. and then nothing happened. of course, this right wing organization that brings state legislators, alec, made it a key part of their agenda. and then a lot of states simultaneously passed these laws to restrict the franchise. in the united states this goes back a long way. our founders have this debate. benjamin franklin was the most eloquent voice against having property ownership requirement for voting. then the jim crow laws came in to purposely restrict african-americans from being able to vote. this is a revival of jim crow. i am really and truly shocked that there has been such a brazen effort to prevent people

were voting for purely partisan reasons justified by a completely fraudulent argument, and there is opposition to it. it is unamerican. it's a crime against democracy itself and there should be an up rising against it. >> jennifer: why wouldn't we have universal franchise. anyone who is a citizen should be entitled. >> al gore: well, here we are in the digital age where there is a whole talker economy out there where companies take follow every website that people visit. we should automatically register every member of the united states to vote without question. >> john: when you were in the senate, my first question to the subject was the bill under president george h.w. bush when the law would say when you get your driver's license you're

automatically registered to vote. president bush said you can't force people to take part in the process. it didn't. it just made them eligible. i would think that a smart democrat might want to try to reintroduce that bill. could that happen? >> al gore: well, i think it could if we had enough votes. this is a key part to the right-wing agenda. it goes back to the 70s when all these right-wing think tanks were set up, and this has been a determined carefully thought out strategy to try to actively reduce the number of people voting because they know that the lower income african-american, latino voters are going to have a difficult time meeting these requirements. it's wrong. it's anti-american. >> cenk: and one of the founders of the heritage foundation, one

of the foundational characters in the republican party said hey, let's make sure we have a strategy where less people vote. it is literally undemocratic, and yet they've been able to get away with it because part of the problem is that people think on the local level state level it's in the that important to national politics. but it is. and as we saw--i done want to bring it up again but you were very kind to jeb bush. but jeb bush in florida made an enormous difference there. >> eliot: the decision today took a step in the right direction embraced the constitutional matter of what you said, these burdens placed on low income african-american voters violate our simple rights. >> jennifer: it will go to the court of appeals. i wonder who will appeal it to the supreme court, and then what will happen. >> eliot: it will be appealed. >> john: more people are killed every year by falling television sets than voting illegally. >> cenk: people are killed every year by falling coconuts than

voter fraud. it's amazing. it's not a real issue at all. [ laughing ] all right we've got to take another quick break. mitt romney will speak in the next hour or so. so we'll announce that as well as we continue. america. bringing jobs home now.

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>> cenk: we were just talking during the break about how interesting juxtaposition there between george romney and mitt romney. george romney so much more moderate. mitt romney so much more extreme, so much more right-wing than his father at least in terms of his position. >> john: ten years ago he wasn't. ten years ago he was a moderate in the mold of his father, but if you look at his father during vietnam, i like to call that mitt's first flip flop.

he demonstrated not just for the war, but avoided serving. he actually protested at stanford in favor of the draft and still didn't want to go and then went over to france for his missionary work. >> cenk: why it is a democrat it is a huge issue but bush had an issue about that as well -- >> john: he was never held to task for supporting the war but not wanting to go. >> cenk: fair enough. when you look at mitt romney almost no one mentions the fact that he did not go to vietnam and went to a mansion in france instead. if a democrat had done that, i just can't imagine it wouldn't be a huge issue.

>> jennifer: it is part of being mormon, though. there is nobody on the ticket on either side that has served in vietnam. >> al gore: i think the country has finally decided to get past the vietnam years. i think it's a legitimate talking point, but i think the country has decided to give him a pass. the other thing that is a contrast between mitt romney and his father who a lot of people liked so much was the issue of releasing his tax returns. not only did he release ten years, but he set the standard that has been followed ever since, and he said specifically that if you just do one year it can be very misleading. i think that's a pretty sharp

contrast. >> jennifer: i think the father and son are reflective of how far the republican party has moved. >> al gore: yeah. >> jennifer: george romney was part of that republican party that existed so pervasively in the 60s and 70s. >> democrats moved that far as well. the entire political spectrum has shifted. you go back and look at what was being said about economics, tax policy, redistribution it is staggering to see -- health care -- it is staggering. >> al gore: and it is directly related to the growing money in politic. >> cenk: here we go -- >> jennifer: oh, clint eastwood

is up. [ cheers and applause ] >> jennifer: we got to listen to this. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. [ laughter ] >> save a little for mitt. [ laughter ] >> now i know what you are thinking. you are thinking what is a movie tradesman doing out here? you know they are all left wingers out there, left of lennon, at least what people think, but that's not really the case. there are a lot of conservative people, moderate people

republicans, democrats in hollywood, it's just that conservative people by the nature of the world itself play at it little more close to the vest, and they don't go around hot dogging it. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> so . . . [ cheers and applause ] >> but they are there. believe me they are there. and -- and i -- i just -- i think -- in fact there are some of them around town i saw john [ inaudible ] a lot of people are around here. john [ inaudible ] academy award winner. and these people are all like minded like all of us. so i have got -- i have got mr. obama sitting here and i was just going to ask him a couple of questions. [ laughter ] >> i -- i remember three and a half years ago when mr. obama won the election and no i

wasn't a big supporter, i was watching that night when he was having that thing and they were talking about hope and change, and yes, we can and it was dark and outdoors and it was nice and people were lighting candles and they were saying -- you know, and i just thought this is great. i mean everybody is crying. oprah was crying. [ laughter ] >> and i was even crying. [ laughter ] >> and then finally, i haven't cried that hard since i found out that -- there's 23 million unemployed people in this country. [ cheers and applause ] >> and -- now that -- that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace a national disgrace, and we haven't done enough obviously. this administration hasn't done enough to cure that and whatever -- whatever interests

they have is -- is not strong enough. and i think possibly now it may be time for somebody to come along and solve the problem. [ cheers and applause ] >> so . . . so mr. president, how do you -- how do you handle -- how do you handle promises that you have made when you are running for election and how do you handle -- how do you handle it? what do you say to people? do you -- do you just -- you know, i know -- [ laughter ] >> -- people are wondering you don't -- okay. well, i know even some of the people in your own party who were very disappointed when you

didn't close git-mo. and i thought maybe it was an excuse -- oh -- what do you mean shut up? [ laughter ] >> okay. i just -- i thought it was just because somebody had this stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown new york city. maybe that was it. [ cheers and applause ] >> i have got a -- i have got to hand it to you -- i have got to give credit where credit is due, you did overrule that finally, and now we're moving onward, and i know you were against the war in iraq, and that's okay. but you thought the war in afghanistan was okay. you thought that was something that was worth doing. we didn't check with the russians to see how they did there for ten years, but it -- it -- we did it.

[ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> and it was -- you know it's -- it's something to -- to be thought about, and i think that -- that when we get to -- maybe -- i think -- you mentioned something about having a target date for bringing everybody home, and you give that target date and -- and i think mr. romney asked the only sensible question, so why are you giving the date out now? why don't you just bring them home tomorrow morning? [ cheers and applause ] >> and i thought -- i thought, yeah, there's -- i'm not going to shut up. it's my turn. [ laughter ] >> so anyway, we got -- we're going to have -- we're going to have to have a little chat about that. and then i -- i -- i just wondered -- with all -- all -- all of these promises, and i wondered

about -- you know when -- when the -- what? what do you want me to tell romney? [ laughter ] >> i can't tell him to do that. he can't do that to himself. [ laughter ] >> you are absolutely crazy. [ laughter ] >> you are getting as bad as biden. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> i thought -- of course we all know biden -- biden is the intellect of the democratic party, so just kind of a -- kind of a grin with a body behind it and -- kind of the -- but i -- i -- i just think -- i just think that there is so much to be done, and i think that mr. -- mr. romney and mr. ryan are two guys that can come

along -- see i never thought that it was a good idea for attorneys to be president anyway. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> yeah. i think -- i think attorneys are so busy -- they are always taught to argue everything, and weigh everything, and weigh both sides, and they are always you know -- they are always devil's advocating this, and bifurcating this and bifurcating that but i think it's time what do you think, for maybe a businessman. how about that? [ cheers and applause ] >> a stellar businessman, quote unquote, a stellar businessman. and i think it's that time and i think if you just kind of stepped aside, and mr. romney can take over you can still use

the plane -- though maybe a smaller one. not that big gas guzzler that you are driving around when you are going to colleges and talking about student loans and stuff like that. you are an ecological man, why would you want to drive that truck around. okay. i'm sorry. i can't do that to myself either. anyway -- [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> but i would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen, something that i think is very important is that you, we -- we own this country. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you. yes, we -- we own it. itself not you owning it, and

not politicians owning it. politicians are employees of ours. [ cheers and applause ] >> and so . . . [ cheers and applause ] >> they are just going to come around and beg for votes every few years and it's the same old deal, but i just think that it's important that you realize that -- and -- and -- that you are the best in the world, and whether democrat or a republican or a libertarian, or whatever you are the best and we should not ever forget that and we -- when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go. [ cheers and applause ] [ laughter ]

[ cheers and applause ] >> okay. yes. okay. just remember that. and i'm speaking out for everybody out there. it doesn't hurt -- we don't have to be -- [ inaudible ] >> don't say that word anymore. well, maybe one last time. [ laughter ] >> we don't have to be -- what i'm saying is we don't have to be masochists and vote for somebody we really don't want in office. he may be a nice guy or maybe not such a nice guy if you look at some of the ads out there.

but -- [ cheers and applause ] >> okay. you want to make my day huh? [ cheers and applause ] >> all right. i'll start it. you finish it go ahead -- [ crowd together make my day ] . >> thank you. thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] >> cenk: that was clint eastwood one of the most bizarre speeches in convention history. the crowd seemed to eat it up but at home, in the twitter feed, here in the studio we thought that was incredibly strange. john thought it went well for him with the audience. >> john: it was a bizarre performance, but the crowd seemed to be enjoying it.

>> cenk: all right. marco rubio now. >> thank you so much for having me here today and for doing this convention here in florida. thank you. before i begin this is such an important night for our country. i want to take just -- with your permission just a few seconds to talk about another country, a country located just a few hundred miles away from the city, the country of my parent's birth. there is no freedom or liberty in cuba, and i ask for your prayers that soon liberty and freedom will be theirs as well. [ cheers and applause ] >> not so long ago i was deep underdog candidate. the only people that thought i could win all lived in my house. four of them were under the age of ten.

[ laughter ] >> but this is incredible when i was asked to introduce governor romney, whom we'll hear from in just a moment. i promise he is backstage ready to go. i asked a lot of people, and they all had different opinions and they all said don't mess it up. so i thought the best way to introduce mr. romney tonight, the next president of the united states -- [ cheers and applause ] . >> -- is to talk about what this election is about, and i'm so honored to be able to do it here in florida at the republican national convention in front of all of your patriots. i watched my first convention in 1980 with my grandfather. my grandfather was born to a farming family in rule cuba. childhood polio left him disabled. so his family sent him to

school. he was the only one in his family who knew how to read. has a boy i used to sit on the porch of his house and listen to stories of history and baseball and he would puff on one of his three daily cigars. it has been three decades since we last sat on that porch, and i don't remember all of the things he talked to me about, but the one thing i remember is the one thing he wanted me never to forget, that the dreams he had when he was young became impossible to achieve, but there was no limit to where i could go because i was an american. [ cheers and applause ] >> now for those of us -- here's why i say that -- here's why i say that -- because for those of us born and raised in this country, sometimes it becomes easy to forget how special america is but my grandfather

understood how different america was from the rest of the world, because he knew life outside of america. tonight you will hear from another man who understands what makes america exceptional. [ cheers and applause ] >> mitt romney knows america's prosperity didn't happen because our government simply spent more money. it happened because our people used their own money to open a business, and when they succeed they hire more people to invest in the economy, helping others start a business or create jobs. tonight we have hear for a long time now about mitt romney's success in business. it's well-known, but we have also learned that he is so much more than that. mitt romney is a devoted husband, father grandfather, generous member of his community and church, a role model for younger americans like myself.

everywhere he has been he has volunteered his time and talent to make things better for those around him. and we are blessed that a man like this will soon be the president of these united states. [ cheers and applause ] >> now . . . let me be clear so no one misunderstoods, our problem with president obama isn't that he is a bad person. by all accounts he too is a good husband, and a good father, and thanks to lots of practice a good golfer. our problem is not that he is a bad person. our problem is that he's a bad president. [ cheers and applause ] >> you think he is watching tonight? [ laughter ]

>> because his new slogan for his campaign is the word forward. forward. a government that spends $1 trillion more than it takes in. an $800 billion stimulus that created more debt than jobs a government intervention into health care paid for with higher taxes and cuts to medicare scores of new rules and regulations. these ideas don't move us forward. these ideas move us backwards. [ cheers and applause ] >> these are tired and old big government ideas that have failed every time they have been tried. these are ideas that people come to america to get away from. [ cheers and applause ] >> these are ideas that threaten

to make america more like the rest of the world instead of helping the rest of the world become more like america. [ cheers and applause ] >> as for his old slogan under barack obama the only change is that hope is hard to find. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> now, sadly, millions of americans are insecure about their future. but instead of inspiring us, by remaining us of what makes us special, he divides us against each other. he tells americans that they are worse off because others are better off. that rich people got rich by making other people poor. hope and change has become divide and concur. [ cheers and applause ] >> but in the end, this election, it doesn't matter how you feel about president obama, because this election is about

your future, not about his. [ cheers and applause ] >> and -- and this election is not simply a choice between a democrat and a republican. it's a choice about what kind of country we want america to be. [ cheers and applause ] >> and as we prepare to make this choice, we should remember what made us special. you see for most of human history -- almost everybody was poor. power and wealth only belonged to a few. your rights or whatever your rulers allowed you to have. your future was determined by your past. if your parents were poor so would you be. if you were born without opportunities, so were your children, but america was founded on the principal that every person has god-given rights. [ cheers and applause ] >> founded on the belief that

power belongs to the people; that government exists to protect our rights and serve our interests, and that no one should be trapped in the circumstances of their birth. we should be as free to go as far as our talents and our work can take us. [ cheers and applause ] >> and we're special -- we're special because we're united not as a common race or a common ethnicity. we're bound together by common values; that family is the most important institution in society. [ cheers and applause ] >> and that all mighty god is the source of all we have. [ cheers and applause ]

>> we're special -- we're special because we have never made the mistake of believing that we are so smart, that we can rely solely on our leaders or our government. our national motto, in god we trust, remaining us that faith in our leader is the most important value of them all. [ cheers and applause ] >> and we're special . . . we're special because we have always understood the scriptal admonish from everyone for whom much is given, much will be required. [ cheers and applause ] >> well, my fellow americans, we are a uniquely blessed people and we are honored those blessings with an enduring

example of an exceptional america. [ cheers and applause ] >> i know for many of you watching at home tonight, the last few years have tested your faith in the promise of america. maybe you are at an age where you thought you would be entering requirement. but now because your savings and investments are wiped out, your future is uncertain. maybe this is the time you expected to be your prime earning years, but instead you have been laid off, and your house is worthless than your mortgage. you studied hard, and finished school, but now you owe thousands of dollars in student loans. you can't find a job in your field, and you have had to move back in with your parents. you want to believe that we're still that special place where anything is possible, but things just don't seem to be getting any better and you wonder if things will ever be the same again. yes, we live in a troubled time

but the story of those who became before us reminds us that america has always been about new beginnings. and mitt romney is running for president because he knows if we are willing to do for our children what our papers did for us, life in america can be better than it has ever been! [ cheers and applause ] >> my mother was one of seven girls who's parents often went to bed hungry so their children wouldn't. my father lost his mother when he was nine. he had to leave school and go to work, and he would have worked for the next 70 years of his life. they imma grated to america with little more than the hope of a better life. my dad was a bartender, my mom was a cashier, hotel maid stock

clerk at k-mart. they never made it big, they were never rich, and yet they were successful, because just a few decades removed from hopelessness, they made possible for us all of the things that had been possible for them. many nights i would hear my father's keys jingling at the door as he came home after another 16-hour day. many mornings i woke up just as my mother got home from the overnight shift at k-mart. when you are young and in a hurry, the meaning of moments like this escape you, but now as my children get older, i understand it better. my dad used to tell us [ speaking spanish ] in this country you can going to be able to accomplish all of the things we never could. a few years ago during a speech i noticed the bartender behind the portable bar in the back of

the ballroom and i remembered my father who worked for many years as a banquet bartender. he was grateful for the work, but that's not the life he wanted for us. he stood behind the bar in the back of the room all of those years so one day i could stand behind a poet um in the front of the room. [ cheers and applause ] >> that journey . . . that journey from behind that bar to behind this podium goes to the essence of the american miracle, that we are except shunnal not because we have more rich people here. we're special because dreams that are impossible anywhere

else, they come true here. [ cheers and applause ] >> but . . . but that's not just my story. that's your story. that's our story. that's the story of your mothers, who struggled to give you what they never had. that's the story of your fathers who worked two jobs so the doors that had been closed for them would be open for you. that's the story of that teacher or coach that taught you the lessons that made you who you are today, and it's the story of a man who was born into an uncertain future in a foreign country. his family came to america to escape revolution. they struggled through poverty and the great depression and yet he rose to be an admired businessman and public servant, and in november his son mitt romney will be elected president of these united states.

[ cheers and applause ] >> in america . . . [ crowd chanting ] >> in america we are all just a generation or two removed from someone who made our future the purpose of their lives. america is the story of every day people who did extraordinary things. a story woven deep in the fabric of our society. their stories may never be famous, but in the lives they live you will find the essence of america's greatness, and to make sure that america is still a place where tomorrow is always better than yesterday, that is what our politics should be

about, and that is what we are deciding this election. [ cheers and applause ] >> we decide do we want our children to inherit our hopes and dreams or do we want them to inherit our problems? because mitt romney believes that if we succeed in changing the direction of our country our children and grandchildren will be the most prosperous generation ever, and their achievements will astonish the world. [ cheers and applause ] >> the story of our time whether be written by americans who haven't yet even been born. let us make sure they write that we did our part; that in the early years of this new century, we lived in an uncertain time but we did not allow fear to

cause us to abandon what made us special. we chose more government instead of more freedom. we chose the principles of our founding to solve the challenges of our time. we chose a special man to lead us in a special time. we chose mitt romney to lead our nation and because we did the american miracle lived on for another generation to inherit! [ cheers and applause ] >> my fellow republicans, my fellow americans i am proud to introduce to you the next president of the united states of america, mitt romney! [ cheers and applause ] [ laughter ]

>> jennifer: unbelievable. >> cenk: mentioned mitt romney about two times. >> al gore: like another version of chris christie. i have to say the strangest thing about it was he completely ignored invisible obama in the chair next to him. >> cenk: and is rubio's dad running for president? he mentioned it more times as he mentioned mitt romney. >> jennifer: yeah, i think he is going to get slammed for that. >> al gore: as one of you guys said during the break, that was a tuesday night speech. >> jennifer: it is a 2016 speech is what it is. >> john: you are right. >> it was also very odd, lengthy, and not very excited

entrance into the arena. >> cenk: i think they were going with a presidential look but it has fallen flat, i agree with eliot. >> al gore: this is actually not an unusual entrance for an acceptance speech at a convention. this has been done before. and the point of it is is to try to pick up the energy from the crowd. >> cenk: i don't feel the energy. >> john: i haven't seen this many white people this excited since the last mass mooney wedding. [ laughter ] >> even paul ryan is looking around thinking how much longer. >> cenk: he is thinking i wish rubio's dad was here. >> john: who is speaking after mitt? [ laughter ] >> cenk: chris christie was the

best self indulgence speech of all time! [ laughter ] >> john: governor romney has been waiting five years to make this speech. >> cenk: it's emblemattic about the lack of excitement that they have had all along. >> yeah. >> cenk: anything you can say about mitt romney just didn't do it. >> the poll today had him up by one point. paul ryan most of the nation thought was good and ann romney gave a great speech. so let's not kid ourselves. >> cenk: now let's see what mitt romney is going to say here and we will have analysis afterwards of course. and he has four themes he is

going to touch on. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> mr. chairman . . . mr. chairman and delegates . . . [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> mr. chairman and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ]

>> i do so with humility deeply moved by the trust you have placed in me. it's a great honor. it's an even greater responsibility, and tonight i'm asking you to join me to walk together to a better future and by my side i have chosen a man with a big hart from a small town. [ cheers and applause ] >> he represents the best of america, a man who will always make us very proud, my friend and america's next vice president, paul ryan. [ cheers and applause ] >> in the days ahead, you are

going to get to know paul and janna better but last night america got to see what i saw in paul ryan, a strong and caring leader who is down to earth and confident in the challenge this moment demands, and i love the way he lights up around his kids, and how he is not embarrassed to show the world how much he loves his mom. [ applause ] >> but paul i still like the play list on my ipod better than yours. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] that >> four years ago many americans felt excitement about the possibility of a new president. we're a good and generous people, and we are united by so much more than what divides us. when the election was over. when the yard signs came down

and the television commercials finally came off of the air, americans were eager to go back to work, to live our lives the way americans always have. optimistic, and positive and confident in the future. that very optimism is uniquely american. we're a nation of immigrants with the children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the ones who wanted a better life, the driven ones. the ones who woke up at night hearing that voice telling them that life in the place called % america could be better. they came, not just in pursuit of the riches of this world, but for the richness of this life. freedom, freedom of religion freedom to speak their mind freedom to build a life and yes, freedom to build a business with their own hands. [ cheers and applause ]

>> this is the essence of the american experience, we americans have always felt a special kenship with the future whenever new wave of immigrants looked up and saw the statute of liberty or knelt down and kissed the shores of freedom, these new americans surely have many questions, but non-doubted that here they could build a letter life. that in america their children would be blessed greater than they. but today for the first time the majority of americans now doubt that our children will have a better future. it's not what we were promised. every family in america wanted this to be a time when they could get a little ahead, put aside more for college, do more for theelerly mom that is now living alone or give a little

more to their church or charity. every small business wanted these to be their best years ever when they could hire more open a new store, or sponsor that little league team. every new college graduate thought they would have a job by now, a place of their own. this is when our nation was supposed to start paying down the national debt. this was the hope and change america voted for. it's not just what we wanted. it's not just what we expected. it's what americans deserve! [ cheers and applause ] [ chanting usa ]

>> you deserved it because during these years you worked harder than ever before. you deserved it because when it cost more to fill a car, you cut out movie nights or put in longer hours, or when you lost that job, you took two jobs at $9 an hour. [ cheers and applause ] [ chanting usa ] >> you deserve it because your family depended on you, and you did it because you are an american, and you don't quit. you did it because it was what

you had to do. but driving home late from that second job, or standing there watching the gas pump hit $50 and still going, when the realtor told you that to sell your house you would have to take a big loss in those moments you knew this just doesn't right, but what could you do, work harder stay optimistic, hug your kids a little longer, maybe spend more time praying that tomorrow would be a better day. i wish president obama had succeeded, because i want america to succeed. [ cheers and applause ] >> but his promises gave way to disappointments and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something, and with your help, we will do something. [ cheers and applause ]

>> now is the moment when we can stan up and say, i'm an american. i make my destiny. we deserve better. my children deserves better. my family deserves better. my country deserves better. [ cheers and applause ] >> so here we stand, americans have a choice, a decision. to make that choice you need to know more about me, and where i would lead our country. i was born in the middle of the century in the middle of the country. a classic baby boomer. it was a time when americans were returning from war and eager to work. to be an american was to assume that all things were possible

when president kennedy challenged americans to go to the moon the question wasn't whether we would will get, it was only when we would will get. [ cheers and applause ] >> the souls of neil armstrong's boots on the moon made permanent impressions on our souls. ann and i watched those steps together on her parents sofa. we went to bed that night knowing we live in the greatest country in the history of the world. [ cheers and applause ] [ chanting usa ] >> god bless neil armstrong. [ cheers and applause ] >> tonight that american flag is still there on the moon and i

don't doubt for second that neil armstrong's spirit is still with us. with the utter confidence that when the world needs somebody to do the really big stuff, you need an american. [ cheers and applause ] >> my dad had been born in mexico, and his family had to leave during the mexican revolution. i grew up with stories of his family being fed by the u.s. government as war testify gees. my dad never made it through college, and he app paren 2ised as a carpenter. he had big dreams. he convinced my mom to give up halwood to marry him. they moved to detroit -- [ cheers and applause ]

. >> -- he lead a great automobile company and became governor of the great state of michigan. [ cheers and applause ] >> we were -- we were mormons and growing up in michigan that might have seemed unusual or out of place, but i really don't remember it that way. my friends cared more about what sports teams we followed than what church we went to. my mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all, the gift of unconditional love. they cared deeply about who we would be and much less about what we would do. unconditional love is a gift that ann and i have tried to pass on to our sons and grandchildren. all of the laws and legislation in the world will never heal this world like the loving hearts and arms of loving mothers and fathers. [ cheers and applause ]

. >> you know if every child could drift to sleep feeling wrapped in the love of their family and god's love this world would be a far more gentle and better place. [ cheers and applause ] >> my mom and dad were married for 64 years. and if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist. [ laughter ] >> because every day dad gave mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. that's what happened on the day my father died she went looking for him because that morning there was no rose. my mom and dad were true partners. when my mom ran for the senate by dad was there for her every step of the way. i could still see her saying in

her beautiful voice, why should women have any less say than men about the great decisions facing our nation? [ cheers and applause ] >> don't -- don't you wish she could have been here at this convention? and heard leaders like governor mary fallen governor nick i can haley, governor susana martinez secretary of state condoleezza rice. [ cheers and applause ] >> as governor of massachusetts i -- i chose a woman lieutenant governor, a woman chief of staff. half of my cabinet and senior

officials were women. and in business i mentored and supported great women leaders who went on to run great companies. i grew in detroit in love with cars and wanted to be a car guy like my dad. but i realized i had to go out on my own. if i stayed around michigan and the same business i would never really know if i was getting a break because of my dad. i wanted to go someplace new and prove myselves. many long hours and weekends working, five young sons who seemed to have this need to reenact a different world war every night. but if you ask ann and i what we would give to break up just one more fight between the boys or wake up in the morning and discover a pile of kids asleep in our room, every mom and dad knows the answer to that. [ applause ]

>> those days were the . . . [ applause ] >> these were tough days on ann, particularly. she was her ohhic through it all. i had to travel a lot for my job, and i would call and try to offer support, but every mom knows that doesn't help get the homework done or get the kids out to school, and i knew that her job as a mom was heard than mine, and i knew without question that her job as a mom was a lot more important than mine. [ cheers and applause ] >> and as america saw tuesday night, ann would have succeeded at anything she wanted to do. [ cheers and applause ]

>> like a lot of families in a new place with no family we -- we found kinship with a wide circle of friends through the church. it was welcoming and as the years went by i was a joy to help others that just moved into town or just joined our church. we had remarkably vibrant and diverse congregations from all works of life. we played together our kids played together, and we always stood ready to help out in different ways. that's how it was in america. we looked to our faith, our families and joy in good times and bad. it's both how we live our lives and why we live our lives.

>> the strength at power of our goodness, our communities, our families, and our faiths. [ cheers and applause ] >> that's the bedrock of what makes america, america. in our best days we can feel the vibrancy of america large and small. it's when our son or daughter calls from college to talk about which job offer they should take, and you try not to choke up when you hear that the one they like best is not too far from home. it's that good feeling when you have more time to volunteer to coach your kid's soccer team or help out on school trips, but for too many americans those kind of good days are harder to come by.

many of you have felt something special was happening in america four years ago. but tonight i would ask a simple question. if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he is president obama? [ applause ] >> you know there's something wrong with the kind of job he has done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> the president hasn't disappointed you because he wanted to. the president has disappointed america because he hasn't lead america in the right direction. he took office without the basic qualification that most americans have and one that was

essential to the task at hand. he had almost no experience working in a business. jobs to him are about government. [ cheers and applause ] >> i learned the real lessons about how america works from experience. when i was 37 i helped start a small company. my parters in and i had been working for a company that was in the business of helping other businesses, so some of us had this idea that if we really believed our advice was helping companies, we should invest in companies. we should bet on ourselves and our advise. so we started a new business called bain capital. the only problem was while he believed in ours not many other people did. [ laughter ] >> we were young and hadn't done this before, and we almost didn't get off the grown. i wondered if i had a made a

really big mistake. i thought about asking my church's pension fund invest but i didn't. i figured it was bad enough if i lost my investor's money, but i didn't want to go to hell too. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> shows what i know. another of my partners got the theestthe espiscopal church to invest. some of the companies we helped start are names you know and you are heard from tonight. an office company called staples, where i'm pleased to see the obama campaign has been shopping.

[ cheers and applause ] >> the sports authority which of course became a favorite of my boys. we helped start an early childhood learning company called bright horizons which michelle obama rightly praised. and we built a steel mill in the corn field of indiana. these are american success stories, and yet the centerpiece of the president's entire recollection -- reelection campaign is attacking success. and attacking success had lead to the worst economic situation since the great depression. in america we celebrate success.

we don't apologize for success. [ cheers and applause ] >> now . . . now we weren't always successful at bain but no one ever really is in this present world of business. business and growing jobs is about taking risk sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding but always striving. it's about dreams. usually it doesn't work out exactly as you might have imagined. steve jobs was fired at apple, and then he came back and changed the world. it's the genius of the free

enterprise system system -- [ inaudible ] [ cheers and applause ] >> that's why . . . that's why every president since the great depression who came before the american people asking for a second term, could look back at the last four years and say with satisfaction, you are better off than you were four years ago except jimmy carter and except this president. [ cheers and applause ] >> this president can ask us to