to vice president gore and darrell hammond. and remember if you have nothing nice to say say it any way. [ laughing ] [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> al gore: welcome to current tv's live coverage of the 2012 democratic national convention. we have a panel here. we have governor eliot spitzer in our home university located in new york city. we have cenk uygur host of "the young turks"." governor jennifer granholm, two-time governor of michigan and host of the war room on current tv. and john fugelsang commentator and comedian. we'll try to cut it down for you

tonight. we'll go to all the important speeches. we'll hear from michelle obama of course, and a great keynote speech from julian castro. we'll give you our unique take on it, and you'll be able to participate by way of social media. give us run down on how that works. >> cenk: i will. as you saw in the republican convention because i'm positive you all were watching, we have a twitter feed that goes up on the screen, and we have a whole range of different publics that we look in on, mainstream media pundits, conservatives liberals comedians and they're oftentimes incredibly funny including, when everyone is talking about invisible obama. at the end of the republican national convention, i'll have a fact on that that you'll love, and of course president obama as well here tweeting. in fact, the biggest tweet of the republican national convention was ironically from

president obama. it was about invisible obama. we'll get to that in a bit. we'll go to l.a. to check in on social media. we'll go to convention live to check in. michael shure and david shuster and we'll go to some of the speeches that the vice president mentioned and cal penn will be checking in. it will be interesting and then at the end of the night michelle obama. so let's get started. now, what are we expecting from this convention, and as a man who has run a convention, and attended--is it 1828-- >> al gore: i'm not that old. you. >> cenk: what do they have to do to win the democrats. >> al gore: in 1964 i remember on the beach a big billboard

that barry goldwater supporters put up "in your heart you know he's right." i predict a more successful exercise than what we saw last week in tampa. i think the republican convention was very interesting. of course, we all had the chance to share that experience together but in the aftermath the balance the momentum that came out of it was much smaller than normally is the case at a convention. i predict this one is going to be more successful. president obama and his team have had experience in putting a convention together. i think they'll do an excellent job, and i think you'll see the highlight tonight with michelle obama not really making a political speech, but rather talking about the president as a person, and the issues that she has been so successful in dealing with. >> cenk: now, i know one of the reasons why it will be a giant success is because governor

granholm will be speaking there. >> jennifer: well, not tonight. >> cenk: on thursday. i liked what eliot was saying at the beginning. let's do a fun game how after the convention is over how much of a bounce, if any do the democrats get. of course we're guessing, governor granholm. >> jennifer: i think hopefully we get a five-point bounce, but i don't know in conventions nowadays you'll see the big bounce you would get because of the platforms and rapid response that each of these campaigns are engaging in. we've been able to capture what the bounce was for the republican convention. one was an abc poll out tonight which indicates that, well, it's close. the president lost ground with women. there was an cnn poll that had them exactly tied at 48 points each and showed that the president tailed among women but gained among men the president

is. romney did get a bounce, and abc poll has bad news for democrats because it has the lowest pre-convention personal popularity in this abc poll with--he's underwater, the president in his personal popularity. 47 favorable and 49 unfavorable. so there is a bit of a climb to do. >> cenk: and the gallup poll, are you more likely to vote for romney after the convention. before the election it boo have been--after the election it would have been ir irrelevant. 40% say more likely after watching the convention. 38% saying less likely to vote for him after the collection. >> eliot: in a way that shows how polarized we already are. this is an election that is more likely to be about passion not persuasion, the number of undecidessed being so slim. that's why the ability to get a

bounce when there are very few who don't see every fact and every story through their pre-existing views is smaller and smaller. i'm calling for a four-point up tick because i want to see it there,. >> cenk: and those watching, we're getting a huge bump up. >> jennifer: before you go go to cenk, i wanted to talk about the mayormayor anthony fox and tim cain, who is run forgive senate in virginia, with that give us your prediction, john. >> john: well, my prediction really is--i would like to say a five-point bump but it would be interesting to see the fallout of things taken out from the platform from 2008, which i'm sure we'll talk about later on in the show, and really seeing what the line and the president and democratic party will walk

this week, how do they push back against out-right falsehoods while walking the tightrope of being positive. how do they fight back and be upbeat at the same time. that's the challenge. >> al gore: i think there will be a bigger bounce than what you all are saying. i just have a feeling it's going to be a bigger bounce. >> cenk: i was going to be bold to go five above eliot but you say bigger than that. >> al gore: i would say six to eight. who knows. >> eliot: are we putting money on this? [ laughing ] >> cenk: look, with the numbers here 23% less people watched the republican convention this time around than they did in 2008. it's not like john mccain's was electrifying. and then those are pretty bad numbers. can they make this convention exciting enough that people will

watch it. that could lead to a bigger bump or smaller bump. >> jennifer: it clearly will make it better. they've got fantastic speakers all throughout the week. [ laughing ] >> al gore: particular on thursday. >> jennifer: we're going to take a break but right now what is happening senator harry reid is speaking and then a series of women from congress who will be coming on as well. we'll let you know the highlights of those and we'll be back in a second. (vo) current tv presents: brought to you by spiriva handihaler. this year the presidential campaigns are running a record number of ads targeting hispanic voters, who may well decide the election. [spanish vo] but it was the jfk campaign that ran the first tv ads in spanish. [spanish] >> in 1960, it's not that the hispanic vote was not that big but it was concentrated in a few crucial states. (vo) but it was 40 years later

that another presidential candidate really spoke to the bush: gracias! >> as the governor of texas, he understood the growing political power of latinos. (vo) and now more than ever, candidates have to both walk the walk, and talk the talk. [spanish] (vo) current tv's look at campaign ads that changed history, is brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

>> eliot: we are back. current tv's coverage of the democratic national convention. we were just chatting what is the burden on the democratic party this week? it seems to me that it's a rebuttal case at a trial. they need to make one simple,

overarching point. you're better off now than you were four years ago. it was a question asked this weekend. it was not answered terribly well by any of the consultants or surrogates for the campaign. that is the question that since president reagan defeated jimmy carter back in 1980 that's a question that so many races evolve. vice president how do you feel about it? >> al gore: i don't know why they have to labor at all in providing a resounding yes to that question. the economy is not where people would like it to be, but compared to what the situation was that president obama walked in to, it's very clear. we went from losing jobs every month to gaining jobs every month. we're in a recovery. yes, it's slow and taking time, but the hole dug by the previous administration was so deep it's going to take time. i think most people do get that. >> eliot: yes. >> cenk: one thing that i would

emphasize is that we were in the middle of a giant republican recession. i would say those words over and over. it was a republican-led recession. who got us there? unquestionably. in polls today when asked what is the single most responsible thing for the recession? george w. bush. okay. don't be embarrassed to say george w. bush. i know there is a code that you don't talk about ex-presidents--no, no, he got us into this republican recession. are we better off than we were in the middle of that disastrous recession? of course we are. >> jennifer: they pushed back very hard on it today and yesterday, but it's such an easy question and it's such an easy answer, hell yes, of course. you talk to anyone at least from my state, we were in the middle of a meltdown. we were begging for help. in our unemployment offices alone we were getting 800,000 to

1 million unemployed folks a day. we had mass layoffs. we were in the middle of a complete meltdown. this is not a hard question at all. >> john: in rnc we saw amnesia a become an airborne virus for the fist time in history. what will voters forget. i want to see the democrats come out and say you know what, it's not why are we still blaming bush. why aren't these still doing it. i blame sylvester stallone for "rocky 5". >> al gore: the one that i think was in some ways the worst of all was in governor romney's acceptance speech when he said that as soon as barack obama was elected president republicans put away their partisanship of

what americans are supposed to do join hands and help the new president. when we know that mitch mcconnell and john boehner had meetings, and mitch mcconnell said publicly that his number one priority was to defeat president obama. now we know from the reports of their strategy meetings that they made a considered decision to stop any legislation that president obama offered to try to get the country moving again. i think that fact needs to become better known as people interpret what the situation is now and how much better it is. but how much better it could have been if they really had helped him. >> jennifer: if you think about it, we could throw--between osama bin laden and getting out of the wars, the stimulus, and right behind you right now they're playing a video about

education, the race to the top reforms were enormous. healthcare, wall street reform. despite the fact that he did not have al franken for the first six months or he so of his team. >> eliot: because it wasn't what it should have been in the senate. >> jennifer: and i want to say in august, he really only had a very short amount of time. >> eliot: i think the worse misrepresentation was paul ryan's marathon time. [ laughing ] claiming to be under three when you're under four. >> cenk: he was over four. >> eliot: we'll deal with that later. but even if you win, we all believe deeply that you can make a point and win the point yes we're better off than we used to be. now the burden is to say here's what we'll do now. let's go out to jacki schechner in los angeles, who is going to tell us how the twitter world is dealing with this question "are

we better off"? >> the rnc bought the hashtag are you better off and it has taken long for progressives to hijack it and say yeah, we are better off. they paid for it, and they're certainly not getting what they paid for. it's not working for them. >> no, which i think is so typical of what we saw at the rnc, and hopefully what we won't see at the dnc, which is the republican strategy to consider to see twitter as a marketplace that you can buy that you can influence by promoting things and spending money on it. i think what we've seen the democrats be really good at is instead capitalizing on what people are interested in, think it's funny and what is resonant. >> on twitter knowing that the g.o.p.'s nominee actually pays his taxes. this is not a difficult one to rip on.

one thing that cenk mentioned earlier on, the most retreated moment of the rnc is "this seat's taken" photo of barack obama after clint eastwood's nonemonologue to an empty chair. >> they can be funny on twitter but they have to convert those who are retweeting and those who will donate and vote. there were two links. one to see this beautiful vote of him behind, and the other to take them right to their campaign page, get to you sign up and donate. >> they've been very good announcing they've had 3.1 new donors. jennifer, back to you. >> jennifer: i'm hoping what we can hear a little bit we've got nancy pelosi surrounded by these great women from congress. can we open that and listen to a little bit of what is going on? >> and we have work to do.

[applause] american's women still just make $0.77 for every dollar that men earn and it's even tougher for women of color. >> jennifer: what's interesting is that you're going to see an interesting difference between this convention and the others is that 15% of the delegates in the democratic national convention are women. 27% are african-american. there were 2% african-american in the republican convention. that sort of do as i do, not just as i say is on full display display. >> cenk: the 2% is better representation than the country of the 0% planning to vote for mitt romney. i think what they're doing here is an ocean of women. the republicans were proud to bring on a couple of governors. the senator then susana

martinez from new mexico, and then oh, you have a couple of women, do you? get a load of this. there will be many speakers throughout the convention, including, of course, governor granholm. >> jennifer: it's a woman's night tonight with obama, and then lily ledbetter. we'll take a break. stay tune because lots is still to come. 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.

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for a clean you can see, smell and really enjoy. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. ñ (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 >> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the democratic national convention. right now they're deluging with 287 democratic congress women. there are so many women on stage. there was the funny moment in the republican convention where ann romney said, i love you women! and as governor granholm pointed out, they have a different way of showing showing it. here 57% of the delegates are women, and an enormous amount of congress women on stage right now.

john, you had mentioned earlier about the democratic platform and how the republicans are losing it over a couple of things. >> john: they are losing it, indeed. it was reported earlier that the democratic platform has had alterations made from its 2008 version. the one our republicans friends are upset about is that the word "god" is no longer mentioned in the platform. in 2008 their platform said that our hopes are in working people and giving everyone the ability to work hard according to their god-given potential. that has been removed removed from the platform. it will be interesting to see if they have comment on it. we're seeing our republican friends exploding on twitter that the g.o.p. mentioned god four times. the constitution mention god dear. go after the founding fathers. >> jennifer: they do have a faith plank in this. here's what it says. we know that our nations, our communities and our lives are

made vastly stronger and richer by faith and the countless acts of justice and mercy it inspires. they beefed it up from 2008 when they were talking about the faith-based partnership. >> al gore: plus god was not mentioned as frequently last week as chris christie. [ laughing ] >> he confuses the two. >> john: technically the democrats are the conservatives on this irish. >> eliot: you know the assault on the other side is a godless platform, a godless party. this is a schism is played to mercilessly. >> cenk: it's a goofy thing. how many times did you mention god in your platform. oh yeah, your 12, we'll go to 18. it's silly. but at the same time if you take it out of the platform you have a political problem. how do you deal with that problem? >> al gore: well there must

have been an oversight. that's all i have to say. my reading of the founding fathers is that they really were very firm in their desire for a separation between church and state. but they also had an ideology of how democratic governance sho work that rested ultimately on the notion that the fundamental rights that people had were god-given in the act of a person being born in the united states. those rights attached to that person, and did not come from government. i have to believe this was just an oversight. >> john: do you think we might see it corrected during the week. >> cenk: i think it would make it look worse. it would be an overreaction. >> eliot: exactly. this is something that we'll we'll chatter about for a few minutes. move on. president, the first lady, the teachspeeches in the next 72 hours

what we're watching right now the enthusiasm in that convention hall is exponentially greater than the republican convention hall. >> cenk: god knows that's true. and i love the idea of god checking the platforms what? the democrats didn't mention me? i'm so hurt. the republicans did it 12 times. >> john: they're checking the platform. >> cenk: all right, we'll take a break. when we come back later in the night we'll have rom emmanuel speaking and cal pen, who used to be a republicannish and then of course michelle obama as well. all that coming up as well when we come back. (vo) you're watching current tv's coverage of the democratic national convention. putting you at the intersection of tv and social media. and right now, you can check in with getglue.com or the getglue mobile app to earn an exclusive sticker.

>> cenk: we're back on current's coverage of the democratic national convention. the 784 congress women have finished talking, and we're going to head out to the convention itself. david shuster reporting there. there is an interesting note about the stadium. david, tell us all about it. >> cenk, i want to start with something that eliot spitzer mentioned, it's the energy in the room. i'm not sure that the energy is that much greater than the final night of mitt romney, but the acoustics are so much more favorable because the size of this energy is much smaller where the republicans had their convention last week. here in charlotte the audience is much closer to the floor.

it's also much deeper. the sound engineer will tell you it reverberates a lot more. it's like the buckeye arena in columbus. but in addition to the crowd here, there is interesting news coming from the obama campaign. there are literally hundreds of obama campaign workers who were in the bowels of this arena under the convention floor. they're monitoring the polling and following it state by state. they have intriguing news that has them sky high. senior campaign officials say they have had two days of internal polling in the state of ohio. over these two days president obama he verged to a plus nine lead over governor romney. they've been seeing this trend

for a couple of weeks and they believe that it shows that mitt romney did not get any bounce from the convention, particularly in the state of ohio. and they're seeing that karl rove is starting to pull down their ads in the state of ohio. he said it's time for republicans to figure out without the buckeye state. sky high euphoria for the obama campaign. and they're thrill is atmospheric. i will point out with the speakers when al gore had to surf the crowd noise. everybody was so loud that the speaker could not hear himself. people in the audience could not hear the speaker. but for television sake, there is roaring and you're surfing the crowd. >> cenk: david, great reporting. the fact that karl rove's group is pulling ads from ohio is more

telling than anything else because they must be convinced that ohio is gone. if ohio is gone, they're in a world of trouble, a world of trouble. now. >> that's right. no republican has won the presidency without ohio, ever. ohio has always gone with the winner except when they went with nix over nixon over kennedy. >> cenk: one more thing from the convention floor there. you know, the noise is difference and the look of the crowd is clearly different. we talk about the demographics. when you're in it how stark is it the difference between the republican convention and the democratic convention. >> very stark in terms of, first, the age. the republicans may be less raucous with the speakersers but certainly much older. they were lily white. 30% of the delegates here are

african-american, and another 20% latino. the minority representation is here, and women makeup half of the delegates, and you see that, young, old in between. it's much more diverse feeling and the as if the democrats are celebrating saying, we're the true big ten party. just point the camera around and you'll find our diverse we are. >> john: david, it's john fugelsang. we saw today that secretary of state hustad plans on violating a judge's order that he must observe early voting rights for voters in his state. is there any response among the delegates who have heard of this. is this discouraging or making them more inspired. >> it just means that the legal fight will have to continue there. most of the delegates--there was a big ruling last week where the federal courts said no, they have to allow early voting. talking to obama officials about

restrictions and a couple of other states like ohio, florida for example, they have lawyers on the ground and they're confident that it would be compelled by a court that force the polls to be open the first three days ahead of time. what it has for the effect of democrats, reminding them of the field operations. don't take anything for granted. let all the potential voters right now that we're having to fight these legal battles making sure that they know where to vote, and by the way the courts could throw a wrench in it. they're very confident that the court ruling will stand. but in pennsylvania it shows president obama up by eight or nine points. they're feeling confident about the voteer suppression and the ability to get around that. >> eliot: what the secretary of state in ohio said was that he wouldn't fulfill the obligation to the court order until an appellate court ruled which puts

more pressure on the higher court. that will happen in early november. that was an amazing thing for an elected official to say ahead of time i'm going to ignore a federal outer. this is a federal district court judge who said that the statute was unjust. cenk look at your response, it's such admission of failure in a profit cal state it would be worth the money to be to prevent the headline. i have a hard time getting my arms around that if that is, in fact, the case. >> cenk: we still have some time before november. >> eliot: yes. >> cenk: david, great reporting. great news coming out of the convention, and we'll check back with you later in this coverage. to david's point, they were showing a jimmy carter video

the first time that a speaker steps up behind him all of a sudden i have trouble hearing him. whoever picked the convention center for the republicans might be in trouble again. poor planning over and over again last week. >> jennifer: and just to fill us in here what we're listening to or what we're watching is ken salazar, the secretary of the interior. he served with eliot and i as attorney general way back in the day. there has been a little bit of controversy because he has been a centrist pro, and there has been activity on federal lands. he's from colorado. there are three from colorado. on the republican side they didn't have a speaker from colorado, i don't believe. >> cenk: one of the people who will push back with ken salazar is me. not on the lands issue but when they asked the question, are we ready to be able to contain

another disaster in the gulf now that you've reopened up the drilling there. he said, yeah, we're working on it. it was not very reassuring. i think he's awfully pro business and way too much-- >> jennifer: get on the team. >> al gore: they're moving forward with drilling in the arctic ocean. and with that enclosed pristine ecosystem deep water drill something absurdly reckless. that's a big mistake. >> eliot: i agree with you, but on the other hand he's the nicest guy. >> john: this is what i like about the democratic party. everything from pro-lifers to a guy like salazar who can be accused of being too corporate. what we'll explore this week is the debate on the left between liberals and moderate and how

supporting the president's re-election-- >> al gore: salazar is a very confident, very thoughtful guy. people can disagree with him and have a reasonable conversation. >> cenk: and the at any time is wide enough for people who wear cowboy hats and people who don't wear cowboy hats. when we come back there will an special tribute to kennedy. that should be really interesting to see. we'll take a look at that and then comment as well. by communications workers of america.

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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. >> the character of our candidates. >> jennifer: what we're listening to now is joe kennedy iii. he's running for congress, trying to get into the family business. this charming redhead went to harvard law school. he was in the peace corps. and he's running for barney frank's seat. he'll introduce the video that encapsulates the entire kennedy family. >> broken hearts baptisms,

funerals and every precious moment in between. i remember cam paining campaigning with him once for barack obama. we showed up in a small town with only a handful of folks to greet us. he didn't care. there were folks to endorse or candidate. he got up and belted out. [ speaking in spanish ] the crowd went crazy for the old rancero song and a mariarchi who sang it. it was uncle teddy at his best. and he gave his best to everyone he met. whether it's a sick child injured soldier or unemployed worker. that idea guided him through the bigger battles. to guarantee the right to organize, end apartheid bring peace to northern ireland and healthcare to all.

[ cheering ] it guides us in a tough campaign ahead. as we fight for a middle class and an economy that is built to last defend a woman's right to choose keep college education affordable, protect our retire seniors their requirement security and safeguard the promises of this country. four years ago uncle teddy marveled at a young senator who embodied the change that our country sorely needed. as we pause to remember senator kennedy we recommit ourselves to the leader he entrusted to carry on our cause. thank you very much. [applause]

>> for all those whose cares have been our concern the work goes on, the cause endureses the hope still lives and the dream shall never die. [ ♪ music ♪ ] [ ♪ music ♪ ] [ ♪ music ♪ ]

>> no matter who writes the history books when people look back on this century they will say that edward kennedy was one of the ableist and most productive compassionate men who served in the united states senate who serve this country. >> now to boston as we show you live coverage of the debate between edward kennedy and governor romney. >> i believe abortion should be safe in this country. i believe since roe v. wade has been in this country for 20 years we should support it. and i support the right of a woman on that choice.

>> on the question on that issue. my opponent is multiple-choice. when mr. romney are you going to tell the people of massachusetts which healthcare program you favor? >> i have a plan. i have a position paper on healthcare. i'm happy to show it to you senator, any time you like. >> mr. romney, it is not a question of showing me your paper. it's a question of showing all the people watching watching this program the paper. they ought to have an opportunity to know. >> i think it's a wonderful idea to take it piece by piece. >> that's what you have to do with the legislature. that's exactly what you have to do. [ cheering ] >> now these he looks like he's for minimum wage. now he's for education reform. if we give him two more weeks he may vote for me because those are the things i'm for. mitt romney called me to congratulate me on being

re-elected to the united states senate. >> the best way to find out about what a party will do is what it has done. we were the ones that brought higher education the medicare programs the medicaid programs, knocked down the walls of discrimination. we brought a sound economy and sensible foreign policy. those are the essential values of the democratic party aren't they. >> i love this country. i believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. i always have, even if the darkest hours. i know what america can achieve. i've seen it. i've lived it. and with barack obama we can do it again. [ cheering ] [ chanting teddy ] >> thank you very much. this is the cause of my life.

new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every american north south east west, young old will have decent, quality healthcare as a fundamental place, and not a privilege. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> today's decision was a victory for people all over this country, whose lives will be more secure because of this law, and the supreme court's decision to uphold it. >> if teddy were here he would tell us now it's time to roll up our sleeves, get to work, fully implement the law and move on with the business of our country. >> this one was a long long time

coming and it's one that i knew that my husband would have loved to have seen. everything he did was about the future. it was about going forward. it was about passing the torch to a new generation. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> for those of us who knew teddy and worked with him here, people in both parties, know what drove him was something more. ted kennedy's passion was born not of some rigid ideology but of his own experience. that large heartedness that concern and regard for the

plight of others is not a partisan feeling. it's not a republican or democratic feeling. it too is part of the american character. >> i've never shied away from being called a liberal but what i have done is stand up for my beliefs. >> the work begins anew! the hope rises again! and the dream lives on! [ cheering ] [ ♪ music ♪ ] [applause] >> cenk: the crowd absolutely loves that video.

huge cheers throughout. i've seen a lot of videos at a lot of conventions. i thought the president obama video in 2008 before he spoke was really powerful. i think that's among the best videos i've ever seen at one of these conventions. i love how they brought him back to wallop mitt romney one more time. >> al gore: it was very effective and very emotional for the crowd in the hall, as you can tell. emotional for me. i loved teddy kennedy. he was very close to my father, and it was a great privilege to serve with him. i was saying before the break when i moved from the house to the senate the single most surprising discovery--you would think you would know it--but it was clear on both sides of the aisle. it was always unanimous the most effective senator by far was ted kennedy. and he worked things out on a bipartisan base. >> eliot: it makes a point that

may be subtle but i think will resonate. mitt romney has been a flip flopper, he has been lacking in core values his entire campaign. his entire career. ted kennedy was making a point that this guy does not have core principles. >> jennifer: i think it's interesting the one consistency he has had is his inconsistentcy. >> al gore: i was just going to say we're going to be hearing this message throughout this convention. we'll be right back after this break. join us.

gaeme inc. thank gaemezilinsky, thank you for joining

(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. >> cenk: you're looking at the back of the head of joe biden. with the head of the afl-cio. current coverage of the democratic national convention. not only do you see the video and you see the music governor granholm is dancing to. >> look at this. so is fuglesang. >> okay. and obviously our coverage here with vice president gore governor eliot spitzer, governor

jennifer granholm and john fuglesang. governor i understand we have some tweets. >> jennifer: let me just say we want to get people to submit their tweets, i think you can actually go to our web site. our folks are streaming this. it is -- somebody's going to tell me what the hash tag is. current 2012 is what it is. but you're seeing -- what you're seeing is the stream. from this last go around, a lot of people were very moved by the ted kennedy video. teddy frazzled the romney bot. oh snap! this is when they're talking about the debates. in fact, la monique writes the clips were by far the most effective tools in the convention. angela, when kennedy said my opponent is multiple choice. she thought that was fantastic. and in fact, this music is really getting people going. they're all saying that democrats have got better rhythm. democrats can dance. alex saying dance party.

so there's a lot of enthusiasm and we do want to encourage people. if you want to see your name on the screen, go to our hash tag. and you know, current 2012 and see if we can get you mentioned as well. >> cenk: i love that multiple choice line. it is one of my favorite lines in any debate. i thought they would bring it back for this. as we watch the kennedy video it was as if they brought him here to give a speech at this convention. the way that he was taking on romney. it was just absolutely terrific. >> so tastefully done. they made it about this election while keeping morally consistent with what the values kennedy stood for were. i thought it was great for our friends to be able to see how he was once more pro-choice than kennedy, once more pro-life than huckabee. >> cenk: eliot, we were talking about healthcare. one of the defining causes of ted kennedy's career and it got passed right after his passing. and a lot of powerful symbolism there. but is it something that will be

emphasized at this convention given that the country still seems to be split on this particular act? >> eliot: we were chatting about this during the break. i think john made the critical point. the elements of the healthcare, you can get health insurance even if you have a pre-existing condition. the fact that kids can remain on their parent's coverage until the age of 26. other pieces of it are distinctly popular. the marketing of the entire package acquired an aura that left half the public disenchanted with it. that will change over time as more and more folks begin to appreciate what they get from it. so i predict that i felt that five years from now it will be much more popular than it is now. i don't think there's any possibility it will be repealed given where the politics will shake out. question is, still sort of -- i think they'll market the pieces of it, not the entirety of the bill itself. >> cenk: i had a conversation with my sister over the weekend and we were talking about her healthcare and i said don't worry, you just gotta hang in

there because they're actually changing the rules and in 2014, you will be better off. i gave her the specifics on it. she was like really. that sounds pretty good. and it made her a bigger fan of the reform. now i had my issues with the reform and you know it wasn't perfect by any stretch. i didn't love that they took the public option out of it but i'm really curious to see how the country reacts to it in 2014 and how it progresses after that, if we can get there. >> jennifer: there's no way you can take it away. once people have become used to it and have their arms wrapped around it, you'll see all of the states falling in line to adopt the rules that would allow their citizens to get it. let me bring you up to speed on what we're listening to right now. it is robert wexler who is formerly representing florida in congress. he's now the president for the center for middle east peace. to get to that issue about the platform, it is interesting that they put him on right up-front. he's one of three people from florida who will be represented speaking at this convention, too. >> john: we're going to see some pushback. we've begun to see it from our

republican friends. the reference criticizing hamas from the 2008 platform has been excised from the current one. likewise, three sentences about jerusalem have been removed. so the controversy is already in play. it will be very interesting to see. >> jennifer: they had him on the first night. interested to see what the reaction is to him. >> cenk: i want to go to l.a. in a second. did you say that apack approved the changes? was it you or eliot? >> al: it was a new story quoting one of the assistants who worked on the platform, that it was reviewed and approved by apac. apac didn't comment -- the american israel political action committee. the voice of israel in the united states and the political system and if they had reviewed it and approved it, i don't think the controversy would last very long. >> eliot: one of the attacks that i've least understood

against the president has been that he's not been a good friend to israel. and it mystified me. i remember the speech he gave a couple of summers ago where he articulated what the posture would be and it was identical to what prime ministers of israel had said, what prior presidents of the united states had said and yet somehow out of that came this harsh attack that he was backing away, completely counterfactual completely wrong. >> cenk: eliot, are you saying the republicans based that on a lie? >> eliot: not more important than the lie about the marathon. >> john: we're coming up on the anniversary of the president going before the u.n. this month and arguing against recognizing palestinian statehood. despite the fact that has been the state of policy. so he's had tremendous support. >> cenk: let's head over to l.a. jacki schechner has an update for us on how the teddy kennedy video was received online. >> i wanted to show people obviously you're seeing the twitter feed on the side of the screen as you watch but if you go online to

politicallydirect.com, you'll see the bubbles and these are the bubbles of conversation that are happening online. some get bigger and smaller as the conversation changes. you can see there is a fairly large bubble. if you click within that, you'll see a lot of people are talking about the multiple choice issue. shana can tell us more about what that is. obviously comes up from the debate video we saw in the tribute. >> right. what we saw was beautiful tribute video and an attack ad moment and then tribute video again. and when we heard ted kennedy say i'm pro-choice, romney is multiple choice, immediate we saw that pop on twitter. multiple choice, multiple choice, multiple choice. this is how you see it start. usually it is a live speaker and not a video. what we saw were people really resonating with that description of mitt romney. there is a web site if you google, you'll immediately see multiple choice mitt.com which is already up. democratic strategists had put it together. >> it is obviously conversation

happening very quickly. you can watch it as the bubbles explode and contract and expand again. >> here is an exploding bubble quoting john fuglesang. more pro-choice than kennedy now more pro-life than huckabee. >> john: that's why i call him reversible mittens. [ laughter ] >> cenk: i can't wait for multiple choice mitt to debate invisible obama. it will be great. >> stay tuned. >> are we taking a break? >> eliot: right now i think we've got the mayor of minneapolis. what's going on there is an important referendum in minnesota about where i think there is an issue on statewide ballot to repeal or to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. and this would be the first state if it passes to go backwards. the first state to successfully defeat the redefinition. or that sort of retrospective definition. this would be an important issue. there is a lot of organizing going on, a lot of fund-raising to get grassroots folks around

new york in particular to be supportive of what's going on in minnesota. >> jennifer: archie has been the mayor of minneapolis and he is one of a whole series of mayors speaking at this convention. in fact, of the top ten most populous cities, they're all except for one san diego they're all mayored by democrats. he's been very spirited. he's a great guy. >> cenk: on a similar note, there an initiatives throughout the country including marijuana illegalization initiative in colorado and it will be interesting to see how that place out. democrats think it may help them. cal penn will be speaking later tonight. all right. so we have that coming up. robin manuel coming up and michelle obama as well. stay right with us. by spiriva handihaler. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

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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.

>> cenk: back on current's coverage of the democratic national convention. they are in the middle of talking about pro-choice agenda. they'll switch to veterans in a little bit. but that does give us a little bit of room here to talk about the g.o.p. platforms of yesteryear because i think that governor granholm made an amazing point before we left you. the number of times the middle class mentioned in the democratic platform. 42 times. only once in the g.o.p. platform because they don't serve the middle class. they flat out don't. if you look at the old dpop platforms on all of the issues, in 1976, they were actually ambivalent on the issue of abortion. they said a lot of people in our party are pro-choice, a lot are pro-life. we'll leave it up to everybody to decide on their own. they were for the equal rights amendment. for many, many platforms. from the 1950s through the 1970s. they were proudly in favor of it until they switched in 1980.

when you talk about organized labor, prounion. it is central to our government and our lives and our nation and thank god for organized labor and one of the things you definitely cannot take away is collective bargaining. so the shift of the republican right -- from their party to the right to the extreme right has been stark when you look at the platforms. >> eliot: to continue the litany of areas where they've shifted, taxes. richard nixon supported using the income tax to redistribute wealth in a significant way. negative income tax. if you have income below a certain level we will use the income tax code to give you money. >> john: eisenhower with a much more progressive tax form is the last president to have a surplus while spending massive amounts on infrastructure with the interstate highway plan. these guys wouldn't be allowed in the party today. >> eliot: goldwater won. losing the election.

intellectually took over the republican party. continued for 20 to 30 years. the tea party is arguably the intellectual progression of what he began. >> cenk: even goldwater on the social issues told about how he took his daughter to get an abortion. can you imagine what would happen to a republican candidate today? >> al: he was critical of the republican party in the last years of his life. i had the privilege of serving with barry goldwater in the senate and on the armed services committee. wonderful, wonderful guy. my father had served with him and said he was one of the most pleasant people to deal with ever. but by the end of his career, he was denouncing the shift this lurch to the right. >> eliot: it comes back to what the vice president talked about. you have the libertarian which goldwater is from. get government out of it. then you have the theological. you weave these two together. the worst parts of both.

you go et this frankenstein monster that is the republican party. >> jennifer: we're going to be seeing and what we're listening to is mr. davis who is a veteran and it leads into tammy duckworth who is running for congress in illinois. the reason why i raise that is of course romney got severely criticized in his remarks for not mentioning his convention speech, the war. now we're going to, in this democratic convention see a couple of speakers that really pay tribute to the veterans. tammy duckworth of course, is an amputee running for congress in the district that is currently being held by joe walsh. that rabid tea partier. and she got -- she lost her legs. she flies helicopters blackhawk helicopters and was hit. she went down. lost both of her legs. she also injured her arm. she became an assistant director of the veterans administration and is a total champion for veterans. >> al: what was that comment that joe walsh made about her? questioning her heroism.

here's somebody who's lost -- >> jennifer: two legs and injured her arm. >> al: unbelievable. like max cleland when he ran for re-election to the senate from georgia and they questioned his patriotism. >> john: if the theme is going to be are you better off now than four years ago the iraq war being over is a slam dunk. >> cenk: now, the other thing of course which was a huge foreign policy win and part of the reason mitt romney did not mention foreign policy in his speech is we killed a guy called bin laden, i believe. any mention of that area gets people to remember oh, right! this president made a pretty -- did a pretty good job in getting the guy we needed to get. it is a big loss for the republicans. part of the reason they want to stay away. >> eliot: the swift vote effort is beginning on that. they say you take your opponent's most powerful piece of evidence. try it, twist it. they have the veterans group funded by i'm not quite sure

whom, don't give the president credit for that. give the soldiers which the president has always done. they're saying let's deflect that away and put the democratic party and the president on defense when they talk about that rather than let the about president say they talk. >> jennifer: on the human side, we'll hear from michelle obama tonight. one of her biggest initiatives is initiatives to support military families. it is going to be very interesting. we've got tammy duckworth who is running for congress. she's coming up to the mic. let's listen to her. [ applause ] >> hi, everyone. my name is tammy duckworth. i'm running to serve illinois's eighth congressional district.

my father, my father served in the army and the marine corps. oo-rah. a vietnam vet his family has worn our nation's uniform since the american revolution. my husband is an army officer and my brother saved lives in the coast guard. my mom is thai and chinese and she proudly became a citizen in her 50s. [ applause ] dad's work took us all over the world until he lost his job. it was a tough time. we used up our savings. moved into a studio apartment. but our family did the responsible thing and we rolled up our sleeves. mom took in sewing. my 55-year-old dad kept looking for work. but at 15 years old, i was the

only one with a job after school for minimum wage. thank god for the food stamps, public education and pell grants that helped me finish high school. and college. [ applause ] in time, we pulled through. with this start, i was able to earn my own commission as an army officer and i became an assault helicopter pilot working my way up to command a blackhawk helicopter company. [ applause ] in 2003, my national guard unit was mobilized and i became one of the first army women to fly combat missions in iraq. and almost -- [ applause ] almost a year into my tour, i was wounded and recovered at

walter reed with other wounded warriors. some of us had obvious injuries. others had scars on the inside that were less visible but no less real. at the hospital, i realized my new responsibility to honor the buddies who saved me by serving our military men and women. and i became the director of the illinois department of veterans affairs. we led the nation. we led the nation in screening for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress and we created a tax credit for illinois businesses that hire veterans. then president obama asked me to help keep our sacred trust with veterans of all eras at the u.s. department of veterans affairs. we work to end the outrage of veterans having to sleep on the same streets they once defended.

we improved services for female veterans. and i reached out to young vets by creating the office of online communications. barack obama has also lived up to his responsibilities as commander in chief. ending the war in iraq, refocusing on afghanistan and eradicating terrorist leaders including bin laden. [ applause ] president obama pushed for fairness in the military. listening to commanders as we ended don't ask don't tell and on -- [ applause ] and on how to allow women to officially serve in more combat jobs. don't you think -- don't you think it's time that we stopped being surprised that america's daughters are just as capable of doing their jobs and defending liberty as her sons?

[ applause ] when it comes to our men and women in harm's way we have a clear choice on november 6th. last week, mitt romney had a chance to show his support for the brave men and women he is seeking to command. but he chose to criticize president obama instead of even uttering the word "afghanistan." barack obama will never ignore our troops. he will fight for them. that's why he is my choice on november 6th. my choice. [ applause ] my choice is to do what ply family did when times were hard. roll up our sleeves and get to work! my choice is to do what ply crew did for me in a dusty field in iraq. on november 12, 2004, i was copilotting my blackhawk north of baghdad when we started

taking enemy fire. a rocket-propelled grenade hit our helicopter, exploding in my lap, ripping off one leg crushing the other and tearing my right arm apart. but i kept trying to fly until i passed out. and that moment, my survival and the survival of my entire crew depended on all of us pulling together. and even though they were wounded themselves and insurgents were nearby, they simply refused to leave a fallen comrade behind. their heroism is why i'm alive today. and ultimately -- [ applause ] ultimately that is what this election is about. yes, it is about the issues that matter to me.

building -- building an economy that will create jobs here at home. that will -- and outcompete countries around the world. but it is also about something else. it is about whether we do for our fellow americans what my crew did for me. whether we'll look out for the hardest hit and the disabled. whether we'll pull together in a time of need. whether we'll refuse to give up until the job is done. so let's finish what we started. let's keep moving forward with barack obama. let's do what this country has always done. look adversity in the eye and work together to overcome it. god bless our military men and women who were in harm's way today. god bless their families and always god bless the united states of america! [ applause ]

>> cenk: we had our first u.s.a., u.s.a. chant during tammy duck worth's speech. obviously a rousing ovation including vice president biden and it appears she's -- i don't want to jinx her but let's put it this way. she stands a very good chance of beating joe walsh the crazy tea party republican in her district. here's lincoln chafee, current governor of rhode island.

[ cheering ] >> on the eve of an election critical to the future of our children and their country, as a former republican, i represent a group of americans who all too often have no one to speak for them. this group doesn't necessarily have a name. we've been called moderates but that term can be misleading. there's nothing moderate about our love of country or our passion for america's future. there's nothing moderate about our desire to work together within the broad political center in which most americans live. no matter what you call us though this is certain... there are a lot of us and all over the country and in november we will, once again help elect barack obama president of the united states. [ cheering ] chf lincoln chafee, former republican senator.

we'll be coming back with our coverage in a minute. we'll talk more about the duckworth speech and update you on the chafee speech as well. we'll come right back.

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>> cenk: here with vice president gore, governor spitzer, governor granholm, john fuglesang. we were listening to governor chafee. he's a rare former republican who actually voted the way he talked because you would get the chuck hagels of the world who would make really good speeches. wait a minute, this guy is reasonable then he would go back to voting with george w. bush 99% of the time. lincoln chafee voted against the iraq war and finally said enough is enough! >> al: he's a man of conviction. there is a lot of family history here cenk. i served with his father, john chafee, who was representative of the small group of truly moderate republicans in the senate. a lot of them from the northeast. and when john died, he was truly a great man in my opinion then lincoln was appointed. and he was an excellent senator but he ran for re-election and a terrific guy sheldon whitehouse who is one of my favorite

senators defeated him. the following year, '07 he switched parties and then was elected governor just i guess -- last year, year before in the 2010 elections. he's very popular and very well-liked. >> cenk: it sounds like chafee that makes me realize i wasn't absolutely crazy when i was republican as a kid in the northeast. growing up, going through college, et cetera. i remember tom cain not being crazy. i remember chafee not being crazy. senator jeffers from vermont not being crazy. o all of us noncrazies said enough is enough. >> eliot: in new york, we called them rockefeller republicans. the republican party in new york obviously much more centrist than in other parts of the nation and nelson rockefeller who was the governor for four terms before he became the vice president appointed to spiro agnew's term was the voice of that centrist republican party that has completely dissipated in the years since then. >> jennifer: notice how

brilliant it is from a point of view that they would have him speaking on the first night to be able to speak to the people who feel like the republican party have left them. they were put on the first night, veterans to be able to speak to people who feel like the democratic party needs to speak to that constituency. i think it is very exciting. women members of congress. guy member of congress. i think there are so many smart moves so far in this convention tonight. >> ted kennedy is an advocate for seniors. >> jennifer: right. absolutely. >> cenk: it is interesting because i've seen the obama team do this over and over again where they take a winning political strategy that karl rove used to do for bush and flip it on its head. so attacking the strength that we were talking about earlier. the republicans are trying to do that on the bin laden issue for obama. president obama's team came out immediately and attacked mitt romney's business record. that was supposed to be a strength. a guy who knows business, knows the economy and they walloped him with it.

and now seen as a major weakness. we were surprised they even mentioned the republican national convention. they're doing it again just to finish the point there with former republicans speaking here, charlie crist, lincoln chafee, old zoeller move. >> very effective. >> eliot: there is a way to do if which i think is being done superbly. it is not as though they're checking boxes saying we're inclusive. it is done with passion speaking on substance that the people care about. there's a reason we're together rather than weave together some cloth. >> al: can i go back a minute to tammy duckworth's speech. eliot spoke for me a minute ago. i thought her speech was a wow! i thought it was incredible! and i think we saw potentially the birth of a new star in the democratic party with that speech. >> jennifer: no doubt about it. she's got passion. she's obviously got an incredible personal story and running against a villain.

it will be an interesting race. we're going to come come right back because the next hour has a huge hour of tremendous speakers, a lot of great issues. don't go away. this is current tv. we're following the democratic national convention coverage. 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.

>> jennifer: welcome back to current tv's convention coverage. we're listening to former governor of ohio. take a listen. >> as he celebrated the birth of his newborn baby boy brian slagle lost his job at the moment he needed it most. but today he's back, making auto batteries in a factory in springfield township, ohio. [ applause ] he says there is only one reason that he has a steady job back again. barack obama refused to let the american auto industry die. [ cheering ] james felt like there was no tomorrow when he was laid off. i believe in working every day he said. and that was taken from me.

but today james is working 60 hours a week on the jeep liberty line in toledo, ohio. he's thrilled to say that his life right now is eat sleep and jeep. he's back, he said because barack obama gave us a chance for a comeback. the auto industry supports one out of every eight jobs in ohio and it is alive and growing in america again. [ cheering ] late last year, chrysler announced they were hiring 1100 new autoworkers in toledo. just last month g.m. announced a plan to invest $200 million in lordstown. keeping 5,000 jobs in ohio and

building the next generation of the chevy cruze a car we're proud to say is made entirely in ohio! [ cheering ] and just today just today the big three automakers all announced that their auto sales are up by double digits since last year. it's been a long, slog back and we've still got a long way to go. but all over america all over ohio, men and women are going back to work with the pride of building something stamped made in america! [ cheering ] before barack obama took office, it looked like that pride could have vanished forever.

but today from the staggering depths of the great recession the nation has had 29 straight months of job growth. workers across my state and across the country are getting back to work the dignity of having a good job and a good salary. you know, vince lombardi was right when he said "it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." and my friends my friends brian slagle and james were all knocked down. but ina brian and james are all standing today. the auto industry is standing today. the middle class is standing today. ohio is standing today! america is standing strong today!

[ cheering ] that's what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people. barack obama has stood up for us and now by god we will stand up for him! [ cheering ] quite frankly quite frankly barack obama knows what it's like to pay a mortgage and student loans. and he knows what it's like to watch a beloved family member in a medical crisis and worry that treatment may be out of reach. barack obama knows our struggles. and my friends he shares our values. now mitt romney, he lives by a different code. to him american workers are

just numbers on a spreadsheet. to him all profits are created equal whether made on our shores or off. that's why companies that romney invested in were dubbed outsourcing pioneers. now, you know our nation was built by pioneers. pioneers who accepted untold risks and pursuit of freedom. not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of american workers here at home. mitt romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled let detroit go bankrupt. you know, if he had his way devastation would have cascaded from michigan to ohio and across the nation. mitt romney never saw the point

of building something when he could profit by tearing it down. if mitt was santa claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves. [ cheering ] mitt has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport! it summers on the beaches of the cayman islands and winters on the slopes of the swiss alps. in matthew chapter 6 verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

and my friends my friends any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the united states of america. [ cheering ] and you know, it is well pastime for mitt romney to come clean with the american people. >> u.s.a., u.s.a., u.s.a. >> on what he's saying about the president's policies for welfare to work, he's lying. as simple as that. and on his tax returns he is hiding! you know, you have to wonder just what is so embarrassing that he's going to such great

lengths to bury the truth. whatever he's doing to avoid taxes, can it possibly be worse than the ryan/romney tax plan that would have sliced mitt's total tax rate to less than 1%. and so, my friends there is a true choice in this election. barack obama is betting on the american worker. mitt romney is betting on a bermuda shell corporation. [ cheering ] barack obama saved the american auto industry. mitt romney saved on his taxes. barack obama is an economic patriot.

mitt romney is an outsourcing pioneer. [ cheering ] my friends the stakes are too high. the differences too stark to set this one out. so let us stand as one on november 6th and move this country forward! by re-electing president barack obama! thank you. [ cheering ] [ cheers & applause ] >> jennifer: all right. welcome back. after listening to ted strickland a little bit of a barnburner. some great great lines. and now we're going to go to the secretary of the department of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. >> in 1965 to 1967, my dad jack

served in congress. and helped pass landmark laws like the voting rights act. dad later became another great governor of ohio. [ cheering ] but one of his proudest accomplishments was when, as a congressman, he helped to draft and pass medicare. today, dad's 91. and he's a happy beneficiary of that effort to bring quality healthcare to every senior citizen. and president obama is building on that legacy. by bringing quality and secure healthcare to every american. i was governor of kansas when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts. [ cheering ] many of us watched in amazement and envy, even, as he passed a universal healthcare law in his state. republicans may see romney care as a scarlet letter. but for us democrats obama care is a badge of honor.

[ cheering ] because no matter who you are what stage of life you're in, this law is a good thing. first, if you already have insurance you like, you can keep it. insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover americans with pre-existing conditions. that's what change looks like. more than five million seniors have already saved money on their prescription drugs and almost 33 million have benefitted from free preventive services. the president has cracked down hard on medicare and healthcare fraud, recovering a record breaking $10.7 billion over the last three years protecting our senior citizens. that's what change looks like. this law gives tax credits to 360 small businesses so they can give their employees health coverage. and an array of affordable, private insurance plans to

choose from, that's what change looks like. if you're self-employed between jobs or can't get insurance through work, you'll have access to affordable health insurance as good as congressman paul ryan's. that's what change looks like. if you're under 26, you can stay on your parent's plan. you can go back to school or get extra training without fear of a health catastrophe bankrupting your entire family. over three million previously uninsured young adults are now on their parent's plan. that's what change looks like. under obama care, insurance companies can no longer discriminate against women. now, before, some wouldn't even cover women's most basic health needs like contraception and maternity care. but still charged us up to 50%

more than men for a worse plan. they said women who had c-sections or survived breast cancer or even domestic violence had a pre-existing condition and would deny them coverage. but this president made it illegal to discriminate against women. and -- >> jennifer: all right, so we're listening to kathleen sebelius the former governor of kansas. she's actually the first child of a governor who has been elected as governor in american history which is kind of interesting. but she's obviously served as director of hhs throughout the whole obama care issue. we were having a discussion during her speech about how interesting it is that she has officially embraced the term obama care which i think is -- i think it is a smart move, personally. >> cenk: one other thing that i noticed in there, all of the speeches so far is how many times they have mentioned mitt romney which is so much more

than the times that the republicans mentioned mitt romney. but also how many times they've mentioned president obama. over and over and over again because they're actually proud of president obama whereas the republicans almost never mentioned mitt romney. >> jennifer: we should talk about strickland's speech a little bit. >> eliot: also what cenk said, it is pride in what he's accomplished. there is an affirmative agenda that people want to talk about. whether it is foreign policy, whether it is bringing the auto industry back. whether it is passing healthcare reform. there are a litany of critically important things they've done. after a campaign that's been so divisive and negative and sort of vapid because you have attack ads going back and forth this is the first evening i've heard people say this is what we've done. i think it is amazing ted strickland to come back to your point, jennifer, powerful. really good liners in there you want to see in the highlight reel but potent in terms of saying guys, we've done

something. >> john: one of the biggest lies we heard last week, the president hates private enterprise. this president saved capitalism. the theme i think for detroit is we rebuilt that. and it is great to hear. >> jennifer: anybody thinking that the on a auto industry and many of the suppliers across the country aren't grateful there was a partnership with the federal government to be able to save those private sector jobs, you know if you think that's not the case, just go to talk to any one of these small suppliers and in towns all across america who now have customers in the auto industry. ted strickland, favorite line of the night is that if mitt was santa claus, he would have fired the reign deer and outsourced the elves. he's not afraid to draw a contrast. >> john: and strapped to the top of the sleigh. >> he needed you in the speech writing. [ laughter ] >> cenk: i wonder if santa claus has appeared on twitter yet. >> that will be next. >> cenk: i want to bring you

on, michael shure into this conversation as well. he's been tracking all of the speeches. michael, what do you have for us? >> the ted strickland speech was fantastic. a highlight speech of the night. that means the best speech we've heard at either convention. one of the things that you alluded to a little bit, cenk and that john talked about as well is the idea that they're throwing on first down here. they're coming out people at the republican convention were saying to me what are they going to do about obama care? tell al gore because they see the current flag. tell al gore he will have to answer for obama care. here we are. day one hour one of this convention and they're talking about healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. i presume that the first lady is going to talk about it tonight. they're coming out strong and i think that is part of what is creating this crazy energy in this building tonight. >> cenk: michael another great analogy, i remember watching a long time ago 49ers/cowboys in the playoffs. jimmie johnson was coaching at the time. the cowboys get a lead.

whenever they get a lead in the playoffs, they usually like to sit on it. jimmie johnson comes out throwing a bomb to harper. you're exactly right. i'm seeing harper catch that ball against the 49ers knowing there is a new sheriff in town. >> thanks, cenk for going right after the 49ers. another task. but it's true. you know it is showing the democrats are owning this and they're going with it. and it is literally part of the exuberance that you feel in this building tonight. unquestionable. >> cenk: all right. we want to get back to the strickland speech because i'm not done with it yet. it was fantastic. we'll hear from rahm eman yell now. this should be good now. for better or for worse. >> it is my honor to speak to you about the president i served. i want to tell you what i saw up

close. while serving our president in a time of crisis. about the values he leans on and the voices he listens to. of when president obama entered the white house, the economy was in a free fall. the auto industry on its back. the banks frozen up. more than four million americans had already lost their jobs. and america's bravest our men and women in uniform were fighting for what soon would be the longest war in our history. you remember the uncertainty and the fear that seized our country. on that first day i said mr. president, which crisis do you want to tackle first? he looked me in the eye with that look he usually reserves just for his chief of staff rahm, we were sent here to

tackle all of them. not choose between them. there was no blueprint or how to manual for fixing a global, financial meltdown and auto crisis, two wars and a great recession all at the same time. believe me, if it existed, i would have found it. each crisis was so deep. and so dangerous. any one of them would have defined another presidency. we faced a once in a generation moment in american history. and fortunately for all of us, we have a once in a generation president. [ cheering ] in those unchartered waters, i saw where the president finds his northstar. every night president obama reads ten letters from everyday

americans. when i met with the president at the end of each day he made sure he had their letters to read at his residence. letters from people just hoping for someone in power to understand their struggles. i can't tell you how many times whether we were discussing the economy, healthcare or energy crisis the president walked to his desk, take out one of the letters and read them to us and say this is who we are fighting for. parents working hard to save for their child's education. middle class americans fighting tooth and nail to hold on to their jobs, their homes or their life savings. it is their voices that president obama brings to the oval office. it is their values i saw him fight for every day. in the first month in office, he fought for the american recovery act to cut taxes for the middle class. to put people to work building

america's roads rails and runways. and today our economy has gone from losing 800,000 jobs a month to adding four and a half million private sector jobs in the last 29 months. >> cenk: all right. that is rahm emmanuel, former chief of president to president obama. when we come back, we'll also hear from cal penn. we've got some serious politicians and cal penn who worked at the white house and of course a star to give a different kind of speech. we'll be right back on current. by spiriva handihaler. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free.

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t's listen in for a few more moments. >> you see there is a powerful

truth at the heart of the american dream. the stronger we make our country the more she gives back to us to our children and grandchildren, our parents and grandparents underthis truth deeply. they believed as we do that to create jobs for modern economy requires modern investments. educating, innovating and rebuilding for our children's future, building an economy to last from the middle class up not from the billionaires down. yes, we live in changing times. the question is what type of change we will make of it? as we search for common ground, and the way forward together let's ask one another, let's ask the leaders of the republican party without any anger meanness or fear, how much less do you really think would be good for

our country? how much less education would be good for our children? how many hungry american kids can we no longer afford to feed? governor romney how many fewer college degrees would make us more competitive as a nation. the future we seek is not a future of less opportunity, it is a future of more opportunity, more opportunity for all americans! [ cheers and applause ] >> close your eyes, see the faces of your parents and your great grandparents. they did not cross an ocean, settle a continent, do hard back-breaking work so their children and grandchildren could live in a country of less. they came here because the united states of america is the greatest job-generating opportunity-expanding country ever created by a free people in the history of civilization and she still is! [ cheers and applause ]

>> let us not be the first generation of americans to give our children a country of less! let us return to the urgent work of creating more jobs more security, and more opportunity for our people and together let us move forward not back by reelecting barack obama, president of the united states! [ cheers and applause ] >> god bless you! [ cheers and applause ] >> cenk: that was governor martin o'malley from maryland. i don't know the let's move forward not back is that catchy but it worked really well in setting theme, they are going backward, we are going forward. and he turned about an earned patriotism. one earned by how great this country is and what we have done and how we have gone forward, and i thought it really resinated. and we're going to have the

keynote speaker coming up in a little bit and that's his twin brother joaquin castro who will be introducing his brother, julian castro. >> julian is a proud texan. [ cheers and applause ] >> for 18 years -- for 18 years reshared a small room and big dreams in our neighborhood on the west side of san antonio. our hometown is a beautiful, humble place. since becoming mayor in 2009 julian has worked tirelessly to pursue policies that honor the aspirations of the people he represents.

today san antonio is our nation's seventh largest city, a city on the rise that looks like america tomorrow. he is also a dedicated husband, and wonderful father to his three year old daughter. it's with much love and pride that i present to you, my best friend, my brother, san antonio mayor, julian castro. ♪ tonight's going to be a good night ♪ >> john: another newcomer. we have seen this happen before and stars have been made in moments like this. >> al gore: the introducer is running for congress. >> john: that's right. >> al gore: in san antonio. >> thank you! thank you! [ cheers and applause ]

>> thank you! my fellow democrats, my fellow americans, my fellow texans -- [ cheers and applause ] >> i stand before you tonight as a young american a proud american, of a generation born as the cold war reseeded shaped by the tragedy of 9/11 connected by the digital revolution, and determined to reelect the man who will make the 21st century another american century, president barack obama! [ cheers and applause ] >> the unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. my brother and i grew up with my mother, rosy and my grandmother, victoria. my grandmother was an orphan.

has a young girl she had to leave her home in mexico and move to san antonio. she never made it past the fourth grade. she had to drop out and start working to help her family. she spent her whole life working as a maid cook and a baby sitter, working hard to give my mother, her only child, a chance in life, so my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. as my mother got older she begged her to give her grandchildren. you can imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered twice over. she was so excited that the day before we were born she entered a menudo cookoff and won $300.

that's how she paid our hospital bill. by the time we came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to read and write in both spanish and english. i can still see her reading her agatha christy novels late into the night, and i can still remember her making the sign of the cross behind us saying [ speaking spanish ] my god bless you. my grandmother didn't live to see us begin our lives in public service, but she probably would have thought it extrordanaire that just two generations after she arrived one grandson was be the mayor, and the other would be on his way, god willing, to the united states congress! [ cheers and applause ]

>> my family story isn't special. what is special is the america that makes our story possible. ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation no matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward! [ cheers and applause ] >> america didn't become the land of opportunity by accident. my grandmother's generation and generations before always saw beyond the horizons of their own lives and their own circumstances. they believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity tomorrow. that's the country they envisioned, and that's the country they helped build. the roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won these opened the doors to a

decent job a secure retirement the chance for your children to do better than you did, and that's the middle class, the engine of our economic growth! [ cheers and applause ] >> with hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there, and with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there, and go beyond. [ applause ] >> the dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to americans. it's a human dream, one that calls across oceans and borders. the dream is universal, but america makes it possible and our investment and opportunity makes it a reality! [ cheers and applause ] >> now in texas -- [ cheers and applause ] . >> -- we believe in the rugged

individual. texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps. [ cheers and applause ] >> and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. but we also recognize that there are some things we can't do alone. we have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow! [ cheers and applause ] >> and it starts with education! [ cheers and applause ] >> 20 years ago, joaquin and i left home for college and then for law school. in those classrooms we met some of the brightest folks in the world, but at the end of our days there, i couldn't help but to think back to our classmates atom mass jefferson high school in san antonio.

they had the same talent, same brains same dreams as the folks we sat with at harvard. i realized the difference wasn't intelligence or drive, the difference was opportunity. in my city of san antonio, we get that, so we're working to ensure that more four year olds have access to pre-k. we opened cafe college where students get help from anything to test prep to financial aid paperwork. we know you can't be pro business unless you are pro education. [ cheers and applause ] >> we know that pre-k and student loans aren't charity. they are a smart invest inspect a work force that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. we're investing in young minds today to be competitive in the

global economy tomorrow. [ cheers and applause ] >> and it's paying off. last year the milken institute ranked san antonio as the nation's top rateded economy. and we are only getting started. opportunity today prosperity tomorrow. [ cheers and applause ] >> now like many of you, i watched last week's republican convention -- [ booing ] . >> -- and they told a few stories of individual success. we all celebrate individual success, but the question is how do we multiply that success? the answer is president barack obama! [ cheers and applause ] >> mitt romney quite simply doesn't get it. a few months ago he visited a

university in ohio and gave students there a little entrepreneurial advice. start a business he said. but how? borrow money if you have to from your parents he told them. [ laughter ] >> gee, why didn't i think of that? [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that shouldn't determine whether you can pursue your dreams, not in america, not here, not in the 21st century. i don't think governor romney meant any harm. i think he is a good guy. he just has no idea how good he has had it. [ cheers and applause ] >> we know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. what we don't accept is the idea

that some folks won't even get a chance, and the thing is mitt romney and the republican party are perfectly comfortable with that america. in fact, that's exactly what their are promising us. the romney/ryan budget doesn't just cut education, medicare public transportation and job training, it dismantles the middle class what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. when it comes to getting the middle class back to work. mitt romney says no. when it comes to respecting women's rights mitt romney says no. when it comes to letting people who love each other, and letting them get married, mitt romney

says no! when it comes to expanding health care mitt romney says no! actually -- actually -- [ cheers and applause ] >> actually mitt romney said yes, and now he says -- no! governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. [ laughter ] >> and it ain't pretty. so here is what we're going to say to mitt romney in november. we're going to say, no! [ crowd shouts no ] >> of all the fictions we heard last week in tampa, the one i find most troubling is this if we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. because if we sever the threads that connect us the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead.

we all understand that freedom isn't free what romney and ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. we have to invest in it. [ cheers and applause ] >> republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better that somehow the rest of us will too. folks we have heard that before. [ laughter ] >> first they called it trickle down. then they called it supply side. now it's romney ryan, or is it ryan romney? either way the theory has been tested, it failed, our economy failed, the middle class paid the price, your family paid the price, mitt romney just doesn't get it! [ cheers and applause ] >> but barack obama gets it. [ cheers and applause ]

>> he understands that when we invest in people we're investing in our shared prosperity, and when we neglect that responsibility we risk our promise as a nation. just a few years ago, families that had never asked for anything, found themselves at risk of losing everything. and the dream my grandmother held that work would be rewarded that the middle class would be there, if not for her then for her children, that dream was being crushed. but then president obama took offs, and he took action. when detroit was in trouble, president obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs! [ cheers and applause ] >> seven presidents before him republicans and democrats tried to expand healthcare to all americans. president obama got it done! [ cheers and applause ] >> he made an historic

investment to lift our nation's public schools and expanded pell grants so that more young people can afford college, and because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation to young law-abiding americans called dreamers! [ cheers and applause ] >> now it's time for congress to enshrine in law their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they have ever called home, america! [ cheers and applause ] >> four years ago, america stood on the brink of a depression despite incredible odds and united republican opposition, our president took action, and now we have seen 4.5 million new jobs. he knows better than anyone that there is more hard work to do,

but we're making progress and now we need to make a choice. a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can play less, or a country where everybody pays their fair share so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future! [ cheers and applause ] >> it's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts pell grants or a nation that invests more in education. [ cheers and applause ] >> and it's a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship american jobs overseas, or a leader who brings jobs back home! [ cheers and applause ] >> this is the choice before us! and to me -- to my generation and for all of the generations to come, our choice is clear, our choice is a man who has always chosen us a man who already is our president, barack obama!

[ cheers and applause ] [ crowd chanting ] >> in the end the american dream -- the american dream is not a sprint or even a marathon but a relay. our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation, but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. but she saw her daughter become the first in her family to

graduate from college, and my mother fought hard for civil rights so instead of a mop, i could hold this microphone. [ cheers and applause ] >> and while she -- while she may be proud of me tonight, i got to tell ya mom, i'm even more proud of you. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. >> today -- [ crowd chanting ] [ cheers and applause ] >> today my beautiful wife erica and i are the proud parents of a three year old little girl

named after my grandmother. [ cheers and applause ] >> a couple of mondays ago -- a couple of mondays ago was her first day of pre-k and as we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom and i found myself whispering to her as was once whispered to me [ speaking spanish ] my god bless you. [ cheers and applause ] >> she is still young and her dreams are far off yet, but i hope she'll reach them. [ laughter ] >> as a dad, i'm going to do my part, and i know she'll do hers but our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part as one community, one united states of america to ensure opportunity for all of our children. the days we live in are not easy ones, but we have seen days like

this before and america prevailed with the wisdom of our founders and the values of our families, america prevailed with each generation going further than the last, america prevailed, and with the opportunity we build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow america will prevail! it begins with reelecting barack obama! it begins with you! it begins now! [ speaking spanish ] >> my god bless you! and may god bless the united states of america! [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you! thank you! [ cheers and applause ] >> cenk: that was a great, great

speech. now you can see why they think he is such a rising star in the democratic party. knocked it out of the park. two themes he emphasized opportunity, he built a great bridge from investment to opportunity to prosperity, and staying together. we do it together. >> al gore: this was a grand slam home run. he did knock it out of the park. the bases were loaded by the great speakers that became before him. i think this first night has already been a big success. i think the themes have been great, but just to concentrate again for a moment on julian castro, he definitely is a rising star. charismatic, and i love the way -- what is her name -- carina victoria -- >> yeah. >> three years old, when she saw herself on the big screen she

was like -- very very cute. >> eliot: delivery was spectacular, the smile he has just captured the audience and the metaphor he used it's not a sprint, it's not a marathon, it's a replay. >> al gore: one of the best metaphors i have heard since mario cuomo back years ago. it beautifully captured the essence of what the democratic party's message is. >> jennifer: he obviously had a great ability to honor his mother, and for all of the mothers in the audience they could imagine themselves being so proud of a son like that. the fact that he and his brother rose up, went to stanford harvard, these kids are a great example of pulling themselves up by the bootstraps a great line.

>> john: taking mitt romney barack obama is a good guy. he flipped it and used it on him. mr. castro rocks the keynote address. happens to have the same name as an exdictator which means in no time at all, donald trump will be questioning his citizenship. >> al gore: one of the devices that speakers sometimes use is what the professionals say call and response, where you get a rhythm going, and in the audience knows what they are expected to say back. i was very impressed after the sequence of call and response he paused on the healthcare issue.

>> cenk: yeah. again knocked it out of the park. his smile reminded me of cam newton. and here the republicans set up the theme throughout this convention, these guys are just looking for welfare and as he tells the story of how his grandmother worked as a maid it puts that lie to shame. >> jennifer: she carry -- she held a mop so i could hold a microphone. >> al gore: yeah and his mention of the dream act i'm still moved by the long long lines in cities all across the united states, where these young people who grew up in the united states, and they had to pay for the privilege of going in to get this provisional status. that energy was patriotic, and he spoke to hispanics all over

the country, but beyond hispanics to all of the americans. >> eliot: the stories we have heard tonight reflect the benefits to society, how those who get that small handout benefit and build an entire community, and it has been an amazing thing to see that turn in the sense of community, purpose, and goodness. >> jennifer: eliot you are totally right, reflecting so well of the loans issue -- where the young person says how do i start my own business well borrow from your parents. he said i wish i would have thought of that. [ laughter ] >> al gore: yes. >> john: we always here any time you criticize our tax policy oh, you hate successful people. when he said mitt romney has no idea how good he has had it

folks aren't attacking wealth. they are attacking people with no understanding of their own societal privilege, and with that line, mitt romney has no idea how good he has it. >> jennifer: and saying he is a good man. he just doesn't understand. >> eliot: this goes back to mitt romney has never demonstrated empathy. there's no empathy or sense that he really understands what people are really going through. tonight we saw what it takes to succeed. the hard work, and it was a brilliant presentation. >> cenk: we through out all of the different speeches we saw in the republican convention a lack of organization and mentioning mitt romney. here the theme goes throughout all of them. ted strictland talks about the gi bill and how much that helped his family. and that it's not just a line you say. it actually was a hand up and

they got up. and one more thing about standing together, you see the democratic politicians in the crowd. they didn't just make the speech and go backstage et cetera. you didn't see a lot of republican politicians in the crowd at all. here you see vice president biden throughout sheriff brown, and mark warren and you see them together with the delegates. >> eliot: mitt romney has a fractured party. he has been the nominee -- the presumptive nominee, until just a few months ago he was sitting on top of a powder keg. so-so many different factions there, he simply could not get one unified message. obviously here the president with a unified democratic party.

there's cohesiveness and intellectual integrity to what we're trying to say. >> al gore: let me inject one word of caution, it's a theme we talked about some last week. money now plays sometimes a decisive role, always a hugely important role, and the money that has been raised by the koch brothers, and by karl rove added to the money that the romney campaign has raised, just dwarfs what the obama campaign will be able to use, so if you are enthusiastic about the messages you are hearing, it really is important to become personally involved. i find myself very moved by these speeches as you can tell, but i want to translate into action to make up for that huge money advantage that has been distorting our politics. >> cenk: absolutely.

that's what we are all worried about. but as we go forward here, talking about reaching out for the latino voters, as you mentioned. even if you compare marco rubio to this speech, he just felt authentic, and if latinos watch that speech 97% of them are going to vote in that direction. but did they watch it? >> eliot: one other footnote. the republicans are going to say all the speakers tonight were government officials and public sector employees. they are going to come back and say you want bigger government, then this is the party. if you want to be pro business, be pro education. >> al gore: and he spoke to that when he talked about the dreams

for his daughter. she'll do her part. i'll do my part, yes. but as one community. we all have to do our part. >> john: we are seeing a very defined split. the gop was all about the economy. this convention is all about the society. >> eliot: uh-huh. >> cenk: in 2004 barack obama gave an amazing speech at the convention. otherwise i thought it was horrible at the convention. maybe i'm being too harsh, but i remember it standing out as they are not doing the job. they are not doing the job. >> jennifer: they weren't fighting back. >> cenk: they weren't fighting back against bush. but they are actually doing a terrific job. as i watch this convention i think you know what people are more likely to vote for democrats, and in 2004 i was

thinking i don't know. they are getting the message across. strictland o'malley -- >> tammy duckworth. >> eliot: i think you are right. one number is going to come out, the unemployment numbers. if that number goes the wrong way, this all gets washed away. if it goes the right way boom i think the president flies right in. >> cenk: that's a good point. if the economy doesn't take a big dip as i'm watching this throughout the night, i'm thinking these guys are going to win. you are right about the money, no question about it. but remember the stat we gave you for the republican convention, which is that two weeks after the conventions are set, the guy who has the lead doesn't lose it.

here comes the first lady, michelle obama, the speech we have been looking forward to tonight. ♪ here i am signed sealed, delivered, so good ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ oh, baby here i am signed sealed delivered oh yeah ♪ [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you so much. [ cheers and applause ] [ laughter ] >> thank you.

[ laughter ] >> thank you so much. >> with your help -- with your help -- let me -- let me start -- i want to -- i want to start by thanking elaine. elaine thank you so much. we are so grateful for your family's service and sacrifice, and we will always have your back. [ cheers and applause ] >> over the past few years as first lady, i have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country, and everywhere i have gone and the people i have met and the stories i heard, i have seen the very best of the american spirit. i have seen it in the -- the

incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and our family especially our girls. i have seen it in teachers in a near bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay. i have seen it in people who become heros at a moments notice. driving for hours to bail out a flooded town, and i have seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families. [ cheers and applause ] >> in wounded warriors who tell me they are not just going to walk again, they are going to run, and they are going to run marathons. [ cheers and applause ] >> in the young men blinded by a bomb in afghanistan who said simply, i would give my eye 100 times again to have the chance to do what i have done, and what i can still do.

every day the people i meet inspire me. every day they make me proud. every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth. [ cheers and applause ] >> serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege, but back when we first came together four years ago i still had some concerns about this journey we had begun. while i believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country, and i was certain he would make an extrordanaire president, like any mother i was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. how would we keep them grounded? how would they feel being uprooted from their school their friends, and the only home they had ever known. the wife we had before moving to

washington was filled with simple joys, saturday at soccer games, sunday at grandma's house, and date night for barack and i was either dinner or a movie because as an exhausted mom i couldn't stay awake for both. and the truth is i loved the life we built for our girls, and i deeply loved the man i built that life with and i didn't want that to change if he became president. i loved barack just the way he was. you see even back then when barack was a senator and presidential candidate, to me he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole in the passenger's side door. he was the guy who's proudest possession was a coffee table he

found in a dumpster. [ laughter ] >> and who's only pair of decent shoes was a half size too small. but see when barack starting telling me about his family see now that's when i new i had found a kindered spirit. someone who's values and upbringing were so much like mine. barack and i were both raised by families who didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable their unconditionable love, unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves. my father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when my brother and i were young. and even as a kid i knew there were plenty of days when he was

in pain, and there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to get out of bed. but every morning i watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker prop himself up against the bathroom sink and slowly shave and button his uniform uniform, and when he returned home my brother and i would stand at the top of the stairs of our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he lifted one leg and then the other to slowly climb our ways into his arms. but he hardly ever miss addai of work. he and my mother were determined to give us the kind of education they could only dream of. [ cheers and applause ] >> and when my brother and i finally made it to college, nearly all of our tuition came

from student loans and grants but my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that himself and every semester he was determined to pay that bill on time. he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late. you see for my dad, that's what it meant to be a man. [ cheers and applause ] >> like -- like so many of us that was the measure of his success in life, being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family, and -- and as i got to know barack i realized that even though he has grown up all the way across the country, he had been brought up just like me. barack was raised by a single no, ma'am who struggled to pay the bills, and by grandparents

who stepped in when she needed help. barack's grandmother started out as a secretary at a bank and moved up the ranks, but for so many years she hit a glass ceiling. and men who she had trained moved up the ladder ahead of her. but day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus, arriving at work before anyone else, giving her best without complaint or regret and she would often tell barack so long as your kids do well that's all that really matters. like so many american familiar list, our families weren't asking for much. they didn't degrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did, in fact they admired it.

that if you work harand do what you are supposed to do you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and even better life for your kids and your grandkids. that's what we learned from their example. we learned about dignity and decency that how hard you work means more than how much you make. we learned about honesty and integrity. that the truth matters; that -- that you don't take shortcuts, or play by your own set of rules. [ cheers and applause ] >> and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and

square. [ cheers and applause ] >> we learned about gratitude and humility that so many people had a hand in our success. from the teachers who inspired us, to the janitors who kept our school clean. [ cheers and applause ] >> and we would taught to value everyone's contribution, and treat everyone with respect. those are the values that bar rock and i and so many of you are trying to pass on to our children. that's who we are, and standing before you four years ago, i knew they didn't want any of that to change if barack became president. well today after so many struggles that have tested my husband in ways they never could have imagined. i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you

are. no, it reveals who you are. [ cheers and applause ] >> you see i -- i have gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like. and i have seen how the issues that come across the president's desk are always the hard ones. they are the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer. the judgment calls where the steaks are so high and there is no margin for error. and you will get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people but at the end of the day, all you have to guide you are your values and vision and the life experiences that make you who you are. [ cheers and applause ] >> so when -- when it comes to

rebuilding our economy, barack is thinking about folks like my dad and his grandmother. he is thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work. that's why he signed the lilly ledbetter pay act. that's why he fought to get the auto industry back on its feet. [ cheers and applause ] >> that's how he brought our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again. jobs you can raise a family on good jobs right here in the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] >> when it comes to the health of our families, barack refused to listen all of those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another

president. he didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically. that's not how he was raised. he cared that it was the right thing to do. [ cheers and applause ] >> he -- he did it because he believed that here in america our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine our kids should be able to see a doctor when they are sick and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or an illness. [ cheers and applause ] >> and he believed that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. [ cheers and applause ] >> that's what my husband stands for. [ cheers and applause ] >> when it comes to giving our

kids the education they deserve, barack knows that like me and so many of you, he never could have attended college without financial aid, and believe it or not when we were first married our combined monthly student loan bill was actually higher than our mortgage. yeah, we -- we were so young, so many love, and so in debt. [ laughter ] >> and that's why barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise, and be able to at ten college without a mountain of debt. [ cheers and applause ] >> so in the end for barack these issues aren't political. they are personal. because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and

grandkids. barack knows the american dream because he has lived it. [ cheers and applause ] >> and he wants everyone in this country, everyone to have the same opportunity no matter who we are, or where we're from or what we look like, or who we love. [ cheers and applause ] >> and he believes that when you have worked hard and done well and -- and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed. [ cheers and applause ] >> so when -- when people ask me

whether being in the white house has changed my husband. i -- i can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all of those years ago. [ cheers and applause ] >> yeah, he -- he is the same man who -- who started his career by turning down high-paying jobs, and instead working in struggling neighborhoods where a steel plant had shut down fighting to rebuild those communities and get folks back to work. because for barack success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives. [ cheers and applause ]

>> he -- he's the same man -- he's the same man when our girls were firstborn would anxiously check their cribs every few minutes to ensure that they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew. you see that's the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the news strategizing about middle school friendships -- [ laughter ] >> that's the man i -- i see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk pouring over the letters people have sent him. the letter from the father struggling to pay his bills, from the woman dying of cancer who's insurance company won't cover her care from the young people with so much promise, but so few opportunities, and i see

the concern in his eyes, and i hear the determination in his voice as he tells me you won't believe what these folks are going through, michelle it's not right. we have got to keep working to fix this. we have got so much more to do. [ cheers and applause ] >> i see -- i see how those stories [ crowd chanting ] >> i see how those stories, our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams i see how that's what drives barack obama every single day and i didn't

think it was possible but let me tell you today i love my husband even more than i did four years ago, even more thank did 23 years ago when we first met. let me tell you why. see i love that he has never forgotten how he started. i love that we can trust barack to do what he says he is going to do even when it is hard especially when it is hard. i love for barack there is no such thing as us and them. he doesn't care if you are a democrat a republican or none of the above. he knows we always love our country. he is always looking for the every best in everyone he meets. and i -- i love that even in the toughest moments when we're all sweating it when we're worried that the bill won't pass and it seems like all is lost see

barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and noise, no. just like his grandmother, he just keeping getting up and moving forward with patience and wisdom and courage and grace. [ cheers and applause ] >> and he reminds me -- we reminds me that we are playing a long game here and that change is hard, and change is slow and it never happens all at once but eventually we get there, we always do. we -- we get there because of folks like my dad, folks like barack's grandmother, men and women who said to themselves i % may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams but maybe my children will, maybe my grandchildren will. see -- see so many of u