08.29.12 08.29.12 >> from tampa, fla., and this is democracy now . we are broadcasting from the republican convention inside and out in them i cannot tell you what will happen over the next at prewar years, but i can only stand here as a wife, grandmother, an american, and make this solemn promise. this man will not fail. >> women take center stage at the republican convention hours

after mitt romney officially clinches the republican nomination. we will hear from his wife ann romney and nikki haley of south carolina. we will also speak to a candidate holding a race against him. people also look and a rising star of the tea party, texas candidate ted cruz. >> it is the story of my father, tortured and imprisoned in cuba. he emigrated to the u.s. with $100 sewn into his underwear. >> what he did not say was that his father was tortured under the u.s.-backed baptiste the regime. we will also speak to the author of "bush's brain: how karl rove made george w. bush presidential." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

we are breaking with convention. i'm amy goodman. hurricane is it had made landfall in southern louisiana as it heads toward louisiana on the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. the category 1 storm is producing winds of 80 miles per hour and is expected to bring heavy flooding. it will mark the most serious test of the rebuild levees in the seven years since katrina. at least 200,000 people have lost our throughout the gulf coast area and some 50,000 were slated to evacuate new orleans. on tuesday, president obama warned of the potential of major damage from flooding. >> as we prepare for isaac to hit, i want to urge all residents of the gulf coast to follow directions of officials, including, if they tell you, to

evacuate. we are dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and damage across a large area. now is not the time to tempt fate. now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. you need to take this seriously. >> the united nations is warning does that that -- gaza that conditions may not be little soon. a humanitarian coordinator says the basic interests lecture has been crippled by the u.s.-backed israeli occupation and blockade. >> action needs to be taken right now on fundamental aspects of life in gaza, sanitation, electricity, education, health. that needs to happen now. if gaza is to be a livable place in 2020. it is already difficult now. despite their best efforts, the

palestinians still need help. they are under blockade, under occupation. they need our help politically and practically on the ground in the way the described. >> 80% of residents rely on aid to survive and many derive their only income from underground trade. the family of the u.s. peace activist rachel corey says it will appeal an israeli court's exoneration of the individual. she was crushed to death by an israeli military bulldozer in gaza nine years ago. she was standing in front of a palestinian home to prevent its demolition. on tuesday, an israeli judge rejected the family's wrongful death lawsuit, ruling the death resulted from an accident she brought upon herself her mother

condemned the verdict. >> we are, of course, deeply saddened and troubled by what we heard today from the judge in the haifa district court. i believe this was a bad day, not only for our family, but a bad day for human rights, humanity, for the rule of law commack and also for the country of israel. this diplomatic process between the united states and israel failed us, and today, the israeli court system demonstrated its failure. >> the family says it will appeal the case to the israel supreme court. to see our interview with her parents, go to our website, democracynow.org.

the mexican government has apologized for a shooting by federal police officers that wounded two cia operatives last night -- last week. they were driving near mexico city when they came under fire. 12 officers have been detained so far. it is not clear if the operatives were deliberately targeted or if it was a case of mistaken identity. on tuesday, the mexican president apologized. >> i am deeply sorry for the events that took place a couple of days ago in morales. as you know, these events are being investigated with full of vigor and severity on behalf of the attorney general's office. in order to separate responsibility in this matter and act in consequence because we cannot allow these things to happen. whether it is because of negligence, lack of training, trust, or complicity, they can that happen, and they are being

completely investigated with full rigor. >> the u.s. says the wounded operatives were in mexico to assist in the fight against drug traffickers. on tuesday, several mexican politicians called for an investigation into the role of the cia in mexico. the first full day of the republican national convention kicked off on tuesday. house speaker john boehner announced the delegate count. >> i am prepared to announce the results of the roll call. the honorable mitt romney of the state of massachusetts has received 2061 votes. [applause] more than a majority of those votes in title to be cast at this convention. >> controversy erupted on the convention floor when a dispute broke out over whether to seek the delegates of ron paul, with

the delegation stormed off the stage, threatening to strip away half of his delegates. supporters also hollered their objections, angered by new rules that they say will make it harder for grassroots candidates to stand a chance in future elections. a dozen activist with code pink were barred from entering a private event tuesday night featuring former secretary of state condoleezza rice. the activists were carrying handcuffs in an attempt to bring up war crimes. john huston has fired two officials who voted to extend early voting in underage county. he had announced all counties would follow uniform hours for early voting on weekdays, but since the order only applied during the week and now fired officials moved to expand voting times on the weekend.

critics say the state's uneven hours benefit white republicans while disenfranchising people of color. president obama won montgomery county in 2004. a federal court has ruled a courthouse in texas discriminated against people of color in its redrawing of maps before congressional districts. the head of the election, rick perry signed off on the redistricting maps, but on tuesday, a three-judge panel ruled the move violated the voting rights act and disenfranchise people of color with a discriminatory purpose. texas plans to appeal. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. breaking with convention. we are in tampa, fla. covering the republican national convention. >> welcome to our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. this is breaking with

convention. war, peace, and the presidency. tuesday night, republicans officially nominated mitt romney for president after 15 months of campaigning and more than five years since he declared his first bid for the white house in 2007. his nomination was briefly disrupted by supporters of ron paul, the only republican primary opponent who stayed in the race. but at just past 5:40 p.m., delegates from new jersey put romney over the top. house speaker john boehner announced the results. >> i am pleased to announce the results of the roll call. the honorable mitt romney of the state of massachusetts has received 2061 votes. [applause] more than a majority of those votes entitled to be cast in this convention. >> later tuesday night, speakers addressed the crowd of delegates

and their supporters for several hours. many referenced the theme of the evening, "we built it," with testimonials about small business owners who have struggled against president obama and immigrant parents that pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. the night culminated by addresses from two eagerly anticipated speakers. the first was ann romney, who focused on their love and marriage. >> i cannot tell you what will happen over the next four years, but i can only stand here as a wife, mother, american, and make this solemn commitment. this man will not fail. [applause] this man will not let us down. this man will lift up america. >> up next was new jersey governor chris christie, who delivered the evening's keynote address. much of his speech focused on

his own governing accomplishments, possibly setting the stage for a future white house bid. in his final minute, he called on voters to back mitt romney in november. >> mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear, to put us back on the path to growth, creating good paying private sector jobs. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debt and bury our economy. mitt romney will tell us the truth we need to you to and the debacle of putting the world's greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an american citizen and heard dr.. >> another speaker was republican senate candidate ted cruz who has close ties to the tea party. he was thrown into national prominence one month ago when he won a primary runoff.

>> we are seeing something extraordinary. something that has dumbfounded the chattering class. it began in 2010, right here in florida. in utah, in kentucky, and in pennsylvania. it continues this summer in the state of indiana, in nebraska, in wisconsin, and in the lone star state. >> to talk more about the republican national convention, we turn to wayne slater, senior writer at "the dallas news," author of three books, including "bush's brain: how karl rove made george w. bush presidential." interestingly, your books on karl rove was about george bush.

you say road is as relevant today as he was then. talk about the opening night of the convention. >> but we saw was the theme, not just "we built it" but barack obama, that man. it was toned down a lot of it like it because of hurricane isaac, but he did not hear that so much from the first -- potential first lady, but from chris christie and other minority speakers. the interesting thing about christie, he talked a lot about chris christie. it was 12 minutes before he even mentioned mitt romney. i was at the texas republican convention a couple of months ago. paul ryan was the speaker. the delegates did not want to hear the name mitt romney. when rick perry engine mitt romney on stage, he was booed

because ted cruz was the tea party candidate. paul ryan never mention mitt romney by name two years ago. >> where does the tea party fall yesterday? how did they figure during the convention? >> you talk to these delegates -- i was at a christian conservative meeting a couple of days ago. there was a big overlap between fiscal tea party members and social conservatives. you talk to people on the floor. they like paul ryan. they are still clearly reluctant about mitt romney. you saw some of the true liberty minded republicans represented in the ron paul demonstrations, efforts against him, but this is a party that has been taken over, in large part -- i guess a

few years ago with pat robertson, by the church -- it is clearly now a tea party party. >> ted cruz is not known nationally, a tea party favor. senatorial candidate for the republican party in texas. >> very conservative, but then again, a republican in texas. they are all conservatives. i traveled with him in the primary. interesting guy, educated, princeton and harvard law, worked with william rehnquist. his name to fame in texas was defending the 10 commandments monument on the capitol grounds, which was successful. he also fought against a treaty, state of texas, that all states had agreed to -- in fact, 170 countries had agreed to -- and

said that you have to notify foreign nationals if they are arrested in your state before you execute them. he was on the side of, no, we do not have to notify them of their rights. >> and he won that case. >> absolutely. the most interesting thing about him, i think, was his defense of golf courses in america. as part of the campaign -- i know this sounds crazy. he basically argued that george soros and united nations are not only going to take our guns in texas, but our golf courses. it was on his website. what he was referring to was a 20-year-old united nations non- binding resolution about creating sustainable environment. by thinking about open spaces and so forth. he is a big -- it is a big resolution.

he said what they're coming for is your pasture land, highways, and golf courses. >> in his address to the national council, ted cruz quoted two significant but very different figures, part of what he called the love story of freedom. >> it is the story of civil- rights pioneers, like dr. martin luther king, who stood up to the skirt of discrimination and bravely championed that each of us must be judged, not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. [applause] it is the story of president ronald reagan, who turned back the growth of government and restored morning in america. [applause] who stood up against the

oppressive evil of communism and demanded, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> ted cruz, the rising star of the republican party. >> there you saw the two bookends of the republican party in modern america, martin luther king and ronald reagan. interestingly, as you know, republicans have invoked cain of a lot in the last few decades, in large part, to try to get rid of affirmative action programs by saying essentially martin luther king wanted people to be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin, which is true. that is what he said. a very effective line by republicans. cruz, remember, is not a mexican-american in texas.

they have had difficulty winning races in texas. hecuban-american. that was known by texas. that was recognized as a more hispanic latino leader. >> let's go to a clip of him talking about his father. >> is the story of my father, imprisoned and tortured in cuba, beaten nearly to death. he fled to texas in 1957, not speaking english, with $100 sewn into his underwear. he washed dishes making 50 cents an hour to pay his way through college and to start a small business in the oil and gas industry. my father is here today. when he came to america -- [ speaking spanish] he had nothing, but he had

heart. a heart for freedom. thank you, dad. >> that is ted cruz speaking on the first night of the national convention. let's think about that date. his father fled cuba in 1957 after being brutally tortured. 1957, wayne slater, the significance of this? most people in the audience must have felt, as many in the country -- though he did not say it -- that he was fleeing the castro regime. >> early in the campaign he had a commercial talking about his father -- the same story. my father fled repression in cuba. i guarantee you every republican that heard it last night and early on in texas heard, he fought against castro. actually, his father fought with castro and che guevara. he fought against the betti's

the government, and it was only later when he fell out of favor with the established government, where castro was clearly in charge, that he came to the united states and started a business here. >> it was your newspaper, "the dallas morning news" that revealed all of this. >> he did knowledge is it now, and he was also born in canada. these are things that the tea party folks do not want you to know about. >> and there are similarities to marker rubio. although ted cruz does not say we fled castro -- he just leaves you with that impression. with rubio, he explicitly said he fled castro, but his family also left under baptista. >> in the republican party, it does not seem to be a good talking point to say that i worked with castro in cuba. you are right, rubio did

explicitly early on say something that was palpably false. >> in fact, ted cruz, clarifying what he was asked about this said, i said many times that my father fought with fidel castro in the broader sense, not side- by-side, but on the same side. >> and he did not make that clear early on in the campaign until we wrote about it. it is a problem. again, he was a republican tea party candidate able to fight against the establishment republican candidate with whom he held virtually no differences in terms of conservative politics in texas, and he won. he is a rising star in the party. >> talk about how he has come to be a rising star and the role particularly of campaign finance getting him where he is. >> texas was a model, as many

states were. outside big money coming independent groups that want to bankroll candidates they like. in this case, clubs for growth and other but white conservative business groups came in with an awful lot of money to match, in large part, the spending of his opponent. it is a super pac, absolutely. there were others that were helpful. dick armey and his group, freedom works, work for ted cruz. they saw in him someone who, on the business issues, would be on their side. they do not care as much about the issues of abortion and marriage. but he is on the right when it comes to abortion, marriage, and business deregulation. he is the perfect candidate for

this group in washington. although again he tried to emphasize the fact that he was fighting washington when in fact he was bankrolled by washington. >> wayne slater is our guest. he has written a number of books. among them, "bush's brain: how karl rove made george w. bush presidential." he also wrote "the architect: karl rove and the dream of absolute power." i wanted to play an ad from karl rove's superpac, american crossroads, who paid $9 million to air in battleground states in july. it highlights the obama comment that prompted tuesday night's "we built it" theme at the republican national convention. before we play a clip, if you could talkut karl rove in the convention. you were just with him at a political event. >> he cited me from the audience

in a bad way, as usual there was a moment in the movieee "godfather 2" when one of the bosses says that we are bigger than general motors. there were those who said that carl grove was finished after 2008, when bush left office. >> scooter libby indicted, crowe was about to be indicted. >> yes, but it did not happen. karl rove is bigger than the republican party. in texas, when george bush was governor, he took over the republican party's financing, started a political committee, and he has done the same thing here with a national republican party. he is everywhere. he is at these gatherings, meetings on thursday morning with his billionaire and

millionaire superpac donors, he is a star everywhere he goes. he is very much an extraordinary figure representing the conservative establishment wing of the party. >> let's go to that crossroads pac ad. >> let's go to the fumble of the week. barack obama drops the ball. >> if you have a business, you did not build that. somebody else make that happen. >> team obama contests mccaul. >> they started slicing and dicing. those that took my words out of context. >> you heard the man. let's go to the tape. you did not build that. somebody else made that happen. >> nobody else made that happen? >> somebody else make that happen. >> sorry, mr. president. the tape is pretty clear.

you are out of touch, out of ideas, and you are out of there. >> that is karl rove's crossroads ad. they spent $9 million on it and it is now the theme of the national convention, written everywhere, "we built it." many of the posters also saying it. >> he is helping to define the narrative of the party. he said a couple of days ago when i was with him that he thinks the super pacs would raise maybe $300 million alone -- just his own group. and remember, he has two super pacs. one is american crossroads. the bigger one, crossroads gps, a social level -- welfare groups under federal law, does not disclose its donors. we do not know where that money

is coming from, but i can guess. >> what is his relationship to mitt romney and paul ryan? >> he was really helpful of ryan. when you watch the coverage on fox news, he was clearly trying to keep the party in line early on in 2010 with sharon engle in nevada, christine o'donnell in delaware. he saw the danger of the really radical right smearing the image of the republican party. he really is an establishment guy that wants to resent largely the e e ness interest. that is where he is. he always saw mitt romney as the kind of guy -- many george bush acolytes and others in the campaign working with mitt romney. this is carl rove's campaign. >> the significance of condoleezza rice sitting with

mitt romney last night? >> extraordinary. i watched that. what you saw was a very visible representation of the continuation -- the speech writer for george bush said that this is just the continuation of the bush administration. i guess it is pushed 3 before we have jeb bush. a series of other people, including political consultant, policy advisers, many of whom were around jordan w. bush, all of whom karl knows. this is the kind of candidate that he wants. not some crazy, wacky republican that cannot be reined in, but a business minded conservative like romney who wants to cut regulations and taxes for the rich. >> finally, i want to ask you about overall, the bush's.

the next generation of the parties brand is florida gov. jeb bush. he spoke on sunday about what he will talk about when he addresses the delegates tonight. >> i will talk about education, which is something that is not necessarily a federal program but is a great national priority. it is actually a place where the partisan divide is not a short. if one-third of our kids are college or career ready by the time they reached 12th grade, that is a tragedy. there is no amount of government program that could ever fill that void. we have this big debate now in our country about class warfare. the president is constantly try to divide the country by saying rich people need to pay more and they did not build what they built, it was a communal effort, i guess. the fact is, you do not build

capacity in people, they cannot pursue their dreams, no matter how hard they work. if they do not have the power that comes from knowledge and a college education, they cannot do it. that is what i will talk about, not necessarily a driving political issue, but i am passionate about this because the american political system has become so short run in its nature. we need to be longer term in our thinking to solve problems. >> that is former florida gov. jeb bush as a measure of the expectations for his political career. jon stewart is committed to be calling their coverage of the campaign this year "rnc 2012: the road to jeb bush 2016." you have written a lot about the bush brothers. >> in the family, jeb was the smart one and george was a dumb one. georgia reemerged. jeb has always been seen as the

most -- most likely to go to the white house. i think that is clearly what he expects to do. but he was talking about education. sounding very smart. but what was he saying? vouchers, privatization? and teacher's unions. >> the same thing that chris christie said. >> the interesting thing to me, when i spoke to these candidates, whether it is rick perry, jeb bush, or others, other republicans, i get the palpable sense that they would not be all that unhappy if mitt romney loses because the republican lineup in four years will be a very crowded field. >> you think we could see jeb bush and hillary rodham clinton? >> i think we could. if bush ran this year, there would be some fatigue. i am not dissuaded of the idea that he could have run. >> and you have rand paul.

he, too, is from texas. >> extraordinary guy. as you know, represents the true libertarian tradition, a very hands-off freedom agenda, meaning the decriminalization of marijuana and other freedoms, but on the other hand, very radical economic policy. i do not know how many states i went to, especially young people who liked rand and ron paul and the message. i think rand has a future. i am not sure if he will never move out of the niche. >> he talked about auditing the pentagon when he introduced his father. >> the great thing about ron paul, when you watch him on stage, and i have, he never moved his message. if it is critical of the

republican started -- party establishment, it will be critical of the republican party establishment. very principled guy. >> wayne slater, thank you for being with us. the co-author of three books, including "bush's brain: how karl rove made george w. bush presidential." when we come back, we have a presidential candidate in the studio, third-party candidate. former salt lake city mayor rocky anderson. stay with us.

>> cheap trick's "i want you to want me" as performed by g.e.smith and the rnc house band. one of the songs played and the republican convention here in tampa, florida. this is war, peace, and the

presidency. looking at the convention from the inside out. >> the major networks are broadcasting just one hour each night of the republican national convention beginning at 10:00 p.m. in the first hour of coverage, tuesday, republicans highlighted women. speakers included ann romney. amy, you were there when nikki haley took the stage just before 10:00 p.m. >> i sat on the tarmac facility in charleston and watched as the new airplane rolled onto the runway, with a maid in pride made in south carolina decal and 6000 non-union employees cheering, so proud of what they had built. >> we are at the republican national convention in tampa, florida. we are on the fourth floor of the convention, overlooking the first night.

the first night on monday was canceled. tonight, ann romney will be speaking, followed by the keynote address of new jersey governor chris christie. the networks said that they would only do one our of coverage each night. that started at 10:00. clearly, tonight, there are featuring women. first is south carolina governor nikki haley. she, like many speakers before her, repeated the mantra "we built it" as they month president obama saying, no matter how much you put into your own business, no matter how much you build your dream, government contributed to that. here, it is the mantra. it is on the posters and all over the convention center, "we built it." behind me is a debt clock that started when the republican

gaveled in the convention on monday. as the debt increases, on the floor here at the corporate high-rises bar, down the hallway, sheldon adelson is rumored to have his corporate suite. i can only think about that debt clock ever increasing. corporations like boeing, which gov. haley talked about, getting the government subsidies. it is appropriate, when you look at that debt clock, and then the mantra, to put them together. "we built it." we built the debt. and romney is about to take the stage. >> not about politics and not about party. y. wu will hear many issues to run the campaign, tonight, i want to talk to you from my heart, about our hearts.

i want to talk, not about what divides us, but what holds us us -- hold us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good and the deepest solace in our darkest hours. tonight, i want to talk to you about love. i want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love i have for a man i met at a dance many years ago. >> ann romney speaking at the republican national convention tuesday night. she ended her address with the same theme. >> tonight, i want to talk to you about love. look into your hearts. this is our country.

this is our future. these are our children and grandchildren. you can trust mitt. [applause] he loves america. he will take this to a better place, just as he took me home safely from that dance. >> we are joined now by someone who knew mitt and ann romney. with me is rocky anderson, who worked with mitt romney on the olympics. a former democrat who once endorsed romney for governor of massachusetts. now rocky anderson is running for president on the justice party ticket. we are also joined by megan

carpentier. she reported on the speeches tuesday night. rocky anderson, you have known the romneys four years. you endorse each other in commercials when he was running as a republican for the governor of massachusetts. you were running as a democrat for salt lake city mayor. now you are running against each other. he may not know that, but you do. talk about who the romneys are, they're changing positions, who ann romney is. >> i supported mitt romney because he was a moderate, reasonable person running for governor in massachusetts. he never would have won that race if he was not a moderate. i saw him as somebody that might be able to bring the republican party back to a far saner middle course. instead, he has gone completely the opposite direction.

when you hear ann romney say you can trust mitt romney, who can trust a man that changes his position on fundamental issues on a dime? who decides to run for president of the united states and all of a sudden goes from pro-choice to anti-choice, whose wife has ms and objects to stem cell research? these are the results of handlers telling him what he needs to do to get the republican nomination. i am very disappointed. they were great friends. pains me to say this actually because i really enjoyed working with him. i think he did a great job on the olympics. i think they have an amazing relationship between the two of them, but i do not think they are being honest about the american people about who mitt romney is. >> by choice, they were fiercely pro-choice, but now they say

they have simply changed their position. they do not say that they did not have the position before. >> you could barely say that. look at all the issues. he was clearly on the side of climate protection. he knew climate change was happening, he was an advocate of the cap and trade system among the northeastern states, the reggie cap and trade program, and then he backed out of them at the last minute. he has been all over the map on these issues. on equal rights for gays and lesbians. these go to the fundamentals of who a person is, what their view of the world is of fairness, justice. we have seen completely different positions and, i think, personality. people talk about his electability factor. he was very charismatic, had

great report with people of all kinds when he was running the olympics. i heard journalists say that they were just astounded at the difference they were seeing. he has become this elitist, seems to only care about the very wealthy. he talks about corporation being people, my friend. he is so out of touch now. he has had to come off as a very different human being in order to get this republican nomination. >> meghan, i want to ask you, you were monitoring the speeches carefully last night. polls suggest romney is far behind obama as part of women voters are concerned. what do you make of ann romney's attempt to reverse the trend? >> i think her speech about love was clearly designed to appeal to a certain type of spirit that a woman, the soccer mom, the

soft -- it is not really about the issues but the man himself. i am sure there women voters for whom that is important, but we are talking about an election cycle where everything from women's contraceptive access to reproductive rights, to equal pay, has been put on the table by the republican party. women do not just care if mitt romney is a good father. they want to know what he is going to do for those issues, in terms of their ability to access the economy. for her to say, as a woman speaking to women, i do not need to talk about politics. i can talk about what kind of husband he is, and that is the appeal. was kind of off-putting. obviously, she did not read the speech and that is what his advisers think that women want to hear, that he is a nice guy. >> a strong message from the floor.

i bumped into someone who is very significant in the republican party around abortion and choice. 20 years ago this month, the republican national convention in houston, texas. the pro-choice republican governor william weld of massachusetts, the predecessor of mitt romney, took a stand for reproductive rights. he drew a mixture of boos and cheers. this is 20 years ago when he addressed the convention saying individual freedoms should include a woman's right to choose. i want to play a clip of that 1992 republican convention address. >> what brings us together as republicans, indeed, what defines our party, is an enduring faith in individual freedoms. we are tough on crime because unless our families are free to walk the streets in safety, no other freedoms really matter.

we are tough on taxes because excessive taxation stifles individual initiative and economic enterprise. on these fundamental republican themes, i can safely say, we agree. there are also issues where we do not agree. i happen to think that individual freedoms should extend to a woman's right to choose. [cheers and boos] >> i want the government out of your pocketbook.

but this disagreement is not unhealthy. unlike the democrats, george bush and the republican party are not afraid of a little disagreement. [applause] my appearance before you tonight proves it. we should not let this issue divide us, we should focus on uniting and winning in november. >> that was then massachusetts governor william willis speaking 20 months ago. on tuesday last night, i spotted him on the floor of the convention here in tampa florida, where he is serving the delegate from new york city. >> we are here on the convention floor, a different atmosphere from when you give your speech in 1992.

your thoughts today? >> i think the atmosphere is different. the party, frankly, is excited behind the ticket. the standard bearer, he and i were the hook and governors in massachusetts. one of the most decent guys i have met. i am not a word about the social issues in this country under a president romney even though he has stated his pro-life issues. he will not let anybody be marginalized. i feel good about the ticket. i could about the campaign. >> in 1992, you're willing to support women's right to choose. >> i thought we were going to get a floor fight. we needed six states, we had eight republican pro-troy's governors, but we could only come up with two. that is how the votes fell. the speech i gave that year -- i wanted the government out of

your pocketbook and bedrooms. i still feel that way strongly. i am a member of the libertarian wing of the republican party and i am comfortable with mitt romney because i know him personally. >> are you saying perhaps that he is right? >> what you see is what you get with the governor stated positions. at the end of the day, the essence of democracy is that the individual shall not be thrust in a corner. i do not think it president ron they would ever permit that to happen. >> his running mate, paul ryan, sponsoring the sanctity of life act which says a fertilized egg is a person. >> there is no question, based on what i read, the vice- president nominee is a committed pro-life person. i am making a pro-choice person. the bottom line is, we have to be able to work together for the

republican party. >> do you see any reaching out on this issue? >> you have been listening to a bit of a conversation with william weld, now a delegate, was massachusetts governor, who wanted to launch a floor fight on the issue of choice 20 years ago. megan carpentier, a very different convention today. >> you heard rick santorum as the only specific abortion reference last night, talking about the fundamental liberty of zygotes and fetuses. it is interesting that former gov. weld said, just trust mitt romney as though we do not worry about it, he is not really going to do what he says he will do. he will not do anything on reproductive choice, so don't worry. that seems to me to be like -- do not trust what he says, just trust that it will be cool.

that is not really an answer to the question. >> we are going to take a break and come back to this discussion. we are speaking to megan carpentier and rocky anderson, finding out what he is doing as he travels the country, running for president on that a third- party ticket.

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we are in tampa, fla. covering the convention from inside and out. rocky anderson, you are running for president, on a third-party ticket on the justice line. you talk about two party tyranny. >> without a doubt, republicans and democrats have a stranglehold on our democracy.

they are depriving people around the country of not only being able to get on the ballot, they are denying all of us our freedom of choice. we are seeing it in the most oppressive ways. in pennsylvania, four days ago, the republicans challenged carey johnson of the libertarian party, they challenged the constitution party. >> many people may not know who carried johnson is. >> former governor of new mexico. he has a lot of people behind him across the country, running for president of the united states. the republicans know, in pennsylvania, they can threaten people financially. when ralph nader was challenged by the democrats, they threw out thousands and thousands of signatures. they got an $81,000 personal judgement against ralph nader and executed against his bank account.

his running mate, before he died, wrote a check for $20,000, to the democratic party, for court costs. this is the cost of seeking to get on the ballot, to give people a real choice? now the republican party had done the same thing to the constitution party. virgil goode pulled out because he did them want to face the possib of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. >> can you tell us how the two party system became so entrenched? >> the incumbent put in place these laws. we do not have a uniform federal system at all. every state is different. getting on the ballot is a nightmare. this illusion that we have democracy -- >> how many states are you on the ballot? >> likely 16 to 18.

our main message is to to return democracy to this country, get the money out of government. it will take a people's movement to do that. those in office, republicans and democrats, both in the white house and congress, have every interest in maintaining the status quo. and every major public policy disaster is corrupted by money, including caving into the military industrial complex, caving in to the for-profit insurance and pharmaceutical industries. that is why we have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world. it is why we are the only nation in the industrialized world that does not provide essential health care for all our citizens, and we are paying more than double the average among the developed world, and far worse medical outcomes. the rate of infant mortality in

the industrial world is the next two worst -- next to latvia -- we have the next worst rate. >> do you think ann romney succeeded in changing the issue of todd akin and his comments about legitimate rape? >> i do not think talking about love will change people's minds when they want to talk about the issues. republicans keep saying this is about the issues, we want to talk about the issues. in the two convention speeches, they talked about love. >> meghan carpentier, of rocky anderson, thank you. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. email your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693, new york, ny 10013.