>> today on "matter of fact" there is anticipation carly can hit the right note with her economic plan. ms. fiorina: i understand how the economy works. >> and in iowa -- >> it is a truly historical accident. >> why politicians should learn to stop worrying and love the hawkeye state. and a conversation with voters who get to cast their ballots first. >> i am looking for a candidate class. >> how will it be easier to create jobs? fernando: this is "matter of

fact" and i am fernando a square -- fernando espuelas. today we are in iowa. if you want to be president of the united states, your journey must start here. every four years, these middle-american voters hold the first in the nation caucus. they go to battle for the candidates they support. that attention often catapults but what makes iowa' s choice matter to everyone else? we talked with undecided voters at a des moines political hotspot, smokey row coffee. what are you looking for in the next president? rebecca: currently, i am a little discontented with how things are running in congress right now. i guess i am looking for a president that is willing to work across party lines and work across the aisle. a.j.: i think there' s things that need to be changing. i want a president who is not going to just tell me that they are going to change, because they are all saying they are going to change. i want someone who i am confident in, who is actually going to be able to execute those changes. adam: i am looking for a candidate that has some experience in the business world, that can take that business experience to

washington, d.c. and try and -- when they are putting in policy to try to take an eye to, how' s that going to impact businesses? how is it going to be easier to create jobs and make it easier for businesses to find success? john: i don' t think the government is a business. i' m not objecting to having somebody who knows business, but government is not a business. and i think it takes 436 to tango. fernando: do you think something has fundamentally changed in the kinds of people that run for office? or something else has happened, that you need someone from the business world now? adam: i don' t know that we know the answer now. we' ve had a couple of candidates who have come through nontraditional avenues. and a number through traditional avenues. there certainly seems to be a groundswell among those nontraditional candidates, but we' ll see. fernando: moving on to the economy, something that is number one in every poll in terms of concerns for americans. there are two narratives. one said the economy is recovering, but then there' s the reality that incomes have not risen at the same level as the rest of the economy has grown.

from your perspective, do we have a vibrant economy? rebecca: as a college student, i mean, obviously i am concerned about tuition costs. i' m looking for a candidate that' s going to focus on the middle class, students, making college affordable. that would definitely be my main priority when looking at the economy. i don' t have the same income as maybe the other people that are here, but what i' m focused on is how am i going to pay for college, how am i going to make this work? >> i think a shift of focus into trade schools, apprenticeships, something along those lines where people can learn skills without racking up a ton of debt, and still really get a good job where they are able to support themselves, support their family, something would help with economic difficulties our country is facing. john: i think the best thing for

opportunities. that' s something the president and the congress can do -- create opportunities. creating jobs, picking winners and losers, not so much. fernando: and on a different topic, one of the dynamics of the presidential race right now has everything to do with social issues. do you think these issues really should drive an election, are they important to you, and will -- to you? john: by and large, social issues are not the big factor to me, for the reason that we have to govern. and the ability to govern involves going across all the issues. we don' t all have to agree, but i think that as soon as someone says, i' m not going to help govern unless we raise the minimum wage, or unless we ban gay marriage, for any other "unless," that is bogging things down. a.j.: i think the economic

will be basing my voting decision on economic issues more than social issues. do i have opinions on social issues? absolutely. it tugs on the heartstrings of voters. i understand. that' s why they are saying those things, but i will be basing my decisions more on other policy issues and not social issues. rebecca: i think social issues are really making a difference for college students in this election cycle. personally, that' s what i' m going to make a lot of my decisions off of. i think social issues are what drive more students to the polls. women' s rights will definitely push me to the polls and help me make my informed decision on who i will be voting for. fernando: so, everyone outside iowa is completely confused, or so critical to elect our presidents. so can you tell us, maybe go around -- why do you think it is

this size of a role in electing people? rebecca: this is a crucial time to show people, iowa is where there' s more to iowa than what the media might be portraying. this is the place for politics right now. a.j.: we have a very unique opportunity to be exposed to all candidates. parts of the country don' t have the opportunity to be a part of. because of that i feel like when , i go to caucus, i will have an informed opinion about who i will be supporting. because i' ve had a chance to hear all the candidates speak. sometimes, i' ve had the chance to sit down with the candidates and talk, or have lunch or have coffee. that' s a very unique experience that iowans get, in because we get that opportunity, i do think the decisions we make in february will be important for the rest of the country. adam: here in iowa, we take our responsibility very seriously. people really do take the time to get engaged, think about the issues and talk to the

candidates, get to know the candidate. john: most of us in iowa have that feeling. we enjoy and understand what they call "retail politics." most of us in iowa are not going to make up their minds because of 30-second soundbites. and we' re pretty smart! fernando: wouldn' t it be great if you and your friends got together to have those conversations? it might just chains the election. you can see the entire interview with our voter roundtable at matteroffact.tv. >>, carly fiorina says your cell phone deserves better reception in congress. ms. fiorina: i will ask every american to take out there questions. dollar is being spent? press one for yes, two for no. >> and how to win in iowa, a

>> you have to have that people are sick and tired of establishment politics, and they want real change! [ cheers and applause ] bernie sanders -- husband, father, grandfather. he's taking on wall street and a corrupt political system that keeps in place a rigged economy. bernie's campaign is funded by over a million contributions -- people like you, who see the middle class disappearing and want a future to believe in. i'm bernie sanders,

fernando: republican carly fiorina knows that a win in iowa or new hampshire can signal there is a real shot at the nomination. with political "outsiders" leading the pack, i asked her how she plans to break ahead of ben carson and donald trump. race number 16 out of 16. and, frankly, a lot of people didn' t give me much of a shot. i' m now somewhere between fourth and sixth. no other candidate has had that trajectory. i also started out as the least well-known candidate in the field. less than 4% of republican primary voters had ever heard my name when i started. so, i am very pleased with our trajectory and our momentum. the reason i think we have this kind of momentum and trajectory is because when people think objectively about what it takes to do the job of president, i think that they see that i have a set of experiences that are pretty unique. i do understand how the economy

works. i understand how the world works, and who is in it. i' ve been in and around the world for decades. many, many world leaders know our intelligence and our military capability quite well. i understand bureaucracies, having worked around them. i understand technology, and i' ve been leading and challenging the status quo and producing results all my life. it is how you go from starting as a secretary, which is how i started, to eventually positions of leadership. you have to produce results and solve problems. fernando: carly, please, as you go into this campaign one of the , big issues that really has not been explored in depth, as i' ve done research for this interview, which is your economic plan. you' ve made a very precise critique of the current economy. what would a presidency, a fiorina presidency, look like in terms of a new economic plan? ms. fiorina: well, i think there are two components to it. first, we need to lift the weight off the job creators in this country.

and the job creators actually are small, community-based, new family-owned businesses. they create two thirds of the new jobs in this country and employ half of the people. and we are crushing them. we are literally destroying more than we are creating every single year now. and so it' s no wonder that our economy is growing at 1.5% or 2%, and it' s no wonder that we have record numbers of people either out of work or folks who have just quit looking for work altogether. so we have to lift that weight off. and specifically, what that means is that we need to simplify the tax code dramatically. 73,000 pages and counting is our current tax code. which, if you are a big company you can handle, but if you are a little company, you can' t. and i meet lots of small business owners who literally don' t understand their tax returns anymore. it' s very discouraging. the second thing we need to do is start rolling back a, just, torrent of rulemaking and regulations that have poured out

of washington, d.c. the truth is, we have never repealed any regulation for 40 years, but we just keep getting more and more of them, and they are crushing job creators. whether those job creators are farmers, with the epa who now control the groundwater, or whether those job producers are energy providers who are getting in some cases drummed out of business by the regulations. so that' s one piece of it, to lift the weight off job around understanding who the job creators are. the second part of it is we actually have to cut our government down to size and hold it accountable. today, there are no consequences. what we get as a result is bureaucratic ineptitude. in fernando:ept at the same time, -- fernando: at the same time, the challenge is working with congress regardless of party and control. , congresspeople and senators have a lot of sacred cows,

certain programs they refused to cut even if they are inefficient, even if they are wasteful. how would you on a practical basis, considering the climate today of really divisive politics in washington? how would you break through that? ms. fiorina: i would use the citizens of this nation. i would focus the common sense and good judgment and, yes, the anger and the frustration of the citizens of this nation to put pressure on the political process. what i mean, very specifically, by that is i' m going to go into the oval office during the weekly radio address, and i will ask every american citizen to take out their smartphone. and i' m going to ask them questions, do you think we should know where every dollar of your money is being spent? please press "1" for yes, "2" for no. this technology exists, and we can use it. ours was intended to be a citizen government. the citizens of this nation have figured this out. 75% of them think the government is corrupt. 82% of them think we have a professional political class that cares more about its own power, privilege, and position

than getting anything done. technology is an incredibly powerful tool, which i will use to focus the citizenry of this nation on the political process. we know that works. we know politicians respond to pressure. there are many examples of it where, despite gridlock, they will act very quickly if necessary, if they feel the pressure. so citizens can help. fernando: fiorina is a permissible candidate and should be watched throughout the process. next on "matter of fact" -- >> i met rand paul, marco rubio. rick perry dropped out, scott walker dropped out. >> there is nothing like it. how the iowa caucuses became one of the most political --

and, fernando fernando: iowa is very unique. in many ways, it is any

candidate' s game to win or lose until the caucuses are over. >> how does a candidate win iowa? fernando: that is a million-dollar question. the same approach does not work twice. >> the ground game. fernando: being seen everywhere. class i met martin o' malley from the democrats. i met rand paul, marco rubio, rick perry dropped out, scott walker dropped out -- i met both of them, though. donald trump. >> reach out to students. i think that' s a good place to start. >> i think you have to be a pretty mixture of liberal and conservative. >> they want to be able to meet the candidate, and be able to look in their eyes, asked them questions and answer truthfully. fernando: voters we talked with kept coming back to that personal touch. is that all it really takes to claim victory? drake university political science professor dennis

goldford has watched from the front lines for years. how do you win iowa? professor goldford: for the iowa caucuses, it' s organization, organization, organization. the caucuses typically occur at 7:00 on a monday evening in a wintertime period. you have to hope the babysitter shows up. you hope there isn' t a blizzard. you hope you don' t have a flat tire. and you have to prepare to spend at least an hour or sometimes more at the caucuses, so it requires a lot more determination and interest and energy on the part of the participants. if you are a candidate, you need a strong organization to get these people to these events. fernando: how do you lose iowa, in other words? when you look at candidates and they' re doing it completely backwards, what would be those signs? professor goldford: interesting question. i' ve never been asked that before -- how do you lose iowa? you lose the caucuses by simply not, in a way, capturing you' zing, that there'

explaining really well. iowans and new hampshireites share a common premise. which is do you support , candidate so-and-so? i don' t know, i' ve only met him three or four times. so you' ve got to press the flesh. iowa did not end up in the position by design. it was purely historical accident. but there are several positive things to say about what iowa does. one of which, by the nature of the caucuses it forces candidates to treat voters as real human beings rather than as campaign props for photo ops. fernando: what is the link, if there is one, between winning the iowa caucuses and winning what' s the track record there? professor goldford: in 1972 there was the first glimmer of connection. but since that time only three times has a winner of the iowa caucuses become president. jimmy carter in 1976, george bush in 2000, and barack obama

in 2008. iowa in some ways reveals unexpected strength and unexpected weaknesses in the candidates and their campaigns. what matters is not where you finish, so to speak. what matters is if you have done better than expected. if you come out of nowhere to finish second, you become the big story coming out of the iowa caucuses. fernando: what about interaction on social media? is that level of personal attention good enough for the voter? professor goldford says it t accept it as a substitute. >> next, do these debate moments matter? >> my campaign is about the future of america, not about

>> the diffe you want to feel connected. informed, included, inspired. so, when important things happen, we're here. your local tv and radio broadcasters. america's number one source for news, weather and information. on every screen

we are broadcasters, always here for you, wherever here may be. text "tv" to 52886. tell washington local stations matter. fernando: debates can make a real difference for a candidate and a voter, and they will

matter even more as we near the first big voting challenges in iowa and new hampshire. debates bring a candidate' s strength and weakness into focus. standing at is a primary goal. for front runners, it is about expanding the lead and not tripping up. for candidates stuck in the single digits, they want to create that moment that propels them to center stage. mr. rubio: and somebody has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you. [applause] here' s my bottom line -- my campaign is going to be about the future of america. it' s not going to be about attacking anyone else on this staga. fernando: republican marco rubio got a boost after he made that passionate promise to voters at a recent cnbc debate. jeb bush and even trump and carson weren' t so lucky picking up momentum. i recently asked democratic candidate martin o' malley about those moments that can give you a bump. mr. o' malley: i am not in a very different position than many people were at this point in time before the iowa caucuses who then went on to beat expectations or win the iowa caucuses. one of the rules of thumb is that whatever candidate is surging in september or october

is not the candidate that will be surging in january or early february. fernando: opportunities like a course of a campaign. in this week' s republican and democratic debates. tweet me and use the hashtag #matteroffact. and you can connect with us any time twitter, facebook, or our website, matteroffact.tv. >> when he ran for president, he lost iowa but went on to win the republican nomination. a special interview with senator john mccain, next week on "matter of fact." but first, when candidates attack --

election in history where yfrom iowa. fernando: have you noticed? many candidates seem more focused on personal strikes rather than substance. the candidates are often attacking each other, leaving little time to discuss what americans actually want to hear,

real answers to real problems. fighting will continue, but you can send a message. turn to social media and tell the candidates, enough. with less than a year to go before the election, it' s time to let voters evaluate candidates on their ideas, not s the bottom line. i am fernando espuelas in des moines, iowa. have a great week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its