after that begins, there's a smaller room, called the spin room, and some of us go over there and we talk to either the candidate but more than likely one of their surrogates, people sent in their place to talk about how good a job they did in the debate. so we will be here all night. all that and more on another excite can episode of "roske on politics." >> we will become a rich and great nation again, thank you, great honor. >> we have the top one tenth of one percent, owning more wealth than the bottom 90%. >> what did the iranian mullahs conclude in keep negotiating. >> the thing i've been concerned about in this nation for the last few years have not changed. >> we're chatting with mark leibovich. >> governor, bobby jindal.

>> i love it. >> congress woman kelsy gabbert. >> aloha. >> senator tom harkin. >> sometimes you don't win the caucus. if you come in a good second or third and no one expected it. >> governor. any candidate who is seeking to earn the awesome and sacred trust of the presidency of the united states has to become engaged with the people of iowa. >> the highest ranking democrat in the state of iowa,. >> senator joe lieberman. >> haven't eaten anything other than fried snickers. can't describe it. it's like going to heaven. >> pushing back to the rnc, this is a dumb way to do it. brad pitt will be in our debate at the end of the day. >> it's important because it's

>> the potential clinton-castro ticket. >> so this is where we'll be the rest of the night, the spin room. one of the first people in here but i acknowledge it's going to be a very busy place. what happens is some candidates probably governor jindal, who is on stage right now, probably governor huckabee, will be coming in here, other candidates send in other people, called surrogates, and they get mobbed by folks like myself, trying to get content for whatever outlet they're working for. so we will see how successful we are in a very polite and civilized way. you know who this is, mr. montel williams. what brings you to milwaukee? >> i've been here all day. i'm anticipating the debate to make sure we hold all these candidates a little more accountable for mail tear and veteran issues and they all

punted it down the road and will continue to do. this side and the other side. and finally somebody has to stop and actually state what they claim they're going to do. say you'll be the best commander in chief in the world with no experience whatsoever, not even working with anybody in the military, is bold for them to say, and then to stand up there and after being asked the third time, third debate, give me specifics, and no one has them. so that's why i'm here. maybe i'll see something better. >> you're a veteran. >> 22 years. >> thank you for your service, sir, what were you hoping to hear from them. >> i was hoping to hear someone making a statement, have a plan to help move issues for veterans forward. not this hypothetical, i'm going to fix it because i'm so great, or because i'm pretty or whatever else they said. let's talk about specifics. if we can get that done, you might end up seeing a lot of military people maybe fall in line and look for a candidate that respects what we have done for this country. >> this is the fourth debate.

from the others? >> um, definitely have to hand it to fox for doing an incredible job, and literally paying very close attention to the tenor of the questions. really kind of a class act to watch reporters understand that whether they know or not, leaving their personal out of their facial expressions and their tone when they ask a question kept this at a operatey nice and even-keeled debate and each person got their point. i'm surprised at governor jindal. we'll see how it plays out in the polls whether or not that brash attack on governor christie did more to help governor christie or himself. if more focus was paid to what they did tonight, that talk about real issue and what they want to try to do let get them in the next one and give me some specifics. >> we just had the undercard debate. four candidates. which one do you think brought home the prize for the undercard debate?

>> i think you'll he listening that governor christie, zero reason why he is not on the big stage. and i think you might be surprised that there were statements made by other candidates that -- senator saner to william, i'm still trying to fathom why he doesn't do his homework before he opens his mouth. he made a statement that insinuated he needed to help those communities where there weren't any fathers at home. look at the stats. i hope he was discussing white males, because right now, african-american males are at home with their children at a greater percentage than caucasian males like yourself. especially children under five. i don't know who he was talking about. it's clear when you don't do you homework and just run your mouth

they'll come back to bite you. i'm a result of the state of california. as such i get two senators and a congress person representing me

center paul strauss from d.c. tells me those retes get no such representation. 640,000 americans don't have representation because d.c. is not a state. >> 640,000 americans and no representation. you think this is wrong? contact your senator and tell them you believe in d.c.

there is a solution. >> welcome back to "roske on politics." here with senator rick santorum. the debate would be more focused on the economy. do you think they reached their goal? >> i know some other folks got into a back and forth, but i -- as i have tried, i try to stay out of that and focus on trying to deliver my message, and the message has been clear. i'll talk about working floor, trying to get people back to work, earn success, and the importance of family and stable, healthy families, as key to the economic growth and stability in our country.

75% of voters are undecided. >> 88% to the des moines registry. >> you had criticism of polling. >> look at the kentucky poll. they had -- had me losing by seven of eight and i won fairly easily. it's just -- polling is not an exact science, and to use half a percent to determine whether you're on the big stage or the little stage is absurd. it's a ridiculous criteria, and it's had an impact on the race, an impact on me, an impact on bobby jindal, impact on everybody who -- the guys at the top because they get in my opinion, unfair advantage from being in that arena. when you get road blocks in you way, you go around them or plow through them. >> finally, your tax plan, how does it differ. >> we're the only true flat tax. one rate.

>> 20%, right? >> 20%. we're not as paul and cruz who say say they have a flat tax. they hat a flat income tax and a vat tax. that a value added tax, a national sales tax. european style. a very different tax proposal and i'm surprised -- maybe they'll talk about it tonight -- i'm surprised that nobody has really paid much attention to this quite revolutionary idea. it's more in line with mike huckabee's, except huckabee has a national sales tax. they have a sales tax and an income tax. so i don't know how they consider that to be progress. >> did you like the debate? >> i did. i thought -- i was just very happy that my voice held out, that we didn't -- it's been -- it's hurt and it's strained but i think it held up. >> presidential candidate rick

thank you, sir.

here with current wisconsin senator ron johnson. >> are you enjoying wisconsin? >> this is my first time in milwaukee. great weather today in november. >> great folks, too right? the number one resource, really nice people. >> we had eight candidates. who do you like. >> we actually had 12 because -- >> he's right, eight plus four. >> i think what the nation saw some capable individuals that have a fair amount of agreement on walt we need to do to spur economic growth and opportunity in this country. we got to reduce the regulatory burden and reform our tax code, and is a disaster, completely uncompetitive, and while we maintain a clean environment we have to keep prices low to compete globally. we have to do something with this disaster healthcare law called obamacare. those are the five elements of

agenda in 2012. one thing thatle americans saw capable individuals that can provide the leadership this nation is hungering for. >> in today's political climate how do you cut spending? >> well, you have to limit the growth of government, and the other thing is dramatically increase revenue. very few people realize even with meager economic growth from township's trough to last year we increased revenue by $1.1 trillion per year. did you hear that? are you surprised by that? that is called meager economic growth, and yet it poured $1.1 trillion per year in the federal government. the number one solution to has to problemses robust economic growth. it will fill our federal government coffers, provide that kind of revenue, and certainly help americans do better with

>> we had a web site in the race, governor scott walker. were you surprised when he stepped out? >> no, i wasn't. just kind of based on the events. i have a great deal of respect for scott walker. he had the courage and the ideas. the integrity, and so he has put wisconsin on the right path, and he thought heed take that leadership and offer it to america. didn't work out. but i thought it was valiant attempt. i respect anybody who is willing to subject themselves to this process. would you like to go under that scrutiny? i wouldn't. it's a tough, tough business, and i think scott read the tea leaves and bowed out about the right time. you saw how welcome he is back here in wisconsin. very long and strong standing ovation for him. so we still love him here in this stays. >> you're a sitting u.s. senator. some senators running for president right now. must be a challenge making votes and running.

candidates haven't made it to the votes is justified. >> my guess is those candidate running are making sure they're going to vote on the -- in the crucial issues. they're not blocking votes that somebody's individual vote doesn't count. i would certainly be checking what votes are crucial and make sure i'd be back for those things. i think it's a mix. it's been the history. any senator, whether republican or democrat who is going to run for this office, it's incredibly time consuming and probably miss votes mitchell guess is they're watching those carefully. if their vote is needed they'll be back there. >> final equipment was told opposite that anytime someone get eades electricitied to the senate they're thinking about the vice-presidency or the presidency. are you going to jump into the big race? >> not this guy. this is good enough for me. >> wisconsin senator ron

>> thank you. i want makeup.

>> are you rolling? >> welcome back to "roske on politics." if you watch this show you know who this is. the chief national correspondent for "new york times" magazine, author of this town and citizens of the green room, mark leibovich. >> thank you for having me on. >> we chatted in front of the white house, and if you want to read an amazing story about running for congress, he wrote it for "the new york times." we capacity in front of the white house about iowa being a sound stage. here we are in milwaukee. we chatted like that last summer. how is this presidential campaign different from others or is it the same old same old? >> well, very different. a very different campaign in that the entertainment portion endless. it's four, five months running, this expectation that the seriousness, the ideas, like the -- more sober, solemn spectacle, hasn't happened yet.

that the initial point point i made is true. people use iowans as props. he small coffee shop meeting texas the farm meetings, main street meetings, and i thing for as much as it is the people in iowa to new hampshire can give the appearance of asking tough questions and actual he engaging in conversations and town hall meetings. the most important people in the room, the politics will say, are the cameras and in a sense, yes there are real exchanges going on between real people and real politicians, but the quaintness of it is in fact the image that is being transported to the masses who are watching, which is no affront to iowa or new hampshire, but i'm just sort of parroting the cynical view a lot of politicians take when they go campaign in those states. >> what are your thoughts in general of this exercise, this spin room?

i think -- i've been saying it's designated nonsense. we come here to be lied. to the spin room is the lie room. and we fettishize is to a point writ becomes its own spectacle and we photograph each other and people like you interview people like me and then people like molly write about it, and -- or tweet about it or whatever, and so -- sorry, molly, just used you as a prop. >> using me as some extension for the media? >> whatever you can do, yes. you guys know each other. no. i do think that one of the innovations, if you calling it that, from this cycle, the candidates keep coming into the spin room, which is different, makes for kind of a different layer of nonsense coming into the spin room. i think one reason for that is

candidates well just take any shred of publicity or attention they can get and donald trump is this master bag he wants for no attention and yet can't get enough of it. the guy in the middle of the stage, who drives ratings, who everyone wants to seem, needs the sustenance of attention. >> thank you, buddy.

anytime. >> welcome back to "roske on politics." here with congressman bob walker. you're here talking for governor kashich. >> we serve in the congress together and i've been a friend of his for 30 years. >> he is your pick for the next president of the united states. >> absolutely. somebody who i think is extremely well-qualified for the job, and i'm delighted to be in a position to be backing him. >> you serve in the house with governor kashich. that means you were involved in the budget process. >> i was.

says he went to d.c. and balanced the budget. is that what happened? >> that's exactly what happened. >> doesn't sound like an easy thing to too. >> i was the vice-chairman of the budget committee when he was chairman and i was involved in the process, and it happened because john kashich stood up to a lot of powerful people. i sat in the leadership rooms and watched him take on the appropriatators in order to deet keep the balanced budget in place. watched him take on the groups downwho wanted to continue to spend the money. and it is not co incident tall that when he left -- coincidental when he left the republicans in control 0 of the congress went back to spending. he took on his own party, the other party, and balanced the budget through his genuine leadership. >> seems like that's the challenge. cutting the spending is the real challenge. is it even possible in today's political climate? >> it is. you have to have a combination of economic growth, but what you

>> but here again, obviously some of them have a strategy, appears john kashich's strategy was inject himself at every possible place, and that worked out well. i thought he had some good answers until he injected himself on the issue of the wall street bailout, which pushed him and once he gave an answer, you saw by the audience reaction that, wait a minute, this guy wants the government to pick winners and losers? that was probably one of -- you could tell by kashich's reaction after that, his body language, he realized he screwed up. >> there are 12 candidates we saw tonight. are you leaning one way or another in? >> well in fairness, i'd endorsed ted several months ago, ted cruz. >> why? >> i didn't endorse anybody in 2008 or in 2012. i kept thinking, i'll wait. i want to make sure i endorse just the right guy at the right

had a horrible candidate. you couldn't win that one. gosh, what is it about? it was his turn. democrats usually pick who they think can win. republicans historically have picked whose turn it is. so, ford wasn't the best candidate, but, hey, eat been a team player so '76, his turn. bob dole, heck of a nice guy. but he shouldn't have been the

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