from washington by at&t issue one. mitt's moment. [ applause ] mr. chairman, and delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> four years ago, i know that many americans felt that fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. but today, four years from the the excitement of that last election, for the first time, the majority of americans now doubt that our children will have a better future.

it is not what we were promised. i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointments and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something, and with your help, we will do something. [ applause ] now is the moment when we can stand up and say i'm an american, i make my destiny, we deserve better. my children deserve better, my family deserves better, my country deserves better. question, did the republican convention improve mitt

romney's presidential prospects? mortmort zuckerman? >> i think he had to have a platform on which he could appeal to the american public and i think by and large that worked. i think he was often trying to appeal to women and there were a number of things said and done that would i think haven deared him to the voters who are women. and finally, he did a very good job, it seems to me, without being nasty about it, about saying look, the obama administration has been a failure and failure is not an orphan. there is a father for failure and that is the president. that is the way our system works. we deserveber. we have the weakest economy we have had since the great depression and after $5 trillion by the standards set by the obama administration when they said the unemployment with never get above 8% and it would get

below 6%, it's been a failure in that sense. it does give the republicans ammunition and they handled that i thought very well. in the television age the more likable candidate always wins. i think that governor romney knows that this is his weakest area, and he went at it in his speech and a lot of the other speakers were geared to soften his image and it was a very affecting image that his father left a rose by his mother's bedside every morning and she realized he had died when the rose wasn't there. but that is about his father and we are not electing his father. we still really, i don't think have that much of a sense of who mitt romney is. but i think he has stumbled on the right approach to unseating president obama, that is he is coming at it more in sorrow than in anger. he tried, he is a nice man, it is okay to vote for someone else. and i think he avoided the

emotions of some of the other speakers. >> he is a financial tech know kt with ice water in his veins. >> he loves his family, he loves his church, i think he can be warm in those settings. but his public person is basically kind of robotic. >> what do you think? >> i think he moved the ball forward. i think it was a good convention for him. personally for mitt romney one who is mitt romney? the american public voting public wants to know are you human? do you actually have red blood running through your veins and we learned that about him this week. but i also think the other thing he was slightly successful in doing not perfect but slightly successful was trying to do something about the damage that has been done to the republican brand over the last year. so we saw women speaking over and over and over again. we saw condaleezza rice not just as a woman but as an african-american, we got the

story from the republican party this week that this is a country that believes in freedom and individual liberty and anybody can succeed. we saw marco rubio, governor martinez of the i don't know if it will work but the republican brand has been very significantly damaged over the last year. >> suburban women and political independence. that is what he was focusing on, especially in view of obama's television ads. trying to depict him that way. he had a challenge with women. >> he has a challenge with his own base. i thought he had to firm that up, so it was very important he had paul ryan there. he had to reassure the bases john mccain was trying. he also has this deficit of people who don't know him. he has been out there a good six years and still a big chunk of folks in surveys say they don't

know mitt romney, even those ready to vote for him, to vote for an alternative to barack obama, and he did do a good job of making obama the center of attention, a referendum on obama. we know now especially now that medicare is on the table this is no longer a referendum on obama, it is a comparison. if obama hasn't done the job can mitt romney do the job any better? he did not make that case. people are saying he is well organized, a nice guy, still kind of comes off like i.e. makes don draper look like elton john, you know? he helped that image and his wife really helped him. >> mitt romney talks about his experience starting bain and the companies bain capital invested in. >> some of the companies we helped start you know and have heard from tonight. an office company called staples where i'm pleased to see the obama campaign has been

shopping. [ applause ] >> the sports authority, which of course became a favorite of my boys. we helped start an early childhood learning company called bright horizons that first lady michelle obama rightly praised. at a time when nobody thought we'd ever see a new steel mill built in america we took a chance and built one in a cornfield in indiana. [ applause ] >> today steel dynamics is one of the largest steel producers in the united states. these are american success stories. and yet the centerpiece of the president's entire reelection campaign is attacking success. is it any wonder that someone who attacks success has led the worst economic recovery since the great depression? [ applause ] in america, we

celebrate success, we don't apologize for success. >> is mitt romney overstating when he says president obama attacked success mort? >> i don't think he is overstate it go. what i have said -- overstating it. what i have said is this the administration that boos the winners in the just boos the losers. and there has been a tradition in this country that they have deliberately, in my judgment, tried to create in order to channel the anger against the business community. it is very counterproductive and i think he is trying to deal with that issue. >> well we did have a major financial meltdown four years ago because of excesses in the financial community. you didn't hear any mention about that. and i think there is a lot of confusion among the voters about what exactly private equity is. and because most people don't have the opportunity, don't have the funds to play those kinds of financial gains.

and so mitt romney is pour traying it as something he did that is almost al truistic that is he is out there creating all these jobs. private equity is about maximizing profits to the people who invest. sure they created a job in the firms he mentioned but they also lost a lot of people their jobs. he doesn't mention that. so is this the experience that translates naturally into g president? > okay was everything always rosie at bain? >> we weren't always successful at bain but no one is in the real world of business. that is what this president doesn't seem to understand. business and growing jobs is about take being risks, -- taking risks, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding but always striving. it is about dreams. usually it doesn't work out exactly as you might have imagined. steve jobs was fired at apple.

and then he came changed the world. it's the genius of the american free enterprise system to harness the extraordinary creativity and talent and industry of the american people with a system that is dedicated to tomorrow's prosperity. america's been patient. americans have supported this president in good faith. but today the time has come to turn the page. now is the time to restpromise do you think the majority of americans agree that it is time to turn the page? >> i think the majority of americans agree it is time to turn the page but not necessarily at the presidential level. i think most americans sat back this week and listened, heard a lot of really smart rhetoric and sit back and can't help but think to themselves the day barack obama got elected we had a republican congress that decided their answer to governing with the taxpayer

dollars that paid their salary would be to say no. we have people on wall street who fairly or unfairly are sitting on millions of dollars they refuse to put back into the private sector because barack obama is the president of the united states. a lot of the statements made by mitt romney i completely agree with. steve jobs, that is the story america ything in this country you want to be. but i think it is intp levelly dishonest to say barack obama is attacking success and does not want the american public to succeed. that is wrong and it is dishonest. >> what about that? mort were you ever a flop and came back? >> yes. a lot of the projects work and some of them work. in the publishing business frankly some of them work and some don't. that is the nature of the business. i have no problem with what he is basically saying and i think frankly bain & co. was a brilliantly managed company.

i had some direct exposure to it and he was an extraordinary manager and an extraordinary talent in that regard. there is something to be said for somebody who knows how to run an organization. >> i would say mitt romney did a great job of running bain he ought to go back to it. >> go back to it? >> no i would say though that romney ought to go back to it. because you are good in business doesn't mean you know how to run government. we could talk about the his governor ship record in massachusetts. he did have some successes he doesn't want to talk about because it was to the right of his own party. >> he didn't even mention he was governor. >> a governor with a democratic house and democratic senate in massachusetts and did a darn good job. i come from massachusetts and i won vote for him. >> he thought he would be running on that. his party is so far to the

right that he can't run on it. he has to recast himself. but may i answer your original question? >> why not? >> go ahead. >> i appreciate that. i think too many, tea convention -- at the convention one of the best speeches i have ever heard romney give. what was it? this whole convention has come off as a pep rally for rich people. saying it is okay to be rich, why is obama demonizing the rich? that is not what obama is saying. in middletown, ohio john boehner's district the steel mill where i used to work, the former shell of itself, are the republicans telling me if you are unemployed grab yourself a business? everybody can't do it. >> actually mitt romney suggested that during the campaign. suggested people buy one.

i think missed opportunity in this convention was he really did not lay out a roadmap for what he plans to do. he gave us the five point plan, which includes energy, independence, this is not. > let's listen to the five points. >> by 220 north america will be energy independent by taking inventory of our oil gas coal nuclear and renewable. note he hardly mentions green. whereas obama is greenhalgh green. greenhalgh green is not going to support us for a weekend. >> you know what that would entail? >> give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and careers of tomorrow. >> how? >> when it comes to the school your child attends every parent should have a choice and every child should have a chance. forging new trade agreements and when nations complete in trade there will be unmistakable consequences. we'll show every entrepreneur

and every job created their investments in america will not vanish as those have in greece. put america on track to a balanced budget. 5. champion small business america's engine of small growth, reducing taxes on business not raising them. simply identifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt smallizes the most and slow skyrocketing costs and replacing obamacare. >> that is where you have a division now. >> he said all that during this particular speech? > >> it was a broad goal with no way to get there and those they are not even any different from what president obama advocates. if you peel back the top layer of blue sky how we are going to achieve energy independence he wants to drill on federal lands, overturning the policies that teddy roosevelt put in place

100 years ago. i don't think that is going to happen. >> we all agree on one thing. both of the candidates are offe >> that's right

issue two. meet the vice president. >> everyone who feels stuck in the obama economy is right to focus on the here and now and i hope you understand this too.

if you are feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed. your leaders have failed you. none of us should have to settle for the best this administration offers, a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next. a government planned life, a country where everything is free but us. it is the exact opposite of everything i learned growing up in wisconsin or a college in ohio. [ applause ] now when i was waiting tables, washing dishes or mowing lawns for money, i never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. i was on my own path, my own journey, an american journey, where i could think for myself, decide for myself, define

happiness for myself. that is what we do in this country. that is the american dream. the sub theme of the republican national convention was that obama's presidency has been a dud. did paul ryan get that message out loud and clear? what do you think? >> no. and i have met paul ryan. he is likable. i think he is probably a very smart choice for mitt romney but in terms of the speech he gave this week that point is absolutely not clear. if you are a member of the american public sitting back watching this, when you are in the hall or watching on television or listening to it on the radio, you are hearing his words and they absolutely make economic sense. however, if you are a woman, if you are african-american, if you are hispanic, if you are anything that is other, meaning nonwhite male, you sit back and say how do you compare and contrast what they are saying on the economy which makes absolutely sense but then there

are much louder voices in the republican party that make you feel unwelcome and there is no longer your country. that is a problem for the republican party. >> this economy is in terrible shape, let's face it the worst shape since the great depression. >> i agree completely. >> the american dream used to be a home in the suburbs. today the american dream is a secure job and any job will do. that has not happened in 60 years. this is something that really cuts across the whole country. it is not just the people out of work, even the people at work are worried about their jobs. this is an absolutely critical issue for this country. they are saying look, we have had a failure of policy. >> okay i agree. >> one at a time. >> it is a critical issue paul ryan is basically the candidate of the conservative base. they love him in a way they will never love mitt romney. he is the party's future, as they define it. but in that speech he so

overcharacterized president obama like science fiction this evil central plan of taking a way all our freedom he undermines his own credibility. sure, they have an economic theory but when you parse it, it is lower taxes for the rich, more taxes for the middle class and a medical program that will be more expensive. so i don't think he doesn't stay well over time. it was important for paul ryan to get out there. when he was on stage with mitt romney, mitt romney gets big heir places and it is louder. again like sarah palin and john mccain. but the problem is paul ryan is not identified as the guy who wants to mess with your medicare. he only touched on medicare in this speech. that is going to be a rising issue in the rest of this campaign because you have got a lot of questions on both sides. both what he and obama want to do on medicare. obama has been savvy enough to avoid the whole atomic like most people running for office do. >> in the so-called obamacare

they did take $716 billion out of medicare to finance that medical program. >> i'm saying the republicans, the republicans. >> fact checker. >> before you get me wrong. if i agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. it is a real issue here that everybody has to focus on. nobody has a perfect solution to the problem. >> the money came out of reimbursements from providers and much of it was put back approximate into reducing the donut hole of preventive exams for seniors. no senior has lost any ben fates because of that money plus ryan appropriates that money that loss in his own plan. >> i think it is important to add though, here's the good thing about one of the many good things about paul ryan to the extent there are good things to cheer on about. he is the only person that has had the courage to say we have

to have a serious discussion in this country about the deficit and entitlement. here's what's bad for romney and obama. they are the ones running for president. they should be having the discussion with the american public and the american public wants to hear it good news or bad news. >> running for office he is going to moderate what he says. paul ryan is a moderate. we'll be right back with

predictions. the new book by one of the navy seals who led the operation against osama bin laden is going to create a lot of issues about national security and the release of sources and messes as they say about the operations that they've done. >> with a democratic national convention next week the next set of poll numbers to watch will be mid september when both convention are factored in and we'll see if we still have an even race. >> mitchell's michelle? >> a federal court recently struck down the voter id law in texas. i predict the supreme court will find it unconstitutional. never again will a speaker at a political convention speak without a teleprompter or notes. i predict in the upcoming debates obama will win won and challenger romney will win two. bye bye.