he wrote on a platform, betsy, a bottle of burgundy, john adams, john adams, was his own lee atwater.t was his slogan in the election of 1800, it feels like just yesterday. what was the most damning slogan against jefferson? come on,s. who said god bless? you get half a bottle. it was the elections, adams ran on god or jefferson, or no god. jefferson did believe -- she was not a materialist, he was equally -- it was observed, the virgin birth, give me a break already. he denied any possible rationale. religion is a complicated process in the united states. above all, religion has been instrumental in the african-american community. both from the noble period of the antebellum slave churches through the right movement. you can't possibly think of the civil-rights movement having been affected without preaching and teaching around the corner. barack obama's involvement with the church, more generally, it wasn't surprising to me although it may have been unpalatable to my little friends to find that barack obama wants to continue george bush's policy of faith based initiatives, is in kee

what he meant what lee atwater. the proven success, karl rove in 2004, was that it's all very well throughout the great issues affecting america, the deep structural problems in all the fields i talked about, but you know, americans actually wont politics to be a branch of entertainment tonight. and enough already with the high debates. don't need that. americans are sort of -- it's a very, very pattronnizing view for roger ailes, the atwater, ed rollins, karl rove view. it's spin and, work did it come gloriously unstuck in the months of our travail, and it was obama -- it was -- it was specially obama that, guess what, america did want to hear about the things that mattered to the life and death of the republic. 2005 and 2006 sealed that possibility or at least i think gave obama the audacity to actually try and, hey, sentences, something which hasn't happened for a while. [applause] >> and those of us going around the country, i wasn't just the gradual sense in which we had all been sold a bill of goods about the

since lee atwater ran george h. w. bush's campaign in 1988. i really think this new brand of republicanism began. by the time of conservatism that edmund burke wrote about 200 years ago. a conservatism that was reaffirmed by russell kirk, by bill buckley. i love bill buckley. he was asked in 2005, i loved what he said about george w. bush. and what he said about the iraq war and the president's plan and the second inaugural address, due in journey across the globe. there's a conservative restraint concept. two in journey across the globe. buckley said sadly we conservatives are supposed to be restrained by reality and we haven't been conservatives are supposed to conserve. whether it's a taxpayer dollars whether it's military power. my god, the military fincher is a. the belief that you can export democracy to four corners of the globe. that you can send our troops everywhere. and again, president bush's words, and journey across the globe. that is not a conservative concept. that is a radical concept the type of spending that occurred over th

maybe it's not lee atwater, but it's easy to laps. host: mary, good morning. caller: i just want to follow up with some of the comments made about the media coverage. i know there was a press conference party where mr. obama made a joke about how most people voted for him. usually in humor there's some truth. i've found that through my personal life other places. and also you say the press coverage was largely about sara palin. that was pretty short lived before they started attacking her. and i know brian williams even asked her for her medical records. and i don't think mr. obama's medical records, educational records, birth certificate, et cetera. there are a lot of things missing that we haven't seen. and then my third point here and i guess my question is in the press conference, there was no question about the committy and the playing. i mean, it was supposed to be for publicity. for who? what was it for? >> are you talking about air force one in new york? >> i am. >> which goes to theer issue of biggest mistake thus far. can you point to anything small

maybe it's not lee atwater but it's easy to relax. >> host: mary, good morning. >> caller: i just want to follow-up on some of the questions made about the media coverage. i know there was a press conference party where mr. obama made a joke, west people voted for him. usually in humor -- i found this to my personal life as well as other places and also you said the press coverage was large about sarah palin. that was short lived before they started attacking her and i know brian williams even asked for her medical records and of yet i don't think mr. obama as medical records, educational records, birth certificate, etc., there's a lot of things missing we haven't seen and i guess my third point and my question is in the press conference, there was no question about the economy and the plane. it was supposed to be for publicity. what was it for? >> host: are you talking about air force one in new york? >> caller: i am. >> host: which goes to the issue of the biggest mistake this for. can you point to anything big or small that -- >> guest: in the presidency so far? >> host: either the