let's set up the race between jerry brown and mike whitman. >> you heard made whitman -- meg whitmanaid down the gauntlet. she says she is a businesswoman who knows how to get things done and create jobs. that was her claim. the democrats will not -- will come back. and your incumbents are unpopular, jerry brown has a challenge. at the same time, he is likely to betray meg whitman as a former member of the goldman board and somebody who has little experience in politics and burley voted in her life until she ran for governor beginning last year. she did spend a record-smashing except the $1 million of her own money. this will be one of the most expensive races in the country and a lot at stake for the democrats. they know if the republicans can take california, it very much complicates the reelection strategy of barack obama. >> let me ask you about the current governor and if he has any role whatsoever on the republican side or whether his policies over the last seven years will play into the jerry brown campaign. >> meg whitman will run as far as possible away from arnold schwarzen

meg whitman, former ceo of the day, will face former gov. jerry brown. former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina defeated two republicans -- two other republicans with more political experience. in nevada, tea party candidate -- tea party-backed candidate sharon ankle will face off against senate majority leader harry reid on election day 2010. we will get to all the results during the first hour this morning. we also want to hear from you, how do you read the election results so far during this election cycle. you can start dialing in now. phone number is are on your screen. joining us from hot line is john mercurio, executive editor. he will be with us for the first half hour and then his colleague amy walter will join us for the last half hour of this morning's hour-long segment. john mercurio, let's dig in little deeper. starting with blanche lincoln's win in arkansas. now, what does she face going forward this general election? guest: make no mistake, blanche lincoln is still the most vulnerable senate incumbent up for reelection in 2010. there has n

. >> meg whitman this is a question we've seen this in politics in california too.those folks who have tried to buy campaigns, we've seen millionaires, come in. >> woodruff: she spent a lot of money. >> she spent $80 million thus far. the question is here we have in some ways, she is the outsider. she is a new person against jerry brown who will be the democratic nominee. >> woodruff: assuming she wins. >> assuming she wins which she is very far ahead of steve poizner, her opponent. in some ways it started off as an outsider, insider jerry brown has been in politics in california forever. the brown name is sin om muss with democratic politics in the state. but remember for many voters in california, especially those under 40, they don't remember that he was the governor and they've sure seen a lot of meg whitman on tv for the last couple of months. unclear who the incumbent is at this point. >> woodruff: i'm going to move on to nevada. republican senate primary harry reid in danger-- endangered incull bent, the senate majority leader and the ground is shifting in th

and meg whitman as a corporate c.e.o. in a year in which corporate america is not everybody's favorite friend, will have to answer about some of her ties to goldman sachs and also demonstrate after arnold schwarzenegger that she can make sacramento work as an outsider and not somebody with a lot of experience. this is going to be a wonderful and interesting race and as you say, one that's going to break all records for spending. >> woodruff: it's often said california may be the toughest state in the country to govern. amy, all the way across the country to south carolina, everybody was talking about the that race. nikki haley just barely missed getting 50%. she's got a runoff, but she's now considered to be the favorite. what's the lesson here? >> i wish-- well, one is , can you actually run a gubernatorial race where a candidate agrees to take a lie detector test? that, to me, was one of my favorite parts here. i think the lesson is this is a great case where the anti-establishment candidate was able to still keep that

he faced meg whitman who won the republican nomination.re are their speeches and los angeles. >> q for being here. -- thank you for being here. i know you one but [unintelligible] there is another team up there. anyway, by the way, i have done this before. [applause] still, i want to thank you. i want to thank everyone out there that boded today. the best years are still ahead. i want to thank the mayor for being here today, standing with me, i appreciate that. [applause] the sheriff, really important [applause] there is one other person who is actually more important than these people. that is my wife, anne. [applause] she is the one who figured all this stuff out. nevertheless, keeping up with her has given me the preparation to keep up with california. again, thank you very much we are here on a very auspicious occasion. i am here as the democratic candidate for governor, yes. [applause] i did not check but i think we made. [laughter] i am also here as a californian who is disgusted with the awful mess in sacramento and the policy -- an

meg whitman, the former ebay ceo, and the state insurance commissioner. host: one more question about the senate race. president obama went out to campaign for senator boxer twice this year. how the any of these republican senate candidates fare against senator boxer at this point? guest: looks like it could be a competitive race. there are some polls that interestingly show that tom campbell, because he is a bit more moderate on social issues -- remember, california has been trending democratic over all in its politics for about two decades now. so, a hard line secured -- conservative candidate on social issues will be challenged. but the problem is not everybody votes in the california republican primary. it is likely that one of the more conservative candidates could come out of there. if that is true, then barbara boxer mike reestablish a bit of an edge. it will be close and competitive race and very expensive. host: watch for victory and concession speeches through the evening. we will focus on several of the key states. off -- our guest is bob benen

don't we have the congress people volunteer to have their salaries -- i think there was a joke on met whitman spending millions of dollars for a $50,000 a year position. why don't we take the money they for and put it in a pool people that make less. i do not want to see my taxpayer dollars go out into an unhealthy atmosphere where everyone is bankrupt. you never know when the dmv is open. take the people that already have the money and power -- they got to office because of the power they have. take that money and spend it on have nots? guest: i wish we could all be in the same class economically. then maybe we could do that. the senate seems o have multimillionaires. the house reflective of the american population. many members live on the weekly paycheck for monthly paycheck. i do. the only people that could stay in congress according to the viewer could be multimillionaires. i would be back home on a farm, because i cannot afford to live down here in washington. host: is it tough to live on the salary you make? guest: you have to have two houses. one in new jersey and one down here in the

christie todd whitman, the environmental protection agency director awhile back. we all said this is really not that hard to solve. sometimes government cannot solve problems because it gets into politics and who is to blame and whether the u.s. government should take responsibility for every disability in vietnam. and a private group can come and say for 30 million a year we can actually probably clean up this mess. there is a humanitarian gesture to help with the disabilities. that money can come from private sources, some from the government, some from the vietnam government as well. we pretty much got everyone to agree on how to resolve the problem. >host: when you say a lot of agent orange was sprayed, how much? guest: 20 million gallons was stored, handles, and sprayed over one-third of the country of vietnam. and 20 million gallons of -- we are watching the bp still intend to figure out what that means. we walked the famouu cases where a lot of that was stored during the war -- famous bases where a lot of this was stored during the war. we tried to get an o

meg whitman, the former ebay ceo, and the state insurance commissioner. host: one more question about the senate race. president obama went out to campaign for senator boxer twice this year. how the any of these republican senate candidates fare against senator boxer at this point? guest: looks like it could be a competitive race. there are some polls that interestingly show that tom campbell, because he is a bit more moderate on social issues -- remember, california has been trending democratic over all in its politics for about two decades now. so, a hard line secured -- conservative candidate on social issues will be challenged. but the problem is not everybody votes in the california republican primary. it is likely that one of the more conservative candidates could come out of there. if that is true, then barbara boxer mike reestablish a bit of an edge. it will be close and competitive race and very expensive. host: watch for victory and concession spehes through the evening. we will focus on several of the key states. off -- our guest is bob benenso

caller: i have not heard anyone comment on, watching their ads, neither fiorina nor whitman said one single thing about what they want to do if they are elective. all they have done is go after their opponents. we are sitting here saying, so, what are you going to do? big deal you ran a business. that is not the same as running a government. but absolutely not, it depends on what they have to offer. host: in california's kansas you have had two female senators for quite a while -- in california's case. caller: personally i think they are both doing a good sign. i think perhaps it is time for feinstein to move on but i have been very happy with barbara boxer. host: raleigh, north carolina, is next. republican line. does the candidates gender affects your vote? caller: good morning to you, to the rest of your listeners. thank you for taking my call. gender, nor race or ethnicity has any effect on my vote. i look totally -- which all americans should -- we are supposed to be americans now, totally inclusive. they should look at the qualifications and also their train of thought that wha

you have meg whitman and carly fiorin two top executives who are spending a ton of money to run for governor senate. they are also being challenged on the right and some accusing them of being too moderate. it would be interesting to see if the money they have spent can put them over the top, this movement in the republican party to shift more to the right. the same thing is happening in nevada, where you have three repuicans fightingo challenge the senate majority leader harry reid. a lot of people are eager to see what kind of a candidate will be put up against him. and some other interesting races. in south carolina, the governor's race, the republican primary recently heated up wit a lot of allegations of sexual infidelity and that sort of thing. that race has become interesting as well. host: give us a sense of what the takeaway maybe from tuesday. it is early to tell, but if some of the more conservative candidates win, does that give a signal as to how the general election may go? guest: i think one thing people may look for, particularly in the early republican primaries, you have se

at the only mcdonald's in whitman county, the salad menu isn't served, so it'sburg burgers, mcnuggets the like. >> the variety of the foods that are available are poor-quality nutrients. >> reporter: dr. al rausa is the district health officer for 18 counties in northwest mississippi. he's been working as a public health official in the delta for 40 years. >> i had a malnutrition problem when i arrived, i have a malnutrition problem now. back then it was the absence of food or the unavailability of food that was the problem. and now i've got this abundance of food. >> reporter: the problem now, rausa says, is that the food people eat is loaded with calories and fat and they're leading more sedentary lives. medical studies showed that people who live in these food deserts have higher rates of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes than those in areas served by mainstream grossers. >> we can't tell people to buy fresh food if there's no place to buy it, right? >> reporter: first lady michelle obama has zeroed in on food deserts as part of her signature campaign to end

in california's gubernatorial race, republican meg whitman, a former e-bay executive, already has spent more than $70 million in her bid against state insurance commissioner steve poizner. in south carolina voters are choosing a successor for republican governor mark sanford in a race charged with allegations of infidelity against one of the candidates. opening statements in the federal corruption trial of former illinois governor rod blagojevich began today. a federal prosecutor alleged blagojevich was part of a series of illegal shakedowns. he has pleaded not guilty to trying to profit from his right to pick someone to fill president obama's former senate seat. blagojevich arrivedate the courthouse in chicago smiling and joking with journalists. he told them the government has lied to the media and the public about the case. general motors announced it's recalling a million-and-a-half vehicles worldwide because of the potential for fires. the recall affects several pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and passenger cars from the 2006 to 2009 model years. gp plans to disable a heated

that is one part in the red state but in the blue state like california, you saw fiorina, whitman, pretty established candidates win there, in new jersey shall did -- beat back tea party challenge. so you you are beginning to see two different republican parties, a strong tea party movement into the red and more established republican party in the blue. >> do you have an overview of it, mark. >> i have an overview of it, jim, in terms of political strategy. that there are only two ways to run for re-election in america. the high road and the low road. the high road is the candidate points out the voters all the good things we have accomplished in the four years, two years, six year, how your lives are better. when that is not available to you, that isn't to the democrats this year, you run the not so high road which is-- boils down to look, i may be no day at the beach but the other guy is no month in the country. and you concentrate on the defects and-- of euro point, trying to focus the voter's attention there. nevada is the test case. harry reid is in the 30s favorable ratings as major

congratulations3 good friend and colleague, meg whitman. will now be offered two candidate at the top of our ticket who have acttally created jobs and cut costs, and we look forward to taking onnthe two career politicians on the other side. [applause] but the team mark -- the team work that has brought us here can not end here tonight. so, as we celebrate -- and it looks like you have been having a heck of a party -- [applause] let us remember that beginning tomorrow, and through november 2nd, we are going to run a tireless, fearless campaign all across california to finally%+ unseat barbara boxer. [applause] >> beat barbara boxer! beat barbara boxer! >> in her 28 years as a career politician in washington, d.c., barbara boxer is a bitter partisan who has said much but accomplished little. she may get an "bayh" -- "a" for politics, but she gets an "f" for achievement. she did say something recently that i agree with. she said that this election offers the clearest choice in the nation. i could not agree more. she is on the friige of america

she agreed to about out of the commencement speech at walt whitman, high-school, in bethesda, maryland. president obama today will be speaking at a high school in kalamazoo, michigan. take a look at the front page of "the new york times" on the oil spill. the headline in many papers -- coast guard seized the cleanup lasting into the fall. damage will continue after the well is capped, according to admiral thad allen. a bit from the story -- jefferson, new york, veronica, on the democrats' line. caller: thank you for taking my call. all right, she might have spoke a little bit out of turn, but why is it any time anyone of voices concern about israel -- israel has done things, and we just sit back and we say nothing about it and we are always supportive of israel. sometimes israel is not always right. so, i don't think it is fair and i think that is a lot of the reasons why a lot of -- it people feel the way they feel about our country. i think a believe they can do whatever they want over there. in some ways, they are occupiers, whether they want to accept that or not. they won't leave

according to the washington post, it is between meg whitman. it is then of roller-coaster ride.he began as an unknown but quickly changed that by expanding tens of millions of dollars on her campaign. that money paid for advertisements making the case that putting a boston -- businesswomen in the office is the only solution to their fiscal problems. then came the attack ads that painted her as a liberal on immigration. let's go to texas where canada is on our democrats line. on our- where anna is democrats lines. caller: what motivates me to vote? the fact that i lost two nephews in iraq and who will be going to afghanistan. i feel like if you have a criminal -- if you have a criminal mind, especially minorities when you do not get out and vote when you have the right to vote. if we deny ourselves the right to vote one day it that will be taken from us. and nobody can complain. thank you. host: let's go to kansas. john, republicans line. hi, john, are you with us? welcome. go ahead. what motivates you to vote in primaries? caller: hopefully they find the right person to run in t

she agreed to about out of the commencement speech at walt whitman, high-school, in bethesda, maryland. president obama today will be speaking at a high school in kalamazoo, michigan. take a look at the front page of "the new york times" on the oil spill. the headline in many papers -- host: damage will continue after the oil well is capped. like a raging undersea beast, the well has stymied bp officials and the government. one technician was amazed at the power of big oil gushing from the deaths. jefferson, n.y., and our board -- democrat line. , on the democrats' line. caller: thank you for taking my call. all right, she might have spoke a little bit out of turn, but why is it any time anyone of voic concern about israel -- israel has done things, and we just sit back and we say nothing about it and we are always supportive of israel. sometimes israel is not always right. so, i don't think it is fair and i think that is a lot of the reasons why a lot o >> you can see "washington journal" every morning at 7:00 here on c-span. we switch now to the progressive meeting in washington. >>

[cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ >> now the other california governor's primary where meeting whitman beat stateurance commissioner steve poisner by winning 64% of the vote. she spoke to supporters in l.a. >> thank you, thank you. thank you. thank you so much. what a great night. [cheers and applause] this victory is your victory. [cheers and applause] now i just received a very gracious phone call from steve piosner conceding the race. [cheers and applause] and i want to commend him and his supporters for the energy they brought to this campaign. it has been a tough campaign, i must say. but i am a stronger candidate tonight because of it. [cheers and applause] you know, i am battle-tested now, and i'm ready to give jerry brown the toughest election. [cheers and applause] now, let me take a moment to congratulate our great republican senate nominee on her victory. [cheers and applause] you know, career politicians in sacramento and washington, d.c. be warned, because you now face your worst nightmare. [cheers and applause] two business women. [cheers and applause] who know how to create jobs, b

the lady meg whitman and california spent $60 million of her own million. host: i think i saw a figure of 75 million, to $80 million produce still there? caller: just think about that. this is just one person who is able to spend more money than labor was able to put a begins blades lincoln. she spent $75 million of our own money and this is someone who worked for a big corporation. i just want to remind people that the supreme court just made this ruling that corporations -- you take the chamber of commerce and they can bring all the corporations together and bring as much money into these races as they can. the unions will go extinct and people will sit around and wonder why they are only making $10 an hour and they have no representation. one of your callers made a comment about. -- about van jones. the only person was still talks about him in the news is glenn beck. host: california -- it says a big winner in this week's primary with northern california. this piece is from jim carlton from "the new york times." "the washington times" says mccullough los

we do have a great group of people at whitman, as we do throughout the military. we do not need to worry about that at all. >> secretary clinton, let me reiterate for the record how proud you make our country. , with the job you do around the world. i think you reflect well on our nation and you are doing a masterful work under difficult circumstances. we have so many places to worry about right now. i would want to secure from you what you see as the consequences of not ratifying the treaty, particularly as it relates to the terms of the rogue extremists or loud the world. what happens if we cannot get this done? >> you have put into words what our greatest fear is. we believe that the consequennes of not ratifying this treaty would have very serious impacts on our relationship with russia , and would give comfort to the adversaries we face are around theeworld. it would not only disadvantage us because we would not have the transparency, the verification regime to know what is going on in russia, but it would undermine the relationship that the president has bee