charlie crist, bobby jindal. according to news reports, rushing off to new hampshire -- he was here for a homeland security panel and then he went to a picnic in new hampshire yesterday. there are a lot of reasons why governors are not here. host: in talking to a reporter from new jersey in terms of the impact on the budget deficit, governor christie is facing an $11 billion deficit this year and next year. whether it is new jersey or another state, in most states you must balance the budget before the end of the fiscal year. guest: it is interesting, chris christie was talking about the need for unions to share in the sacrifice. that is where he is aiming to make some cuts. . host: you can phone us on the following lines -- john is joining us from north carolina on the republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. two comments -- as far as the states being short on money and long on problems, basically i think this will not be corrected. i feel like there will be no recovery because the st

are the democrats according charlie crist because they believe he will be -- courting charlie crist because they believe he will be the eventual winner? >> there were talks that harry reid had contacted charlie crist. >> i had heard about that. he was asked about that yesterday. he made clear there were no promises made. he did not say that he would caucus with the democrats. he said he would caucus with the people of florida. so there is this game to find out who he is going to line up with. the speculation is he will likely go with the democrats, but nobody can say yet. >> thank you, david. for more information on campaign 2010, go to our website, c- span.org. host: our next guest is mac thornberry of texas. he is a part of the armed services committee. we are going to talk about the afghanistan strategy and intelligence. it has been a week where we have seen this extensive series in the "washington post" talking about the massive increases in resources and afghanistan. you have been digesting all of this. what do you take away about how much safer we are, if we are getting the bang for o

. >> reporter: from john mccain's coming primary challenge in arizona, and charlie crist's departure from the g.o.p. in florida. to rand paul's defeat of the republican establishment's candidate in kentucky, and sharron angle's come from behind victory in nevada. there are signs of conservative life across the land. but the new muscle from the right, has crushed a few of the g.o.p.'s own, and has ignited an argument inside the party. to many who follow washington, the two republican senators from utah and south carolina may seem like peas in a pod: both long time loyal party members, both conservative. >> the economy is in serious trouble! >> let's not spend all this money unless we know what we are doing! >> reporter: but it doesn't take much of a look beneath the surface to discover differences between utah's bob bennett and south carolina's jim demint in their view of their roles in the senate, and of some of the main issues facing the country. they illustrate as well as anything else the philosophical divide inside the republican party, and the fight being waged for the direction

charlie crist in florida, tray gracen in kentucky. my question is, is it fair to say that some of your endorsements show that you may have misread how conservative republican parties are? >> i think it represents the continuum on how the recruiting process takes place. when i got to the chairmanship of the nrsc in january of 2009, we came off a very bad election. republicans were demoralized. i had a hard time getting people to see me much less to agree to run for office. over time things got better. i got encouraged candidates to get into some of these race. then as circumstances changed a lot more people got in these races and we had competitive primaries. i think the tea party movement is a positive development. republicans have always considered our party to be a bottom-up party, not a top-down party. and i respect the selection of republican primary voters wherever they are to choose the candidate. and then, we will support that candidate and hopefully win that seat in november. but it has been an unusual election year. i don't t

charlie crist is now an independent. a very strong canada is now gone. ron paul is a republican candidates. at the moment i do not think republicans can take the senate. i would say they will take the house if i had to bet. we still have plenty of time to screw it up. [laughter] >> who will be in control in january, michael? >> if i had $1,000, i would bet on republicans to gain majority in the house. i would bet on democrats to have more than 50 senators. that would mean they have the majority. in any case, it seems to me we have had two big developments in public opinion which i did not anticipate. i am always happy to see things i did not anticipate because i learn something. number one is that the obama white house, the president is leading staffers to believe that economic distress would make americans more supportive of government programs. they felt the health-care bill would be popular. it turns out they're wrong. i think that miss read the history of the 1930's, and i would submit my own book from roosevelt to reagan as a counterfeit. it is on a

host: and governor charlie crist is running as an independent in florida.he decided to become an independent when marco rubio, when it looked like he was able to defeat him in the republican primary. the "new york times" reports that mr. christof -- crist has tacked to the left recently, but faces skepticism for his motives. this article talks about how his fate may turn on how democrats think of him. it says events on the democratic side could prove to be his ultimate benefactor. the question is, who will come out and support charlie crist at the polls? democrats, republicans, or independence since he is running on an independent ticket? -- independents since he is running on an independent ticket? another article in looking at the senate race, -- next up, okla., dawn, republicans line. caller: i'm calling because nowadays, i do not know if i am a republican, a democrat, or independent. the tea party, i want to tell you what it means to me. the tea party, you know, people say they are racist and maybe some people are. i am in the tea party and i am not a r

host: what has been the reaction of the governor charlie crist? what effect is he having on the legislature in all of this? guest: he vetoed cluster four murdered million dollars in what we call "turkey" and what you call "pork" in washington. hopefully that speaks for itself. in the year before that, he exercised his veto powers. on the other hand, i do not believe i have heard him talk about addressing revenue other than he, himself, his budget proposals for the past fiscal year recommended a 1% reduction in the corporate income tax as a way to stimulate business activity and jobs. as you can hopefully tell from my earlier comments. we thought that approach would not be effective. host: kate on the republican line from houston, texas. good morning to you. caller: good morning. going back to the florida state tax, -- because you have such a high rate of the snowbirds in florida, does that not end up putting a tremendous pressure on your residence? how much of your deficit problem is related to the fact that you are not getting the same number com

charlie crist. and then you'll have a democrat, and it's not clear yet who the democrat will be, kend rick meek who has been planning for this race for a long time. and then out of the blue in april jeff green, who is a billionaire, got into the race and spent about $6 million in advertising. and so it just makes it -- it's a free for all. host: in other states, some high profile primaries, in arizona john mccain and j.d. hey worth, and others. guest: again, it is another example of how uncertain this election is. you have john mccain, who was the g.o.p. presidential nominee two years ago who is now being -- faces a threat on the right from j.d. hay worth. in colorado you have an appointed senator who has the backing of the democratic establishment and you have his opponent who has been backed by president clinton. it's -- i mean, again, it's going to be very difficult to tell the outcome of all of this. and i want to go back for a second because i know you had some cash on hand numbers that were di