i mean it's almost like the chicago outfit or chicago democratic machine controlling the kennedy nixon election whoa way to bring them here from rome they're russian you're from you're from the military all the midwest and god created equal all right why don't you just not bring the midwest out tonight and that way but one thing i want to point out is what about ok we see this constant gridlock in washington we've seen that go on over this payroll tax vote that's been a disaster i'm curious if you guys think that there's going to be any way if this does go through to cash in on the dysfunction because how do you short the whole system you can't do that right so you could short your right you control washington there are some want us around washington right there george washington in the long or short any of you who should just listen to this is a gateway drug ok this is get your foot in the door i want to get this is the first one you're talking about a whole three can probably have driven lives out there all sorts of colors and things for whatever you want yeah i want to show washingt

i think he is charming rogue playing the game particularly chicago democrats played this game. he has apologized. it was the right thing to do. he was a foolish man to take the witness stand during his second trial. the first trial was a hung jury largely because he did not testify. in fact the defense didn't even put on a case in the original trial. hung jury. the feds brought him back in. they slammed him, 18 counts. he is facing 15 to 20 years now. he will lose his house. he is a good dad. you know, i go back to the fact he was a good governor in terms of community service but he did overstep his bound. he did use his office to try to enrich himself. jon: i tried to sell the senate seat. >> i never saw it that way and i was shocked and a bit offended that they went saying lincoln is turning over in his grave and rest of it. listen the jury convicted him out of his own mouth. he is a big mouth. he is finally facing the music and smartly throwing himself on the mercy of the court. he is asking for mercy, literally asking for mercy as is his wife, as is his attorney. >> we'll s

>> there's only one strategy at play here, whether it's the chicago campaign headquarters, democratice people at the white house, they're all talking daily by telephone. the president very purposely is not really taking part in this. you saw just recently him on jay leno saying i'll wait for them to be voted off the island before i weigh in. jay carney, the spokesman at the white house, has been arguing that the president isn't paying any attention. it's a distinction without a difference because the people the president is overseeing are working at the d this. c, working at the chicago re-elect. they're very focused on it. >> michael, the ads from democrats from the dnc, could there be a backlash? newt gingrich is saying he's going to stay positive while the dnc is on this offensive. will there be this push to accentuate the positives for their candidate? >> i'm actually very curious to see how long newt gingrich can maintain that pose. newt's problem right now is not the dnc. his problem is mitt romney and the pac supporting mitt romney who are unleashing an enormous amount of negat

take a democratic calller in chicago. -- host: democratic calller in chicago. caller: good morning. i wanted the center to address the loophole that corporations are using by shipping jobs overseas, is keeping some of the taxes that they have to address estate side. could you please answer that? . guest: i do not know what loophole attracts people to move jobs overseas. i know there are jobs that have gone overseas because of the effective regulation, but i do not know of any tax loophole, except for the fact that profits made offshore are not taxed until they are brought into the country. right now we have a punitive tax rate at 35% on repatriated money. if both john kennedy and george w. bush or right, and they were when they had a tax benefit to bring them in, we would have a lot more capital coming into our country. the gentleman makes a good point on that end. host: we will go to another phone call and let you get a good cop in. go ahead. i heard what you made in terms of the bush tax cuts. your statement was absolutely incorrect. the bush tax cut started in 2001, and it was fo

host: chicago, a democrat, first call, thank you for waiting. hello, karen. caller: hello.y statement is, the only thing to come out of the mouth of republicans, every time i hear them speak, it is to defeat barack obama. that is not your job. your job is to help america and do what is right for the people of america. we did not elect people just to defeat a president. get in there and work with this president. how can one president, when he goes to put something fourth for the american people, which you all hollering about, you shoot it down. you have not even given this president's policies a chance to hit the floor. it is no, no, no, no. guess what? senator barack obama -- president barack obama will get back in the white house. i do not like ugly. host: that was karen from chicago. senator grassley? guest: i would have two answers for that. number one, we are political leaders in the united states, outside of being members of congress. whether we are grassroots republicans or office holders, like i am, in the political process of choosing a new president, it is perfectl

let's hear from chicago now, barbara, democrat. we're talking about the iowa caucuses here. any observations this morning? caller: yes. how are you doing? host: fine. caller: ok. i would like to know, why is it all have guests on your show or when you hear ads with these republicans just bare-faced lying, why haven't these republicans been addressed? just like the commercial that rick perry says he's against war, on obama's war on faith, president obama didn't cause people not to be able to pray in schools. he didn't have anything to do with that. that was done 40 years ago when this man was 10 years old. romney, he had an ad with the president going up, knew it wasn't the president's words but it was john mccain's words. and they let that go. if it wasn't laughable, it would be a crime. i'm so glad that we got tv and people can really look at these republicans to know that they are not for the american people. their biggest thing is to get this black president out of office. but guess what. not going to happen. you know, it's not going to happen because they never say what

democratic candidate when stevenson was. and p also like tom dewey had been a crime buster in chicago. and everybody thought that he -- not everybody, but those folks in the democratic party who had power thought that he was a phony. and there was something about the political presence in which i think the american people understand who is authentic and who is not. ed aly stevenson -- adlay stevenson who defeated keith farber in the convention was not let's go in the back room and smoke some cigars kind of guy, he really was let's go have a glass of the best brandy from france. but none the less, he could convey this niceness estes key farber could not. and in that convention one sees the importance of being somewhat accessible and personable. >> very quickly, i would say we saw the charming side of barry goldwater and i would say for all the differences, goldwater and humphrey are two illustrations of candidates who are more likable than the men who defeated them. >> all right. we have only seven or eight minutes left. here is george wallace. >> i feel, and i must say i've climbed my l

with chicago police superintendent garry mccarthy to encourage him to renew chicagos participation in the program >>a democratic proposal that would weaken state pension reform legislation has won approval from a house panel and could go before the full house today legislation passed less than two weeks ago would stop the process of basing public pensions on bigger union salaries it would also cake to well-paid teachers union lobbyists out of the pension system there were able to join after substitute teaching for just one day the new proposal makes an exception for current union officials on leave from their regular jobs to get more lucrative pensions and allow the two lobbyists to stay in the pension system >>the illinois legislature is back in springfield today for a special session to keep jobs in illinois lawmakers are breaking up a tax relief bill that failed in a new effort to get the entire package approved the first bill would offer about $100 million to the cme group ... c b o e holdings and sears to keep their headquarters in illinois his second bill would increase the state's earned income tax credi

but it should be welcome news over at the white house at the obama re-election campaign in chicago and for democratsty here? what does the poll say about congress and the president? how do they stack up in terms of who's more liked? >> as far as approval for congress, that's not a good number for congress. right now in our brand-new cnn/orc poll, only 16% approval of the way congress is handling its job. 83% disapprove. that's similar to other polls, down to 12% approval for congress. congress as a whole, democrats and republicans in congress, they have a lot of work to do to convince the american public that they are doing a good job in this fight as you've been reporting, suzanne, over extending the payroll tax cut and back and forth between the senate and house will further undermine congressional credibility right now. as far as likability for the president, he's pretty well liked. we'll put it up on screen. what is your opinion of president obama as a person? 76% approve of the president as a person. only 19% disapprove. that's a pretty good number for this president. just getting back to the h

chicago? the former democratic governor is about to learn how long he'll be behind bars for his corruption conviction[blan. [bleep] i gave your baby healthcare. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink bill: 25 minutes past the hour now. headlines now, new hope for the housing crisis in a credit agency saying the number of people behind on their mortgages may actually drop by the end of next year. we shall see. the power still out in california, a week after a massive windstorm damages nearing the $4 million mark as more than 6,000 still are in the dark. a myth-busters mishap, leaving a california home with a grand new window, a cannonball missed its mark at the sheriff's bombing range, tore through a home 700 yards away, right as the kids were coming home from schoo

host: from chicago, on the democratic line. caller: i am glad someone is bringing some sanity to this house and market. what i wanted to say was that i have always used the gauge of catalog when they sell these pre-fab homes. all this craziness that was put in the market, but the catalog prices were steady. guest: i am not familiar with the that catalog. i wish other consumers, based on your information, would also look into that. looking at the right ratio, a looks at home values are about 8% under-valued. priced income ratio, they are about 20% undervalued by historical metrics. the cost of construction has risen because of commodity prices, so many of the currently priced homes will be selling below the cost of construction, so there are many metrics to suggest that home values are undervalued and, given the adjusted market forces, anything could overshoot it going forward, and looks to be the case that it is it under correction. host: if you bought a home, for close to them and are now back in the market and want to purchas

chicago. the democrats' line. caller: i have big quick points that i would like you to comment on. four years ago, there was a reporter that asked romney -- you have five sons and none of them have ever tried to join the military. he apparently, with his nose up in the air, said they help me on the campaign trail. he could have said that i would have loved them to join the military, but they never did. who dothis is the most articulae or tour and has to be a black president. >> it would be very interesting to see who ever the republican nominee is and the debates with president obama. and aa, president obama can work a room -- undoubtedly, president obama can work a room. he has a clintonesque engage ability. he is very effective with that. there is a part of us that really would have liked to have seen those 73-hour lincoln-style debates with gingrich and obama to see why it would have unfolded. i cannot speak to the comments you had about governor romney and his five sons and the military. i do not recall that period that preceded my arrival here in iowa. but when i can tell you

democratic candidate when stevenson was. and also like tom dewey had been a crime buster in chicago. and everybody thought that he -- not everybody, but those folks in the democratic party who had power thought that he was a phony. and there was something about the political presence in which i think the american people understand who is authentic and who is not. adlai stevenson who defeated kefauver in the convention was not a "let's go in the back room and smoke some cigars" kind of guy, he really was "let's go have a glass of the best brandy from france." but none the less, he could convey this niceness estes kefauver could not. and in that convention one sees the importance of being somewhat accessible and personable. >> very quickly, i would say we saw the charming side of barry goldwater and i would say for all the differences, goldwater and humphrey are two illustrations of candidates who are more likable than the men who defeated them. >> all right. we have only seven or eight minutes left. here is george wallace. >> i feel, and i must say i've climbed my last political mounta

chicago, mary, a democrat. caller: hello.m calling regarding what i see as the ineptness of congress and the lack of concern for the middle class, the lower class, and their prime objective being that they want to leave office as millionaires. most of them came in not as millionaires. now they are. usually, the only time they leave is after they have made millions. that let me know that their objective is not for the american public, but for their own growth. their own, if you will, making money for themselves. when will the people really stand up against these bureaucrats, and ask that they pass these bills that are going to completely help this country recover? we were once a great nation. we should be at this time. we should not be subjected to the people that certain people keep putting back in the office that do not care about them. all they want to do -- and i have heard them say -- is that this president of office. whatever comes -- is get this president out of office. whatever comes next, they are not concerned about.

host: jean is on the line from chicago, a democratic column. caller: i would like to know since there is a lot of voter suppression going on, will you help the people on tuesday to show their i.d.'s? is it because they are 97% white and you trust they will not cross over and vote for democrat? my main question is to ask you, why is it your party is not satisfied with a lot you have? you are scrambling to find somebody to beat this president. you seem like a decent person so i will not blow you out of the water. i had never seen republican come on the air that has not bash the president. why is it you are not satisfied with your party and think we should be satisfied with your party? guest: i will let the republicans speak for themselves. i am a registered independent. to the question about voter suppression, iowa does not have a big tradition of trying to do that. it is a small state. these are neighborhood meetings. you tend to know your neighbors. if anyone were trying to do a major voter suppression effort were trying to pass caucuses with n

chicago tribune, but they're trying. >> as an old print head myself from the st. louis democrat days and a guy who subscribes 2- 2 newspapers a day and gets two for free, i hope these print newspapers survive because i don't really like going to the internet reading that. so i hope jill abrahamson's "new york times" survives. >> and let's hear it for magazines, too. >> contrary to your habitual frame of mind, government grants to keep newspapers in existence. >> private enterprise should keep them alive we can attack them. >> private enterprise is not behind the newspaper sufficiently. framing a government grant with the same time would not sacrifice the editorial independence of the newspaper. >> you are headed down the road to surrender, john. don't go there. >> you have the murdoch empire and the wall street journal going head to head with "the new york times." they are in competition to figure out who can make the new business model work. >> you have to keep the media alive because what else would republican candidates do but attack the media? >> person of the year, pat? >>e

[applause] >> that is hubert humphrey accepting the 1968 democratic nomination for president. it was at chicago'son hotel. the democrats had gathered for the convention in the midst of the vietnam war while thousands of protesters demonstrated outside. the unsuccessful candidate in 1968, hubert humphrey is the focus of this week's program. we are live from minnesota history center. mick caouette is the documentarian of hubert humphrey's life. we are standing in the middle of an exhibit about the tumultuous year of 1968. i want you to set the stage for people. as 1968 dawned, this country was in an uproar about the vietnam war. set the stage. >> the vietnam war had been going on for 15 years. it was obvious to everyone that the war was not being won. it reached all the way to the american embassy in saigon. approval johnson's ratings just plummeted. mccarthy had been in the race in the fall. bobby kennedy was joining the race. it was utter chaos. right after, president johnson resigned, three days later martin luther king was assassinated. the first part of the year was a terrible chaos. >> people

chicago. the man is a democrat's dream. he's up against experienced politicses.pizza maker is the new sarah palin. jeff in georgia writes of his not very credible accusers produces -- and he ought to hit the road, but until then, i'm all aboard the cain train. john in alabama. anytime the message of the candidate gets drowned out by the noise of the candidate's character, it's time to rethink running for the office. herman cain might have survived the sexual harassment claims and charges, but a 13-year long affair with proof is another problem. mr. cain needs to drop his run sooner rather than later. pat in michigan. i believe it's time although he has some good ideas for a discussion about tax reform. kind of funny how tax reform makes skeletons leap out of the closet. maybe just coincidence. paul writes it was time for cain to go away until he even started his travesty of a campaign. baseless allegations aside, he has zero credentials for the presidency. he's nothing but a cartoon character in a funny hat. john in georgia writes running for president is like be

it tell you when a hard core conservative from georgia is holding up quote from a hard core democrat from chicago about what we ought to do to move this country forward? what does it tell you, mr. speaker, when on both thovendse spectrum we're feeling the same thing, that it would be inexcusable for congress not to further extend the middle class tax cut. inexcusable. folks say, oh, you can't. there's not enough time. folks, there's 10 days. 10 days. we just finished the national defense authorization act, mr. speaker. the biggest defense bill that this congress will produce. and guess what we did? same thing thomas jefferson suggested, same thing going on in this congress for 200 years. we passed the bill, the senate passed a bill we went to conference and in seven days, mr. speaker, they reconciled the largest defense bill in this congress, brought together the differences, brought something to the house floor and senate floor for consideration and we got it done. inexcusable not to extend this. from house minority leader nan icy pelosi. house democrats will return to washington to take up this

former democratic illinois governor rod blagojevich will learn his fate tomorrow. his sentencing hearing on corruption charges began today in chicagojevich was convicted on 18 counts. including trying to auction off president obama's old senate seat in illinois. >>> another long-time democratic politician is about to return to public life. although not under his own terms. a senate panel voted today to subpoena former mf global ceo jon corzine who is already scheduled to appear before a house committee in two days to testify about the collapse of his wall street brokerage firm. correspondent doug mckelway reports. >> reporter: the expected appearance this thursday of the former democratic new jersey governor and u.s. senator before the house agricultural committee will be jon corzine's firs first citing since the bankruptcy. five days later that have to explain the role in the eighth largest bankruptcy in u.s. history. >> it's in the history of the agricultural committee. >> the senate committee decision to investigate m.f. global that traded commodities future is a show of the bipartisan unanimity reflecting the anger of the compa

host: jesse is a democrat from chicago. caller: good morning, a gentleman. i have a question.you feel about a lot of the right wing media saying if ron paul won the iowa caucus, the iowa caucus itself is irrelevant? how do you feel about that? if he did win, would you stand by the people of iowa's voices and stand behind him yourself? host: as -- guest: of course as the chairman i will support the gop nominee, and especially a state that is a swing state. iowa will likely determine the care of the perot vote to the next president is. maybe for the viewers, you should know the chairman of the party has to be neutral. i am neutral throughout the entire process. on caucus night, i will attend my local caucus but i will not cast a vote since my office has to oversee the election. i will not speculate on what may or may not happen. but i talked earlier about the message that ron paul has that is resonating in iowa, and it is on a limited government, reducing spending, shrinking the influence of washington in the lives of americans. but also he has been on the ground building an org

host: jesse is a democrat from chicago. caller: good morning, a gentleman. i have a question. how do you feel about a lot of the right wing media st. if ron paul won the iowa caucus, the iowa caucus itself is irrelevant. how do you feel about that? if he did win, would you stand by the people of iowa's voices and stand behind him yourself? host: as -- guest: of course as the chairman i will support the gop nominee, and especially a state that is a swing state. iowa will likely determine the care of the perot vote to the next president is. maybe for the viewers, you should know the chairman of the party has to be neutral. i and neutral throughout the entire process. on caucus night, i will attend my local caucus but i will not cast a vote since my office has to oversee the election. i will not speculate on what may or may not happen. but i talked earlier about the message that ron paul has that is resonating in iowa, and it is on a limited government, reducing spending, shrinking the influence of washington in the lives of americans. but also he has been on the ground building

sentencing hearing gets underway in chicago today for the disgraced illinois governor. the former illinois governor. the democrat is facing the prospect of ten or more years behind bars on 18 corruption counts including trying to auction off president barack obama's old senate seat. the judge says he will be issuening his decision in the case tomorrow. >>> it wouldn't be christmas in leesburg without a dispute over holiday symbols on the courthouse lawn. this year's controversy, a skeleton santa crucified on a cross. many found the display offensive. one woman was so incensed yesterday, she went right over to skeleton santa and took it down. >> what are you doing? >> i'm taking this down. >> why? >> it is offensive. >> i just did what i needed to do and i tried to not destroy any property and laid it there where whoever owned it could retrieve it. >> the person behind the crucified skeleton santa says it is meant to depict the materialism he says kills the holiday spirit of peace, love and kindness. the loudoun county board held a meeting last night on the dispute. the board chairman told 9news what's going on n

from chicago on the line for democrats. herman cain is out of the race. what are your thoughts? caller: i did not think much about him when he was in the race. he was just there to entertain. he was not serious about running for president. everybody that knows that knows that. america is in dire need and in serious trouble. why are we playing with is people we know do not have our best intentions in mind? herman cain supporters -- i would not give it to michele bachmann nor huntsman because as soon as the scandal broke on herrmann kane, they came out with negative comments. now all of a sudden they are giving glowing reviews about herman cain. host: who do you think benefits most at this point? caller: he should give his support to president obama because president obama is there. if the republicans would let the debt obama do his job, he would do his job for everybody. they say he does not have a backbone. so what if he does not sit up there and cry? he is busy trying to get this country back on track. host: here is a passage from the new york times piece on herman cain -- a li

democrat. he believed the chicago element inside the white house was pushing the president to not endorse the deficitcommission and let paul ryan go first and essential low that he would be the bigger person and the more reasonable person when it came to entitlement spending. it was a powerful moment, because david axelrod, and the white house really doesn't have a great answer as of yet to that charge. you heard it from governor romney's du supporter, governor chris christie that the president has not led. jon: the chairman of the republican national committee who i mentioned in the introduction says that essentially the president and his team are trying to turn this into the divided states of america. i want to get your reaction to what he had to say. >> people in this country don't think that this president is real any more. he's not genuine any more. he came to this country across this country as a candidate and he promised to be the great uniter, david, he was going to be different e was going to bring everyone together. he was going to listen to the debt commission, do you remember that? guess

chicago tribune or the l.a. times but it's about journalism and that's something that is site drool a democratic society. >> the book is called "the deal." it's about two deals. the first comes in the year 2000 and involves the purchase by tribune company, venable chicago based own over several dozen very respected television stations and newspaper, purchased the los angeles based times and new york times. give us the economic backdrop at the time. the newspaper industry backdrop and the remarks neal for dr. racks neal, -- rational -- and the cereal killer, like cheerios and smart dots -- tell us about him and why he was critical to the tactics and strategy in executing this deal. >> i think the deal with sam is always the deal from hell and the tribune made a is to be in purgatory first when it both the times mirror. it was -- you know, basically the atmosphere at the time was buy or be bought, and aol and time warner had just merged, and things were going quite well. and so when the tribune decided to buy this, things looked pretty good. the future looked bright. we paid a lot of money for it, and it was -- an

host: doris on our democrats' line from chicago. caller: good morning. i would probably call this young lady's organization the organization against women's rights. this group portrays women as being too stupid and ignorant to have control of their own bodies. this movement has been conducting this war on women ever since the 1980's and it is rooted in violence and intimidation and oppression of women. i was reading a book by "frank schaffer," and his father founded the movement and they said behemoths -- the one to impose christian evangelical law. guest: thank you for your call, doors. i am always -- obviously i am a woman, a woman who spent 10 years at the university of virginia working on a phd. i am always slightly and use the people accusing me of being anti-woman and being -- at hamas attack of calling our position stupid. i think it would be more helpful for everyone if we focus on making specific arguments about public policy instead of making accusations. i have invested my entire life in public policy on this issue. so, i cannot think is helpf

deborah joining us, democrat's line from chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. am so tired of being tired of being tired. now, the only thing that i would like for my federal government to do, i would like for him to make sure that my vote is protected and it is promised on a local level so my vote is not protected on the local level. how can i get somebody in congress to represent me, my vote on the local level? therefore, my congress -- -- [inaudible] by the people that's running the government. and lastly, that's the only thing that's going to help occupy wall street. if we don't do that, we can forget it. host: thanks for the call. one of our regular tweeters following up on the earlier caller's point. here's some things you may be reading. we covered an occupy new hampshire rally that took place yesterday and we're going to be catching up with mitt romney this week back on the campaign trail in nasm. ted from chicago, good morning. independent line. >> good morning. i would like to know how they're going to pay for these payroll tax cuts. being a federal em

chicago times. le me start you. troubling enough for the middle class american to deal with their lives in this economy, republicans, democratst they are doing with the economy then christine lagarde is saying solving europe's problems is the whole world's problem. i don't know how that will go over. >> it won't go over well. imf was created to help poor countries, germany and france don't qualify. american citizens are wondering what all this economic talk is about. first of all if you're a senior citizen, saved your money, government helping by keeping interest rates low, funding its own deficit. seniors are wondering where is the interest i was planning to live on. >> absolutely. >> young people i'm paying 6.8% on student loans, where are the jobs to help repay those. people in 40s and 50s and thinking about retirement, scared to invest and worried about jobs. everyone knows someone out of work. the idea that the united states should be funding a bailout for european countries that can't get their own act together really turns people off. >> diane, americans are not happy they were funding bailouts of american banks. at th

chicago tribune" or "the l.a. times" but it is about journal i'll. i think that is vital to a democratic society. >> though this book is called, "the deal from hell". it is really about two deals. it comes in the year 2000, involved purchase by tribune company, venerable chicago-based owner of several dozen very respected television and newspapers, it is purchase of los angeles-based times mirror company. give us succinctly the economic backdrop at the time, the newspaper industry backdrop and the rationale for that first of the two big deals. and if you want to mention a fellow somewhere along the line who became known i think as the serial killer, that is not cereal like john wayne gacy. it is cereal like cheery yos and smart starts, sce, e, a, l. tell us about him because why he was critical in tactics and strategy executing this deal. >> the deal with sam zell was a deal from hell. tribune made a stop in purgatory when it bought the times mirror. basically the atmosphere at the time was buyer be bought. aol and time warner had just merged and things were going quite well. so when the

biggest mark on history was keeping the democratic party together from 1972 to 1976 and that is when the party was torn apart starting in 1968 after the debacle of the chicago convention and the assassination of rfk and martin luther king and the party was splintering over vietnam and a number of issues and he came and held the party together first as treasurer of the democratic national committee and then as the chairman of the national committee into the democratic party then looked a little bit like the republican party today in that it's very pressured and the extreme wing 72 of the democrats and now the republicans devotee party but what they don't have this a bob strauss figure. they are still factored. so bob really came at a key time me and i started researching his time at the dnc first. the was the first chapter i wrote. i start to the middle and the election to the chairmanship and the national archives has all of the transcript from the meetings, the executive committee meetings and these are pretty dull reading material but not when bob was determined. he was known around town and around the country because he did become a household name after

chicago, indiana. phillip is a democrat and watching us. you're on, phillip. caller: good morning, c-span. host: good morning. caller: first of all, i'd like to say the most significant death to me was generation x, because the stigma of division and propaganda -- host: include? finish your thought. caller: yeah, yeah, because the stigma of propaganda and division no longer exist. we as a nation, we elect the first black president. we as a nation, we make movements now through twitter and via facebook, and we as a nation right now occupy america. anything that's happened within america, not only in america, but all across the world right now is united in a movement, and it's wonderful. now these things no longer exist and are no longer barriers. even rights for gays right now, and people are starting to be more liberated right now. host: thanks for your call. i'm glad you participated. what would you say to him? guest: i don't often hear people define generation x -- i'm curious as to, is there a generally agreed upon -- host: the dates? yeah, there are, indeed. guest: i'm still apologizin

democratic candidate when stevenson was. and also like tom dewey had been a crime buster in chicago. and everybody thought that he -- not everybody, but those folks in the democratic party who had power thought that he was a phony. and there was something about the political presence in which i think the american people understand who is authentic and who is not. adlai stevenson who defeated kefauver in the convention was not let's go in the back room and smoke some cigars kind of guy, he really was let's go have a glass of the best brandy from france. but none the less, he could convey this niceness estes kefauver could not. and in that convention one sees the importance of being somewhat accessible and personable. >> very quickly, i would say we saw the charming side of barry goldwater and i would say for all the differences, goldwater and humphrey are two illustrations of candidates who are more likable than the men who defeated them. >> all right. we have only seven or eight minutes left. here is george wallace. >> i feel, and i must say i've climbed my last political mountain, bu

our good friends, cnn political contributor and democratic strategist maria cardona and republican strategist lenny mccallister, not in chicago.c. where they normally are but spending the weekend here with us. so good to have you guys here. we'll get to newt -- is this the last time we will ever have to do a segment with a question about herman cain? is this it? >> as being the top person on that news cycle? yes. you'll hear something about him swinging some votes but by the time that comes around this percentage will be down to 3%, 4%, 5%. it will be a minimal amount of people going over that way. the only way that might change, t.j., is if somebody perhaps takes part of his message, something that they thought was effective on the campaign trail -- at this point you have to ask what would that actually be. but if something like that came about, then maybe his name comes back into the mix. but otherwise this is going to be it. >> i think so. what's interesting is that yesterday he tried to make it sound like he was going to continue to be part of the conversation, he wasn't going to go away. it was very sarah palin-like. but

evelyn, democratic caller in chicago. >> caller: good morning, good morning and happy holidays. >> hostppy holidays, evelyn. >> caller: just a comment. i am from south chicago, went through desegregation, blah, blah, blah and then we were inundated with the spanish. we had to open up the five churches to them when the recession came. the houses were boarded up, and now just sunday, when i went to church, it is stunning. and all of the churches now how many have left and gone, who knows? they are very great at buying homes over in mexico and going back and forth. did they help us here? not in this community. the education went down and it has been a lot of hard work. they are good people, but i really disapprove of all of this is illegal stuff going on. and i thank you for listening and i will say goodbye. >> host: okay. duguid's -- has the pew hispanic center done in the numbers of the cost of illegal immigration on schools and we also hear it on medical costs. >> guest: we haven't done any studies that try to measure that exactly. but the general, the general sense you get from all of

host: chicago, good morning to karen, democrats' line. caller: good morning. how you doing? host: go ahead. caller: this is representative himes, i need to ask a couple of questions. why is it that when the republicans come up with an idea be it bad or bad, they all come out in a group. they stand together. there's no crack in the party. but when the democrats -- when the president, and it's been for the last three years i noticed that, when the president comes out and puts something on the table, and when he look around, you guys are nowhere around. in the house, in the senate. why can't you-all, if you believe, and you are really democrats, why can't you-all stand with this president? i mean, come out and get his back. he cannot run this country by himself. he's only as good as his party, the senate, and the representatives. why you-all can't come out and stand with the man? i don't understand that. why is that so hard? host: we'll let our guest answer. guest: i'm not sure what you're getting at. i have been here for three years and look back at particular in the first two