christy macdonald has been covering the story for detroit public television and was at today's forum. welcome to the newshour, christy macdonald, my first question is how did things get to this state in the city, to this condition in the city of detroit? >> well, judey, it didn't happen overnight. this las been years in the making, when i say years in the making, it has been decades in the making. so they know they can't turn this around overnight but they know they finally have to put an end to it and get actually a plan in place that will work for the finances and the financial mess that the city of detroit has found itself? >> woodruff: is the governor intervening because he has to by law or because he wants to, feels he should? >> well, there is an emergency financial manager law that is in place right now in the state of michigan that compels him to take a look at the finances. and again this isn't anything new. the city has been under a consent agreement with the state for the past year or so, just under a year. and so what happened is about two months ago it triggered another f

bob macdonald took a lot of heat in virginia. keep in mind that mcdonald and christie are both very conservative. man but heservative made a compromise with democrats on va's troubling transportation infrastructure. virginia has one of the worst traffic situations in the entire country. he raised some taxes to fund inf -- to fund transportation infrastructure. it was done in the most conservative way possible and yet it is taking a lot of heat for that. there's testified for someone between -- there is this debate between brent bozell and someone like a governor who has to live and govern in the world. host: two states electing new governors, virginia and -- in lin the race between the attorney general and former dnc chair. what is your read on this race? host: i was disappointed that bill did not get in because i think that would have been a lot of fun to watch. i have a lot of respect for him and i think he's been quite courageous. i would say that because of where virginia is, terry is -- they are pulling even. i think terry has a better shot because of the state ha

you have disinvited chris christie, bob macdonald, governor of virginia, popular in the state of virginiamp invited but chris christie not. jeb bush said you know what? don't put me on that straw poll. i'm not interested in going up against all these fellows because it's a little bit too worldly. if the republican party wants to learn the lesson of the last election listening to ronald reagan and expanding the tent my be a good idea. >> in our next hour we'll speak with eric cantor the house majority leader. he has a lot of strong views on the whole charm offensive the president has. thanks very much. congratulations tonight candy. we're all going to a wonderful dinner here in washington. you will be receiving the first amendment award from the radio, tv, digital correspondents association as we like to call it. congratulations. >> thank you. >> news directors association. >> right. thanks. >> did i say it right? >> you got it. just use the letters. it's washington. do the acronym. >> rtdns. >> there you go. >> a lovely dinner. black tie optional. >> you don't have to wear a black tie. ju

obama m bob macdonald snubbed. chris christie snubbed. is donald trump for the rebranding?alan west. >> the only one missing yet to receive an invite, herman cain. >> it is. that's unfortunate. i think he could hold the way forward for the republican party. i'm from virginia as you know. bob mcdonnell is no -- he's a conservative guy. i mean, you recall the whole transvaginal ultrasound situation. >> who could forget that? >> right. but he committed a sin against conservatism which was raising taxes for the infrastructure. the state has some of the worst traffic in the country. chris christie km itted the sin of embracing the president and saying nice things about him. apparently this is unforgivable in their world. you have to be happy not to go to this conference which seems like a clown car like the gop primary. >> interestingly the only road accident i've had in this country was in martinsville, virginia. because of the condition of the roads. john, the washington examiner is a cosponsor of next week's cp a rks c. they have a new editorial. it's called cpac embarrasses

and governor christie and governor macdonald, they should have invited both to speak, both are remarkableat records. i was there talking and doing some things on radio row, you see 2,500 students signed up, you see thousands of people coming, some of whom have been coming since it was started 40 years ago, look at the diversity of speakers, governor perry gave a great speech yesterday. senator rubbo and senator rand gave good speeches yesterday, this is sort of like a giant county fair of conservative ideas, and i think that useful. >> chris christie wasn't welcome. a giant county fair where some people weren't invited. >> i said bluntly, i thought that was a mistake. all i'm suggesting on balance, they get 95%, they don't get 100. the largest political ideas gathering in the country and if you look at the total number of speeches given, the workshops, et cetera, i'll be there tomorrow morning. speaking, and introducing one of the movies we've made with citizens united. it's a terrific venue if you believe in activism and ideas. >> mr. speaker, you mentioned senator rand paul's speech. le

people like bob macdonald, scott walker, john kasich, susannah martinez, chris christie, brian sandoval got to listen to and make sure their mess annage is heardd and clear across the country. i'm sorry i won't be your president but i will be your co-worker and work shoulder to shoulder alongside you. you see, in the end,, in the end we'll win. we'll win for the same reason we won before. because our cause is just, and it is right. >> let's talk a little more about what's going on with our chief political analyst gloria borger and chief political correspondent candy crowley the anchor of "state of the union." he says, romney, that the party needs to learn from his mistakes. what are those lessons? >> well, i think by watching him you could see what they were. this is a man who is having trouble connecting with voters. i don't think he particularly connected with this conservative group. it kind of puzzles me why he chose this as the first place to make his first kind of public speech. the thing that interested me the most about it, wolf, was that he went out of his way to mention chris

the question is, how does one of let chris christie in a place like new jersey and the bob macdonald and a place like virginia? very different east coast states. one is southern, one is no.. one is blue, the other trending purple. how you do that? it really was the message. the message was getting back to the fundamental idea of liberty, freedom, and opportunity. individual being empowered, not the government. having the wherewithal off to thethat in a way that message was the same, although translated differently. in other words, you speak the language of the people in the community in which you find them. i cannot, for example, go in front of a bunch of state and government employees talk about i want less government. all i said to them is i want to fire you. you talk about an efficient government that is responsive to people. that is a very different conversation. it is taking the message that off its core and translating it to people so they can understand it in their own language and see that values reflected. washington post" has a piece. the compare the general public opinion