i was involved in campaigning against senator jesse helms when i was in college. when i came out here i was not initially involved politically. i was involved in community work, helping to build the lgbt community center, doing neighborhood work, and i eventually started doing campaigns and gradually got more involved in democratic party politics. ultimately, in 2004, i ran for the democratic county central committee and ended up chairing the committee. it was a gradual process for me. by the time i started thinking about running for supervisor, it made sense because of my involvement in the community and the politics. i knock on about $15,000 -- i knocked on about 15,000 doors and a huge amount of people. the best way to learn about the city and what people want and what people's concerns are. i feel like i know so much more than before i started campaigning. i am a good liberal democrat. in the san francisco, miniature spectrum, i am considered pretty middle of the road. one thing about me is i am very independent when it comes to the issues, and i do not vote o

. >> rose: and he got rescued in north carolina by jesse helms. >> and got resed by his debate performance right before the election. >> romney problems seems to be just steppg further and further into the cicature of mitd mitt which is an inescapable problem at a certain pot. >> president obama -- >> rose: go ahead, doris, please. >> president obama got so much better while the hillary candidate made obama a much better campaigner before the general election. so i agree in general what was said it may make mitt romney a better campaigner but the democrats will be able to use this fiery stuff they are throwing at one another, in pretty good steld when the general election comes, especially the stuff about income and the way that gingrich has gone after romney for the wealth issue and the tax issue, i mean they can become adds on the democratic side but otherwise i think you are right, it is a strengthening thing to have to go ten rounds and if rom rom skated through,hen he would never have gotten better than he has been so far. >> rose: i just want to make one argument nobody will free wit

so ronald reagan might go and give a speech with jesse helms, and that's broadcast nationally, even though the--the speech was given locally. and this can have a--an effect of diminishing the president's approval. when the president speaks to the nation from behind the desk in the oval office, however, this bolsters his approval. it's the one thing presidents have within their control to increase their approval. c-span: what about the economy? is there a -- i kept reading, you'd go back to the economy. if the economy is bad, this will happen. no matter what? >> guest: no matter what. c-span: what will happen if the economy is bad? have we just seen it... >> guest: yes. c-span:...in this campaign? >> guest: yes. >> guest: yes. >> guest: one could explain part of bush's fall in the polls--part of bush's pall--fall in the polls--the same way that carter fell in the polls: because of bad economic circumstances. and there's not too much presidents can do about that. ironically, these are factors outside of their control, although they're being, in a way, charged for these circumstances. they ar

monetary policy, the proposal i have issued for a gold commission started back to something he and jesse helmsped develop and served on. in fact, we have people who have agreed they would share such a commission. there are areas we can work on. there are places we disagree deeply -- iran is a good example. you can find ways to work together. frankly, we could work a lot more together than we could with barack obama. >> governor romney, a question you know is covering -- is coming because of when you're going to release your tax returns and estimates for 2011. we know it is not a matter of producing them. you said during the mccain of vetting process that you're something of a pack rat. prior to tomorrow, can you tell us tonight what is in there that is going to get people talking? what is in there that will be controversial? what is in there that you may find yourself defending? >> no surprises. the most extensive disclosure that i made was the financial disclosure requirements. we each had to do that. i laid out of my assets are. people have been looking at that. it is very similar to what it

policy, the proposal i've issued for a gold commission which hearkens back to something that he and jesse helmselp develop, and the fact that we have people the caliber of lieu lehrman and jim grant who have agreed they would chair such a commission, i think there are places we could work on. you know, you build a coalition by trying to find ways you can work together and, frankly, we could work together a lot more than either one of us could work with barack obama. >> governor romney, a question you know is coming because of what you've set in motion for tomorrow when you release one year's tax returns and your estimates for 2011. we know it's not a matter of producing them, you said during the mccain vetting process you turned over 23 years which you had at the ready because, to quote you, you're something of a pack rat. so prior to tomorrow can you tell us tonight what's in there that's going to get people talking? what's in there that's going to be controversial, what's in there that you may find yourself defending? be. >> no surprises, brian. the most extensive disclosure that i made was t