michael barone. [applause] >> well, john, thank you very much, and thank you for the kind introduction. i -- you noted that both you and david have written books at mature ages, your first book. my "almanac of american politics" of which i'm co-author was written as long ago -- first edition appeared more than 40 years ago. i like to point out that it's highly unusual for the first edition of a book of this nature to have been written by someone at the age of 4. [laughter] but there we are. in addition, i am -- i come to you as a recovering liberal. [laughter] and with my transformation having come at a later stage in life than david's. so, um, i guess i'm being asked here in part because of one of my washington examiner columns on the same-sex marriage issue, i made the point that i was in favor of same-sex marriage, many of the same reasons in a book published years ago. i got some feedback from some of my examiner readers who seemed to be surprised. i felt that i should disclose that. i'm also a r

michael barone. [applause] >> well, john, thank you for that kind introduction.he noted that both you and david have written books of mature ages. your first book, my almanac of american politics, which i co-author was witnessed long-ago as a first edition that appeared more than 40 years ago. i like to point out that it's entirely unusual for the first edition book of this nature to attend written by the age of someone of four. but there we are. in addition, i come to you as a recovering liberal with my transformation having come at a later stage in life, and i guess i'm being nastier in part because and wanted by "washtington examiner" column said the same-sex marriage issue, i made the point that i was in favor of same-sex marriage for many of the same reasons published about a decade ago, gay marriage. so i got a little feedback from some of my examiner readers on that. i felt that delays disclosed that. i'm also a recovering pollster. this is from 1974 to 81. and i found myself issues says gay writes coming into politics. i found myself wrong about where pub

. >> i was at dinner last night with michael barone. he's got his ipad. it was around dessert. he's got the ipad and comes across a michigan poll from inside michigan showed romney and obama dead heat even. that blew me away. >> who would have thought it a year ago? >> i wouldn't have thought it 90 days ago. is this a case of truth telling? b, is paul ryan is guy? i know mitt romney has family history in michigan, but is ryan the guy to work the whole mid western area? >> yes. it's even bigger than his mid western roots. i think the most important thing about mitt romney's pick paul ryan is not what it says about paul ryan but what it says about mitt romney. you heard talk about the resumÉ. the private sector experience, turning the olympics around. creating more jobs. those are great things. that says to voters he has the skills and experience to be president. when he picked paul ryan, what he told me and not just the base but swing voters as well, this is a guy with the courage and passion not just to become the president but to be an exceptional presid

>> yeah, michael barone with aei and the washington examiner. arthur, you mentioned recruitment of blacks in the poor industries and a million southern blacks moved north more than in the 70 years between the two. did the fepc, the fair employment practices commission, was that established under pressure from -- [inaudible] play any significant role in that? what role did business leaders in particular the auto company guys make efforts to get black workers in the south? is. >> i wrote about it in the book because i thought it was quite striking. knudsen was all in favor of bringing african-americans in, but he thought the fair practice was totally the wrong way to go. he said he'd go factory by factory. he just convinced them, look, you guys can do this work, and you do it in a kind of step-by-step, contract-by-contract process not by some changes in the rules of who can be hired and not. by the large, the role of segregation of the workplace varied from company to company to company. not even just industry to industry, company to company. the

michael phelps. for other winners, different way to celebrate. after winning gold swimmer ricky barons couldn't wait to break training, tweeting this message of his meal, a fast-food feast. britain's tennis star andy murray is sharing his medals with maggie may and rusty, his border terriers. 17-year-old missy franklin plans to commemorate her gold with a tattoo of the olympic rings on her hip. and if you're the youngest u.s. olympian to win gold? what do you do? 15-year-old katie ledecky is celebrating back home with family and friends. at the airport she was greeted with a hero's welcome from her maryland classmates. a teenager celebration for the ages. and with athletes finishing up competition each and every day, there are no signs of the thriving night life here in london will be slowing down. savannah. >> just getting started. ryan, thank you. there is much more to come from london including a defining moment of these games. which olympic sport will matt and al try this time and will spandex be involved? all will be revealed. but first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> just ahead, it