please join me in welcoming robert draper. [applause] nice to see you. >> nice to be here. >> adelle we my star brought. we better off than we were two years ago? [laughter] >> i really don't have to answer that question. >> you have to answer that question. >> is a need answering? >> it does. >> i think that the unit of measurement that democrats would use for the performance of congress is different from that was the republicans would use. as the speaker has said over and over, the fact that we have passed a record low number of bills speaks well of this congress, the we are not imposing new regulations, not increasing taxes, and that is one way of looking at it. i think that the way, however, that most people get it attested to by its record low popularity approval rating is that this is a congress that has been defined by dysfunction and gridlock, a congress in which half a loaf has never been better than an and were compromises release seemed to be, you know, of foreign policy, meaning a policy for into the world's great

robert draper. please buy his book. thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> every house seat, but third of the senate ends governorships are on the line today. topics range from gay marriage to casinos. for more on what the outlook of the senate is, we talked to a reporter following the races. >> just that keeps track of house and senate races. let's talk about the big picture. what are we looking at? >> if we looked at our ratings a year or six months ago, it was a very different picture. democrats were defending twice as many seats. it felt like they had a good chance to get the four or three seats they needed to flip that. there were a couple of things that really shifted the way we're looking at the senate now. i think republicans were thrown for a loop when olympia snowe retired. that shrunk their plank field. democrats got some very good candidates and what should have been tough state for them. it force republicans to have to step up thei

. >> no on book tv from the 17th annual texas book festival in austin, texas, robert draper it discusses his book title did not ask what could we do inside the u.s. house representatives. this is about 45 minutes. >> afternoon. i'm evan smith. i am pleased to be here with my. old buddy.in chi of th a veteran magazine writer and td author of his latest book is tot not ask what could we do inside the u.s. house ofine iter a representatives. robert is a familiar face arouni these parts, having spent presen immediately part of his careerra as one of texas monthly's marke riders. the ear being a pair together again is kind of like dean martin and jerry lewis back on stage.ing at he is currently a contributingld writer to the new york timesstag magazine and national geographic and correspondent for gq his te previous books include that crre certainsp chemical it planned prior review george w. bush, ded comprehensive history of rolling biograph stone magazine and a novel.ng a native of houston who attende, the university of texas atal austin.ive o please join me in welcoming texa robert draper.