and that is ronald reagan. during the third time that i am dealing with, ronald reagan will start to take the lead in the republican party primary. he will start to kind of pull ahead, pull ahead of a number of contenders. most famously essentially chasing to decide john connally and philip crane. it's also during this time that he starts to perfect his own kind of right wing populism, as we have come to know today. he gives a famous speech in which he says the republican party is not the party of the country clubs, the republican party is the party of mainstream, the small guy at the guy, kind of almost the fdr's forgotten antigone also pioneered his attack on government arguing that if we simply deregulate oil production there would be an abundance of oil in the united states in an abundance of cheap oil there is a lot of different issues going on for ronald reagan to define himself. there is strategic arms limit talks, there's questions of the panama canal treaty. but it is very clear that one of the things

i would like to hear if you can shed some light on what ronald reagan was thinking? e was in charge and what was alexander haig seemingly going about doing the foreign policy at the time? guest: there are tremendous numbers of things that went down with reagan and everyone else at the time. alexander haig was only there for the first year and a half. i believe you're talking about the situation where the people were having difficulties over there. they asked peoplbegin to bring e over to help. he finally agreed with about 1500 people to go over there to stop the problems. some of them did get killed. i think there were 200 who got killed and then he pulled them back, and it stopped. but there are hundreds of things like this going on, back and forth. we have tried to look to the major things. one was getting rid of nuclear weapons. that was something that can kill everyone. that was a major thing he finished. a lot of other people are trying to do it now and make it better. host: our guests are martin and annelise anderson. they are also fellows at the hoover institut

you've already told us that ronald reagan spent one year of his eight years on vacation. can you tell us, since ronald reagan, how much time each president, beginning with bush one then clinton then george w. urks how much time did they spend in office on vacation, as well as what part of their

is ronald reagan's legacy on the decline? >> not among conservatives.i think he is writing as high as franklin roosevelt did in 1948 or after his death. i think ronald reagan's presidency has always been contested widely among historians. there was -- the picture of ronald reagan of a man not very smart, sleepwalking through history was challenged i historians, some very good ones, and we learned that ronald reagan was very well read. and also had principles. strong ideological principles. and that he was in control of his administration. he was a detail band that was able to articulate basic concerns of the republican right, and that is low taxes, stimulation dish stimulating the economy, and confronting the soviet union which had undergone a massive arms buildup. >> in your view, did george w. bush contribute to the decline of the american conservative movement? >> will, there is a strong sediment that he did within conservatives. i do think that the war in iraq, while george bush thought it was a principled action, really caused a great consternation

again, you come back and look at ronald reagan's vision. it is different, but the outcome was different as well. now, we are looking at three times the deficit. more government spending does not get you out of the deficit. neil: there will be people looking at those same improving numbers and say that it is under this president's watch that things are looking better. the devil may be in the details, but the overall picture looks fine. the president is taking credit for, as would be is right as the leader at the time, so he is going to say it is suspending and his stimulus. >> here is an opportunity that those who really are concerned about the massive infusion of spending and potential spending associated with the stimulus package and health care bill and some of the other proposals -- it is a great opportunity for the republican party and moderate democrats to just stand up and say enough is enough. the economy is slowly, as it often does, moving back, and it is going to take some time. just as reagan's tax cuts took time. philosophically,

i think ronald reagan's presidency has always been a contest of once among historians. the picture of ronald reagan is a man not very smart, sleepwalking through history was challenged by historians, some very good ones and we learned that ronald reagan was very well read and also had principles. strong ideological principles and that he was in control of his administration. he was not a detail man but was able to articulate basic concerns of the republican, of the republican right and that is lower taxes, stimulating the economy and confronting the soviet in which had undergone a massive arms buildup. >> in your view did george w. bush contribute to the decline of the american conservative movement? >> well, there is a strong sentiment that he didn't within conservative. i think, i do think that the war in iraq, while george bush thought it was a principled action, really caused a great consternation among large segments of the rights and i also think the republican-- republicans having gained control of congress in 2004 and being spendthrifts really helped cause a rea

when jesse jackson repatriated the lieutenant goodman and brought him back, ronald reagan welcome to them to the white house, because he was happy it happened, rather than somehow saying "you violated federal law." >> evan, he spent part of your vacation in pakistan, which is lovely this time of year. what did you find? >> food was actually pretty good, but electricity does not work about half of the time. the capital feels like the capitol the day before it falls. the streets are empty. whenever we had to go anywhere, they had to clear the streets with soldiers so that we would not get killed. the president's office, a great plate glass window with a great view but a glass wall in front of it. it feels like a country on the brink. >> there are reports that the cia may have killed the commder of the pakistan taliban, baitullah mehsud. >> he is a real bad guy and that would be good news. but the internal problems of pakistan, of feudal country that is just in terrible shape, focused on india when they ought to be focused on the jihadists -- >> where do you see it headed? >> i see the

ronald reagan showed us the way to build a winning coalition in the 1980's. i believe his model still applies today. at the end of his presidency, a few days before he left office, "ronald but reagan said his greatest regret was that he was unable to do more as president to protect the lives of the unborn, and that america would be completely civilized as long as abortion on demand was legal." [applause] today, but my friends, future leaders of this nation, i urge you to stand strong with a vision of ronald reagan. the resolute in your convictions. -- be resolute in your convictions. if you are the only one standing, i assure you you will not be the only one for long. people will stand and speak out of conviction. there will soon be a crowd to echo your call. you are for liberty. you're not a pacifist. you are for peace through strength. you are not laissez-faire economists. your for allowing men and women to dream, to invent, to profit, and to invest in keeping our community strong and our nation prosperous. your compassionate people -- you are compassionate

the a great movie and build it and they will come, right now if ronald reagan showed up, we would not be prepared to support him. the infrastructure is not there. we do not have the organizations at the grass roots state, national level when reagan ran for president and 76 and 80 we had the new right, old right, we had a big movement that could support him. he could come into oshkosh and meet hundreds of people that have gotten together to welcome him. the first thing that has to happen is that the grass roots level we have to rebuild the movements than the next leader will appear. >> i think of someone on the scene right now that can draw of those type of crowds is very controversial and her name is sarah palin and could she potentially help build that grass-roots movement now she leaves the governorship of alaska's? >> she did not call me before she made the announcement i do not know that agenda. >> we have a question. >> i wanted to steer this in the direction of the average age of everybody at this conference and realize there are a lot of younger people and i appreciate that but

that's something ted kennedy understood and something ronald reagan understood. that's why people kennedy and reagan were able to have such a great friendship. nancy reagan spoke of when she told chris matthews a few nights ago. >> we are also joined by staff writer for "the boston globe," the co-author of "last lion, fall and rise of ted kennedy." as we look at such a wide array of speakers and politicians and people, walking into the church, there's senator mccain, still outside. tell us about -- you have talked about this. ted kennedy's role as the chief all gi eulogist. how each of those eulogies came back and related to his own times here on earth. >> absolutely. when you think of great politicians, you think of great political oratorys. with a few exception was ted kenne kennedy, the most memorable lines are those delivered at eulogies when he was helping the families grieve and helping the nation grieve. it began in 1968 with bobby's assassination and many of the people around bobby wouldn't think ted would be up to it. the night before bobby's eulogy, he d

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. >> it is a time for him to be both ronald reagan in making the case publicly, forcefully, straight forward, simply, and to be lyndon johnson and dealing with members of congress one on one. that is the test that he will either meat or fail within the next few days. >> so far he is neither. he is definitely not a lyndon johnson arm twister. nobody calls him that. >> he does not have a case because he does not have a plan. >> charles krauthammer, m.d., has a plan. it includes tort reform. lawyers are not going to like that. it also includes the health care benefits tax. >> i believe in universal health insurance, but it is expensive. where is the money? the malpractice insanity, where we ways probably 10% of all costs on defensive medicine, use this treatment, as a way to defend against lawsuits. that is about $200 billion a year. the other places are crazy and efficiency of having the health care links to unemployment, which, if you tax the benefits, you would allow people to own their own insurance as they own auto insurance, and the money could be used to also subsidize people who

. >> i had no doubt that jimmy carter was going to lose to ronald reagan, and that if the democratic party didn't put up a real alternative, someone who was strong and seen as strong, that we would lose that election. >> kennedy's main legislative interest at that point was a national health care system. kennedy became convinced that carter wasn't serious about it and thought carter was not -- not really a liberal enough democrat. >> today i formally announce that i'm a candidate for president of the united states. >> ted and joan reunite in the fall of 1979 as he becomes the third kennedy to run for president of the united states. >> you shake my hand? >> yes, i will shake your hand. >> the 1980 presidential campaign was in fact one of the wildest rides there has ever been in american politics. >> i have a mother who's 89 years young. >> he was awful at first. one of the worst campaigners i

in 1981 about patti having different values. >> who wants to have a clone of nancy reagan and ronald reagan with patti has been one of the most painful and disappointing aspects of my life. >> stahl: when she wrote and recorded her autobiography in 1989, mrs. reagan was more straightforward. >> she was defiant, even angry from the beginning and with ronnie away so often, i was the disciplinarian. >> stahl: three years later, patti produceded her own autobiography, a scathing indictment of growing up reagan. among other things, she wrote that her mother abused her and abused prescription drugs. the reagans issued a statement at the time saying, "we have always loved all of our childrens, including our daughter patti." you said that when you apologized to your mother, you told her you did not mean to hurt her. is that really true? i remember when the book came out and i thought you did mean to hurt her. that was the sense. >> you know, i think i didn't sit there and say consciously, "i am going to hurt my mother, "i think i felt that i had been hurt and so i was justified in & doing it. i thi

refresh my memory with ronald reagan.uch bipartisan support the he have for the sweeping tax cuts, for the defense buildup, for some of the things that were going to be the gist of his presidency, regulatory relief, that sort of thing, because it is distinctly possible which this health-care reform the democrats will go solo very possibly without a single republican vote in the house or the senate? can you refresh my mind? >> yes. when we came in, neil, we really did have bipartisan support. there was a democrat on the house ways and means committee, the was a professor of economics in texas. on the tax rate bill, we had another professor of economics who was also a democrat as a co- sponsor of the tax rate reduction. it really was bipartisan. we had bill bradley voting with austria and they knew it was right, and we had a president who wanted good, correct consensus. neil: to be fair, we had a president that was just elected on a landslide. i mean, barack obama had a landslide, and it was a clear shift of the victory, bu

ronald reagan was almost killed had it not been for the secret service agent, he would have been dead. we live in a dangerous society when it comes to elected officials. let's not make it more dangerous. it's a free country. are you armed? >> this is d.c. >> are you a birther? >> i was born. >> do you believe the president was born in this country? >> i have no opinion one way or the other. >> you're not part of that crowd, are you? just tell me. >> i'm a second amendment advocate. >> but you're not part of that crowd you're not one of those people that doubts. are you one of those people that doubts he's a legitimate american? >> i'm not taking the bait. i'm just an advocate of the second. >> do you think he's a legitimate american? >> do i think the president.

ronald reagan had just been elected governor of california. he said to me that cbs has this new thing called satellite. he said we can bring into the same broadcast, people from different parts of the world. he said that what he wanted to do was have a debate between senator kennedy and ronald reagan, the new governor of california. we would have students from england and japan or india talk to these two guys and ask them questions. i thought it was a perfect setup for senator kennedy. he was an experienced politician. it would be no contest. i persuaded senator kennedy to except and they did and it was carnage. nobody wanted to be more decisive than reagan did that evening. senator kennedy looked at the monitor in the room rather than the interviewer and the result is that the people watching saw him being kind of shifty i'eyed. he was trying to be very precise about vietnam. whereas one oregon was superb and he gave wonderful, reassuring pro-american answers. for years after that, whenever we would have a discussion on the kennedy staff, i w

the ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley, california, hosted this evt.for more information, visit reaganlibrary.com. ..

ronald reagan became president 30 years ago, and the republicans today still revere his memory and his inspiration to so many. teddy kennedy has been in the senate for 47 years, for us in the democratic party has been the icon. i think as time moves forward he will be remembered in much the same way to democrats that ronald reagan is to republicans doing before i talk to others on the panel, you all want to join in, i may bring in janice page of the boston globe was watching this on tv from boston. she has been involved in several projects about senator kennedy. janice, you said to me earlier you were not surprised that the outpouring in boston among the home crowd. are you a little bit surprised that with teddy kennedy, not to say he is a visitor in washington, but obviously a lot of people here don't have any particular ties, any hometown ties to ted kennedy. are you surprised at the outpouring of respect and affection for him here? >> no. i think all americans love a good story. the kennedys are an epic story. you heard from some people that they're there to witness history, even th

ronald reagan had plenty of hispanics voting for him. so did george bush the first have plenty of hispanics voting for him and for the help this with hispanics, the first around so it is not a matter of the demographics as much as what are we offering to the people? >> obama has made it clear that he wants to legalize a large number of illegal aliens. there's approximately 12 million in the country and even if he legalizes 1 million would that be very decisive in the international elections in key states in growing at least for the foreseeable future perhaps regeneration power at the federal level in the hands of the democratic party? before that happens when need to carry our message to the people. you will find it think all of the polls show that legal hispanic immigrants present illegal immigrants just as much as anybody else does. we need to take that to the people. >> taking it to the people, good point. it seems like we have the message of people want to hear a message but there is a little thing blocking us, the big media, the abc

ronald reagan showed us the way to build a winning coalition in the 1980's. believe his model still applies today. at the end of his presidency, a few days before he left office, "ronald but reagan said his greatest regret was that he was unable to do more as president to protect the lives of the unborn, and that america would be completely civilized as long as abortion on demand was legal." [applause] today, but my friends, future leaders of this nation, i urge you to stand strong with a vision of ronald reagan. the resolute in your convictions. -- be resolute in your convictions. if you are the only one standing, i assure you you will not be the only one for long. people will stand and speak out of conviction. there will soon be a crowd to echo your call. you are for liberty. you're not a pacifist. you are for peace through strength. you are not laissez-faire economists. your for allowing men and women to dream, to invent, to profit, and to invest in keeping our community strong and our nation prosperous. your compassionate people -- you are compassionate p

i remember reading the story about ronald reagan after he passed away. he lost in '76. ancy reagan asked somebody to get a group of ten people together. thought leaders in new york. i think mike wallace she asked. he called back, cancelled the dinner. she said that's all right, we'll meet with five or six. he said, i can't find one. reagan never noticed it. he was going to talk to reagan on a day when he was all over the front page of the "l.a. times." iran contra and deficits. reagan was enraged looking at the "l.a. times." reagan said, did you see in the paper today? morris said yes, mr. president i did. he rose the paper at him and said could you believe they would think of selling the dodgers to murdock. flipped it over, on the bottom left. i thought that was the secret of reagan. he stuck by his principles. this morning, teddy kennedy, these two leaders shared that in common. didn't notice. maybe that's why ted kennedy was tr like that. >> they both noticed. they didn't carry the easy resentment that comes too quickly now in politics and in the media. explode in pub

he went along to a great length with answers trying to be precise where as ronald reagan was superb. gave wonderful reassuring pro-american answers. and for the viewers after that, whenever we'd have a discussion in the kennedy staff or the kennedy surroundings and i would take a position i would look at senator kennedy didn't hold, he would turn to me and say, you're the one that put me in the debate with ronald reagan, aren't you? >> i first heard that story from something you wrote in the march ninth, 2006 "washington post" with, a friend whom it's a pleasure to disagree a former aide to ronald reagan. you said until his death, unlike as it may seem were good friends off and on for 50 years. >> about right. i was running for the legislature in california. >> how much of the friendship between all parties exists today that we don't know about? >> i would think much less than it did 30 and 40 years ago or even in the case of h lynn mayb 30, 50 years ago. >> where did you meet him? >> probably the political campaign. probably involved with someone on the other side. he first of all i

. >> the other thing that comes to mind is the relationship with nancy and ronald reagan. dan, nancy reagan has spoken out very touchingly about the connection between, as she refers to him, ronny, and ted. and she mentioned that ted kennedy called and wanted president reagan to go to the mcclain library and do an event, a local event, fund-raiser for them, and that he happily did. they got together, there was the irish connection. they liked to share a glass of wine together. but they also loved to tell stories. both of them were really great storytellers. >> andrea, we think so much more about the relationship between ronald reagan and tip o'neill, who was speaker of the house in those days, another irishman of renowned, but i think it has surprised some people to learn that ted kennedy had a solid relationship with ronald reagan and also with nancy reagan. frankly, it was interesting, yesterday morning, to go on the senator's website and to look at the first statements that had been posted after his death. and one of the first was from nancy reagan, a very touching state

bill: he was a powerful and so left, and he provided balance to somebody maybe like ronald reagan. >> yes. in politics, i think the worst thing is that in 1980, he had that horribly ill considered rates for the presidency. bill: all right, i want to stop you there -- that horribly ill considered race for the presidency. it just about sonic the senator's presidential ambitions. roll the tape -- sunk the senator's presidential ambitions. >> why do you want to be president? >> were to i make the announcement and to run, the reason i would do that is because i have a great believer in this country -- a great belief in this country, that it has more natural resources than any nation in the world. bill: that was a disaster as interview -- disastrous interview. >> he had no reason for winning, and then he and carter had several episodes. obama/hillraiary -- this was week after week. just what ronald reagan fighting gerald ford split the republican party and cleared the way for carter's election in 1976, so kennedy fighting carter cleared the way for the election. bill: he actually helped ron

guest: there was no cover-up with ronald reagan concerning the iran contra. i do not think there was a cover-up in the bush white house, either. the voters spoke up against bush strongly last november. but i disagree with the caller. i do not think there was a cover-up. the american people spoke out. host: mr. stuart loory, you're still very active in journalism and with the missouri school of journalism now. what you think about that callers' comments? guest: i think he had a good, if he was talking about how the press has made -- i think he had a good comment if he is talking about how the press considered others and someone just whispered into my year gordon liddy -- but on the other hand, the idea that the press was covering up the story just was not so. the press was all over the iran contra affair and covered it well. the press has also been covering after the lead up to the iraq war, covering the war and these days afghanistan. host: what did it mean to be on president nixon's enemies list? [laughter] guest: it was a mark of honor. as john might rememb

ronald reagan said government is not the solution. it's the problem.nd so he led a kind of counterrevolution against government. what that did was to open the way for those who quietly, as you say, worked behind the scenes to get the gains where they could. now, there's a further paradox to this which is we sometimes forget with all of the wonderful things being said about this figure ted kennedy that he was partly responsible for ronald reagan's ascend anssi because ted kennedy challenged the democrat jimmy carter in 1980 and weakened him and that brought ronald reagan into power. >> for so much of his career that new deal liberalism was viewed increasingly by democrats, bill clinton and others as something they were trying to change and modernize. >> absolutely right. bill clinton had a third way. he said, you know, the era of big government is over. the other interesting thing about all of this is that kennedy even in his youth seemed out moded. remember his two brilliant political brothers had already abandoned the new deal principle. john kennedy

even now, liberals on the senate floor grew up in the time of ronald reagan, '70s and '80s, if you were a progressive democrat and got elected, you better explain yourself very well to voters who are a lot more skeptical. >> andrea mitchell not too far away from you there as well. andrea, we can't, i think, underestimate the importancef the endorsement of senator kennedy and caroline kennedy for senator obama, a man in ascendency when he was running a year ago. when the two most prominent figures in the kennedy came out for him and said he is the best hope to extend the vision of my brother, john kennedy and robert kennedy, it did have an enormous impact, didn't it, on the democratic constituencies in the primary states that were still to come. >> it certainly did. even though hillary clinton went on to win big states on super tuesday, the fact that he validated, and caroline did, validated the passing of the torch to this young african-american candidate who did not have a long track record in the senate and with the democratic party nationally, that was such an important moment. it se

ted kennedy is from the generation where if you were having a disagreement be ronald reagan of george h.w. bush or a republican before that, they would fight in public during the day but retire and have a cocktail in the evening and work out differences. try to find, is there 80% we can agree on and set aside 20% we can agree on that? that era is missing in washington now. ted kennedy and ronald reagan in public agreed on very little but were two men who respected each other. ted kennedy very much respected the sway, the connection that ronald reagan had with the american people. they were able to set aside their ideological differences and work on things when they thought it was in the common good of the american people. >> john, hold that thought there for ha moment. i'm going to come back to you in a moment. i want to get your thoughts an where the health care reform debate is going to go from this point with without one of barack obama's closest alis. i'll come back to you for your thoughts on that in a moment. we received a statement from the senate

ronald reagan was a great communicator. barack obama wants to be a great communicator and barack obama has the greater virtue of being a very -- writer as well. so he kind of brings it, it seems to me in the realm of trying to explain to the world and his citizens what -- what ought to be done. >> so so far he's done no wrong. >> no, he's done plenty of wrong and certainly domestically. i mean i -- it remains to be seen if his approach to trying to do health care and cap and trade and all these things a all at once and b the way he's doing it, i don't know that he should have capitulated to nancy pelosi and the liberal leadership of the house of representatives on health care. that may be a big mistake. it remains to be seen. >> do you have an idea about it. how long does it have to remain to be seen. >> until we see if we gets a bill-passed i guess. >> rose: he will get a bill passed but what kind of bill. >> it is, and as people have said presidents often are very consciously try to be not the president that came before t

after all, ronald reagan and fdr did succeed because he gave the american public something to afford to. a guest has looked at that issue, and while this is not across the board the case, oftentimes, inspiration and giving people a positive message tends to win out over feeler, right? >> i think that is absolutely right. -- win out over fear, right? >> i think that is absolutely right. those that are able to predict optimism do better than the doom and gloom candidates, and as you say, if you look at some of our great presidents, republicans like ronald reagan and teddy roosevelt, and, of course, democratic like roosevelt and john f. kennedy, they have all been broken and expecting us to think above and beyond the d.t. as of our daily lives and to aspire to a greater vision, but what is also important, no matter what you do as president, and i think this is obama's biggest mistake, you have to bring it down to the people -- above and beyond the details of our daily lives. neil: this is from ronald reagan addressing pretty much an economic quagmire we face similarly today. >> across t

did ronald reagan grovel when he talked to the soviets?id richard nixon -- this notion we only talk to our friends is completely unamerican in our history. >> it's not lihistorical. the fact is you don't achieve peace -- never have we achieved peace through negotiations with any bad guys. the reason reagan could talk to the soviets, was at the same time, he was building up our military to challenge them which ultimately broke the soviet union. >> let's get daniel mitchell of the cato institute. i understand yarin's point but we weren't trying to negotiate peace, we were trying to get two journalists out of jail. >> good news is we did free them from the north korean prison. north koreans are probably portraying this inside as a propaganda victory that might be one of the most evil. but let them have their part. there it are more problems with north korea we should worry about other than propaganda victories. >> what do you say, peter? >> absolutely. >> i think we know wife why he never goes anywhere, afraid if he winds up in north korea --

ronald reagan didn't endorse george h.w. bush until '92, i think, it was. but i think it's just much too early to tell. i don't know if all three of those are going to run or not. >> if you come back in the break and he wants to do immigration reform, and he picks up the phone and says, john, i know you're mad at me about stimulus, health care, this, that and the other thing, but i need you to help me with immigration reform, would you stay with the president and try to do something along the same lines you tried to do with president bush and dick cheney. >> i tried to play the role of loyal opposition on iraq and other things. one, i would come guaforward wi an immigration reform policy, and an essential part of it would be a legal working program. that is what we're going to have to do, otherwise we'll experience failure again. >> i'll close with this one. the john mccain twitter account has more than 1.1 million follow l ers. the twitter account has only 1 million followers. is it time to replace the twitter act? >> it is a phenomenal way to follow the p

and that nominee, whose name is ronald reagan, has no right to quote franklin delnor roosevelt. >> the poens offer progress is our heritage, not theirs, but it is also the right way for democrats to win. >> there you saw a fiercely partisan senator kennedy speaking at the democratic convention in 1908. let's talk about this with our cnn political contributors, democratic strategist hilary rosen, republican strategist alex castellanos. hilary, let's just get the context. he had challenged jimmy carter for the democratic presidential nomination. he lost. he was speaking at that convention not saying such glorious things about jimmy carter but handling the republican presidential nominee, ronald reagan, who was challenging jimmy carter. >> he knew at that point he had lost the nomination and he foresaw a really conservative ronald reagan who, by the way, ultimately did decimate health care programs for the poor, did decimate nutrition programs for the poor, housing for the poor, so he foresaw all that and was trying to energize the democrats to say we might not what we got but we have to

ronald reagan didn't endorse george h.w. bush until '92, i think, it was. but i think it's just much too early to tell. i don't know if all three of those are going to run or not. >> you don't know that, that's a fact. when the presidential campaign didn't go your way, you promised to work hard and promised to help your party to rebuild after two tough cycles. it's a simple question, how's the republican party doing? >> could i say -- there's two things. one is fiscal discipline being conservative fiscally. we lost a lot of our base because they thought we had become big spenders and basically they were right. on the issue of the hispanic voter, we have to do a lot more. we republicans have to recruit and elect hispanics to office. and i don't mean just because they're hispanics, but they represent a big part of the growing population in america. and we have a lot of work to do there. and i am -- i am of the belief that unless we reverse the trend of hispanic voter registration, we have a very, very deep hole that we've got to come out of. >> on that point.

ronald reagan had jim baker and he was lucky to have him. sometimes you need more than the guy that was elected. thank you. up next, were are the protesters bringing loaded guns to rallies and outside obama town meetings. this is interesting. they bring the guns and bullets. the guns are loaded. why? this is "hardball." not gunplay. only on msnbc. why are some protesters bringing loaded guns to presidential town halls? we'll ask former majority leader tom delay when he comes on. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. >>> welcome back to "hardball." so why are people carrying loaded guns to presidential events these days and what message are they sending? john velakco is sit right with m

ronald reagan had not yet been felled by alzheimer's disease o. he had one final meeting with his staffers and there were depressed again and he said to be of good cheer and he reminded them of his 1977 speech. he said that we were here again and the same conditions apply. bill clinton just campaigned as a moderate. he will govern from a left. people who pay the bills in the democratic party will not have any other way. if he governs from a left he will fail. if the fails people will notice, they will get upset and concerned and will rise up and he will once again be able to have a conversation with the american people. he was right. bill clinton raised taxes, the btu tax was proposed. there was scandal after scandal and then there was a hillary health care plan that crashed and burned. [applause] well, here briard again, 16 years after that. i and say that he was the last two battles, it is time to go 343. and this time, in 1977, it was people like the direct mail teens that were riling up the opposition. this year, the above people coopted all o

one of the oldest president got it too, and that was ronald reagan. i hear a lot of folks say this week that we can't constantly being looking back to ronald reagan to find our answers today. we shouldn't constantly look at any one human being. but we should not ignore him. we ignore him at our peril. one lesson we can learn from him, and that is the importance of young people, of talking to them, of listening to them, and of recognizing their importance in the future of our movement. next week i will be in california at the reagan ranch. young america's foundation about 10 years ago saved to the reagan ranch for you. it is closed to the public, but we saved it and it is exactly as ronald reagan left it. because we want you, the young people of the united states of america and our friends from overseas, we want you to get to know who ronald reagan was. and when you walk in his footsteps you really see him. you get to know the humility of the man, why he did what he did. not for the praise, not because he was american man who needed constant adulation.

ronald reagan had jim baker and he was lucky to have him. sometimes you need more than the guy that was elected. thank you. up next, were are the protesters bringing loaded guns to rallies and outside obama town meetings. this is interesting. they bring the guns and bullets. the guns are loaded. why? this is "hardball." not gunplay. only on msnbc. great looking skin... it's in the dna. [ female announcer ] new regenerist dna cream with spf 25 doesn't just correct. it helps protect your dna without a $200 department store price tag. olay regenerist. he needed a computer. it was kind of like a surprise present. he needs to, you know, write papers and go online. budget was definitely a concern. she was like, "help me." so i'm thinking: new cool thing is the netbook. two pounds, three pounds, 160 gigabyte hard drive. really great battery life. we get the netbook. i said, "bring him back into the store. let him pick out his bag." she introduced him to me. and it was like, "you're the guy who got me the netbook." he says, "this never happens, but

ronald reagan had jim baker and he was lucky to have him. sometimes you need more than the guy that was elected. thank you. up next, were are the protesters bringing loaded guns to rallies and outside obama town meetings. this is interesting. they bring the guns and bullets. the guns are loaded. why? this is "hardball." not gunplay. only on msnbc. (announcer) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. why are some protesters bringing loaded guns to presidential town halls? brian eleven is from the scepter of hate and extreme i want and the author of the book "is it the limits of dissent." i assume you gentlemen will disagree. people bring guns. right now, they've been doing it a lot

guest: there was no cover-up with ronald reagan concerning the iran contra.hink there was a cover-up in the bush white house, either. the voters spoke up against bush strongly last november. but i disagree with the caller. i do not think there was a cover-up. the american people spoke out. host: mr. stuart loory, you're still very active in journalism and with the missouri school of journalism now. what you think about that callers' comments? guest: i think he had a good, if he was talking about how the press has made -- i think he had a good comment if he is talking about how the press considered others and someone just whispered into my year gordon liddy -- but on the other hand, the idea that the press was covering up the story just was not so. the press was all over the iran contra affair and covered it well. the press has also been covering after the lead up to the iraq war, covering the war and these days afghanistan. host: what did it mean to be on president nixon's enemies list? [laughter] guest: it was a mark of honor. as john might remember, art buc

beginning of the national realignment, national regime change, which we are at the end of now. >> ronald reagan kicked off his 1980 campaign in mississippi. what was that significant? >> it was in mississippi where the civil-rights workers, james chaney, michael warner were slain by klansman in 1963. this was a place that was steeped in racial history. reagan said like you, i believe in states rights. he could have meant any number of things. >> what is the state of today's new right or conservative movement. >> we are in a twilight of the reagan revolution. many of the soldiers of the revolutions say the same thing, pat buchanan, newt gingrich and others. what happens in american political history is certain ideas dominate. certain ideas shape the landscape and overtime they wayne as new circumstances arise and new players come on to the scene to change political identity. in some ways, like democratic liberalism in the 1970s. the republican right has run out of gas or is an era of splintering. it was interesting to see in the primarys, a whole range of candidates, none of whom could claim con

back room deal we had for example on social security back in the 1980s or on tax reform under ronald reagan very partisan fight, and i don't think that the lesson i would take from the clinton reform debate was that bipartisanship is the precondition of action. what i would say is that the really important thing is that the president has to move very quickly and decisively, and he does have to bring moderate -- in this case moderate republicans on board, but that could occur through pressure and through persuasion toward the end of the process. it doesn't have to be a backroom deal, and i don't think they're going to get a persuasive backroom deal. i mean, i think to go back to the point i was making earlier, the president was right to make this a congressionally centered effort and he was right to focus on reforms that would help those who don't have access to insurance today to get access to good options. but what he really needs to do now is show how middle class americans who have coverage will benefit from the reforms he supports. he needs to get out there in front of the debate and no

we had two terms with ronald reagan. and, you know, that's kind of where the action is.i mean, it's the real exciting story in american political development. why did a country that seemed to be heading to a kind of permanent liberal consensus around the new deal ideas begin to lurch so aggressively to the right? and it's something that, you know, at this panel we were trying to -- you know, it's hard to figure. it's fascinating to figure. >> then as a political activist, is it important for you to understand the right? >> sure, sure. well, my way of understanding the right is very much based in empathy. and any political movement that hopes to capture a coalition that can achieve a majority, let alone a governing majority in america, which require 60% these days paw of the filibuster has to understand that the massive americans in the middle who, you know, don't necessarily share any political allegiance will -- that conservative ideas are attractive. and what is attractive about those ideas? why do they answer the people's normal aspirations? and without understanding