so ted sorensen said that religion was the toughest issue they face. sorensen was really the brain trust inside the kennedy campaign, and they knew all things equal they would win that election, but they're one achilles' heel was the religion issue. if you'd grown up in massachusetts and had run for politics, being a catholic in the '50s and '60s was no advantage because the population is heavily catholic. sorensen sensitivity operation had never experienced the kind of anti-catholicism that was quite common in this part of the world, and further south. so they had a very steep learning curve to master. one of the things they did is they employed a number of folks who they thought they were the smartest people they could find on that issue. they hired advisers. kennedy himself actually turned to a number of catholic leaders and had a private sort of conversation going on on the side about how to deal with this issue. the irony was one of the criticisms of kennedy he was going to be beholden to these leaders. they were not telling them what to do, they

said religion was the toughest issue they faced in sorensen was kind of the brain trust and cited the kennedy campaign and they knew all things being equal they would win that election but there was a key leesville if you had grown up in massachusetts being a catholic in the '50s and '60s was no disadvantage to being elected to statewide office. so to some sense the kennedy operation had never experienced the kind of anti-catholicism that was quite common in this part of the world in further south so they had a very steep learning curve to match, and one of the things they did is they employed a number of folks who they thought were the smartest people they find on that issue so they hired advisors who counsel them on how you attach n.t. kabul-- bidded treen kennedy himself turned to a number of catholic leaders and had a private sort of conversation going on about how to deal with this issue. the irony was one of the criticisms of kennedy was he would be beholden to these catholic leaders that he became president and have those folks learned hit kennedy was talking to because he was

saturday, a look back at the cuban missile crisis with former kennedy adviser ted sorensen and carlhiassen. two programs on democracy and the internet including a university of virginia panel on how the political process has been affected by the internet. and we will have the facebook vendor on how social networking is changing the political process. this holiday weekend, on c-span. >> hello everybody. open to the second panel of the state of the party's conference here at the university of akron. we have a really great panel today. we are joined by four distinguished scholars who came to us from across the country to be with us. i will introduce them when they are ready to present. our first presenter is going to be dr. john petrosek. he will talk to us about the state of the party and election results looking at the 2008 election. thank you. >> thank you, david. also thanks to john greene. i was here in 2005 and i found this to be one of the better conferences on american politics that i ever attended. i was pleased to be invited back this year. the background of this paper is simply all

saturday, a look back at the cuban missile crisis with former kennedy advisers ted sorensen and karaokes and. more on how the political process has been affected by the internet. and the founder of facebook on how social networking is changing the political process. >> yeas 60, nays 39, the motion is agreed to improve awhirl >> with that vote, the senate visits health care bill to the floor. starting monday and through december, follow the debate and how the bill would affect access to medical care, the public option, texas, abortion, and medicare. c-span 2, the only network that brings to the senate, gavel-to- gavel. next, in the current state of the conservative music -- movement. this portion is 25 minutes. "washington journal" continues. host: craig shirley, let's start with the future of the conservative movement. news reports of the last couple of days about a battle within the republican party, some sort of purity test put to candidates for 2010. some of the 10 conservative principles out there are smaller government, smaller national debt, a smaller deficit by opposing the obama

saturday, a look back at the cuban missile crisis with former kennedy advisers ted sorensen and karaoke secret have war threats been over hyped in the post cold-war world? a university of virginia panel on how the political process has been affected by the internet. and facebook founder chris hughes on how social networking is changing the political process. this holiday weekend on c-span. >> on this vote, the yeahs are 60, the nays are 39. the motion is agreed to. >> with that vote, the senate moves the health care bill to the floor. starting monday and through december, follow the entire debate, and how the bill would affect access to medical care, the public option, taxes, abortion, and medicare. live on c-span2, the only network that brings you the senate gavel-to-gavel. >> the c-span 2010 studentcam contest is here. create a five to eight-minute video on one of our country's greatest strengths, or a challenge. it must show varying points of view. the deadline is january 20. winning entries will be shown on c-span. go to studentcam.org fort campbell -- for rules and info. >> the nat

[applause] >> i will give the last word to ted sorensen.do, please join me and in thinking this panel and all the panelists for the day. -- thanking this panel. we are bringing out a document from our archives. this is a fascinating letter that khrushchev sent to robert kennedy about this library and agreed to send documents to the archive. these will be available for the anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. it was a very praiseworthy and thoughtful letter about john f. kennedy. he wrote "the signing of the treaty was a convincing reminder of the fact that no matter how difficult problems might be, solutions can be found." this last panel has given us hope that no matter how difficult the problems are, solutions can be found. >> thank you very much. as one of those who was consulted in the establishment of this wonderful institution, i want to say that today's conference has not only in a stringent success but it also stresses what was of utmost importance to present can be. i want to tie some of the remarks by all of these magnifice

i know how much my father relied on the advice and counsel of ted sorensen on these matters and we are fortunate to have him here along with one of president kennedy's most trusted national security advisers. [applause] i know i speak on behalf of everyone in this audience in expressing my appreciation to them and all of our speakers for their willingness to participate in these proceedings. i also want to thank the assistant archivist for the presidential libraries, the foundation for the national archives, and all the presidential libraries for their support of this conference. i think these libraries spread across our country are incredible resources for citizens to really learn about and take part in history in their communities and across our country. i would love to support all our presidents to libraries in being a part of our history today. clifton truman is here representing his grandfather's library. it's always nice to be associated with him and the tremendous institute. we are grateful to george herbert walker bush for convening is officially this morning and president bill