>> wolf, this defeat of the tea party man, ken cucinnelli, how significant is that in terms of the tea party's prospects going forward to 2014 and then 2016? >> i can't tell you how many establishment republicans have said to me in recent weeks they thought terry mcauliffe was a flawed democratic candidate for governor of virginia, but they knew this tea party-backed ken cucinnelli, he had some problems in virginia as well. if they would have gone with a more establishment, more moderate republican, a lot of republicans said to me, terry mcauliffe probably would have been in up deeper trouble especially because the affordable care act obama care as it's called was becoming increasingly unpopular in the final weeks of this campaign in virginia. but in the end, a win is a win as you know. and terry mcauliffe will be the governor. >> in terms of chris christie, wolf, obviously a big big win. but significantly i think for his prospects going forward as a potential presidential candidate. right across the board in almost all the key demographic, african-americans, latinos, women. what does

there's tea party and tea party. sadly, i think they deflate it. so ken cucinelli and dean young both part of that narrative of being a tea party. ken cucinelli state senator for many years, an attorney general, a patented attorney. he's clearly a credible competent ledges -- legislator who's conservative. dean young was part of the chief justice war machine. a perpetual candidate had won many times and lost. i agree. i think the tay party and dean young lost for a variety of reasons and i think they frankly nominated the better candidate down in alabama. >> independent caller. >> yes, i very much think that we have -- we basically have a corporate congress. you know, we have whether they're democrat, republican, independent tea party, they're there to be a public servant. they shut down the government, they didn't lose their pay, they didn't lose their health care. and you know it's about who has the most money. the lobbyists worked for these corporations. if you don't have millions of dollars, what chance do you have of even getting something hea

tea party versus non-tea party. this is a place where the tea party normally should win and i argue the expectations say the tea party is the place to lose. if they don't, it adds to the narrative. mainstream hasn't stopped the tea party before if mainstream groups are going to kiss of death. how do you prevent that from being the case in the primaries in 2014? >> i think you are right about the tea party, but i don't think the business community and mainstream republicans have really organized effectively and funded effectively in an effort to recruit mainstream candidates against the candidates and do it early. i think the race you mentioned was where they are getting in late. i think that they are getting in now for 2014 and really realizing we have to change the dog food. >> i want to ask you about chris christie. one of the things they are trying to do is model it after what you guys did for george w. bush. are they doing it? do you think they have copied it well? >> very much so. there is a lot of parallels th

there is tea party and there's tea party. sadly, i think they get to flick it. can cucinelli are lumped into this national narrative is being tea party. ken cucinelli was a state senator for many terms and was a virginia attorney general and is a patent attorney. he was trained as an engineer and is clearly a credible and competent legislator who happened to be very conservative. dean young in alabama was essentially a political consultant who had been part of the chief justice war machine who had been a perpetual candidate and ran many times and lost. i agree, it's probably not fair to lump tea party in. i think dean young loss for a variety of reasons and i think they probably nominated the better candidate in alabama. host: springfield, missouri, independent caller. caller: i think we very much have a corporate congress. whether they are democrat or republican or independent or tea party, they are there to be a public servant. they make more money than the average american. they have more benefits. when they shut down the government, they did not lose their p

>> i think exit polls today show he got 80% of the tea party vote. those who see him as a reformer, they do like him for that. second of all, the real problem with our party is two-fold in my mind. one is we really don't have a message. he had results. that was his message. but second of all, we do not understand demographics. and what everybody's trying to say is how do we broaden the playing field. and what he did well is appealed to middle class, blue collar workers. and they said he understands my life and he's fighting for it. the president every six months trumps up tax increases for the wealthy. >> i guess the question is really to newt gingrich, what kind of conservative is chris christi? and will he be able, you know, the republican electorate better than anyone, can he really find a home in the modern republican party outside of new jersey. >> i think chris christi in new jersey is very comparable to scott walker in wisconsin. they both took on the employee unions. they're both tough guys. they have different styles. they don't have exactly

won because the tea party now taken an establishment

are you a tea party republican?ts of the tea party that are republicans at their best. limited government, tough on government spending, individual freedom, questioning taxes and whether you need to expand them or grow them. i think it is consistent with good conservative republicanism. now what happens is when some folks use that movement, use that theory just to try to enhance themselves politically, sometimes that movement can then get perverted. and so listen, there's a lot of principles about the tea party that i agree with and have governed in new jersey in a way that's consistent with a lot of that, but you know, some of the stuff that's happened of late down in washington i think is not even consistent with what a lot of the real folks who started the tea party movement would agree with. >> i don't know what you're talking about, you mean -- >> just the idea that you don't try to, you know, for instance on the sequester, we're actually succeeding as a movement and reducing government spending on the domestic

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so the democrats are able to say these tea party candidates are too extreme. esting. they're not a party. they're a movement within a party and they don't have discipline. if they have discipline and they can run economic conservatives they can still be a very strong force. >> the tea party was founded with that narrow focus. they want stronger government and lower debt. has that been lost and at their peril and the peril of the entire republican party or is it the opposite way around that serve the tea party ways and have hurt the republican party generally? i think you have different threads of the tea party. >> as mark was suggesting, you have this component that is sort of focussed on the social issue side, but you have a lot of economic conservatives who became tea party folks and i point out to christine nome, the individuals that came to washington and tried to do things with them. what you're watching is watching a movement that's gone in a variety of different directions. the question is which one becomes the dominant one and that's not clear at this p

is he a tea party candidate or a conservative or a rhino? at the end of the day, these things -- where you stand depends on where you set. it's important that conservatives are able to sort of stick together. there is a real danger. as we have seen, the cleavages are not that clear. rhinos and other persons like radical conservative extremists. host: caller: caller: wendy, independent caller. how are you doing? i have a question for mr. lewis. these big companies send -- they go overseas to all these countries and they make a pair of nikes that cost $10 and the comeback you're in charge $300 per it why haven't they got in with exxon who sends their monies overseas to a bank and pay no taxes because of loopholes. i am paying taxes for 31 years. i got sick and all of a sudden, my insurance was canceled. i went back to try and get it and it is $400 per month. what are they doing? obama did try to get the infrastructure putting people to work. they did not want to do that. the republicans don't seem to want to do anything that benefits taxpayers

in the tea party they have a lot of grass roots energy. it's within the gop. ot of the pop ewe list economic uprising had energy and never found a foothold within the democratic party thus far. >> there are plenty of issues we have not really heard elizabeth warren on that you could find space to the left of hillary clinton like the use of drone war far. do you see something in there that is as strong as that difference that we had in 2008 between barack obama and hillary clinton on the iraq war? >> i don't. there is clearly energy around this issue and you can imagine, you can remember when a republican president was presiding over those policies. obviously it's been repressed a bit. i think there is a lot of energy around it. i still think the economic issues will loom larger. i think they go. what's interesting about iraq in 2008 and i think this is where there is a real analcy. it was partly about analogy. they tilt with the wind and do what seems politically convenient. if he had been there, he would have voted wfr it. i think there was a lot of bad memori

before we go to new jersey, the tea party, tea leaves for the tea party coming out of virginia, start with that. >> well, the mainstream business oriented republicans would love for the narrative was that the tea party was damaged. they didn't get their man in, and without support, ken cuccinelli received nothing. he was cut off a month ago, and still he came extremely close to winning this with support from tea party activists, christian conservatives, that's the coalition that the mainstream republicans who want to go back to the old days will have to fight against. >> david sirota. >> i think that's right. the republican party is facing a real electability problem. to win a republican primary, you have to make peace with the tea party. and to make peace with the tea party you have to take positions that will make it harder for you to be elected. that's not a problem for gerrymandered districts for people running in the united states congress. but that is a problem in states like virginia where there is a very competitive election. >> let'let's go from the squeakn virginia to new je

well i would say first of all that the tea party i can do group my friend michael lind who's written some very very good piece about this and he suggests that actually it's it's not radio right wing working class movement it's actually a party in which you have. wealthy you have a lot of people what working class voters who are being manipulated by by wealthy individuals such as the coast brothers and i think that's actually a very important point and then there's certainly a a lack of coherence in a lot of their views because yes they are pro austerity many respects but you know heaven help the person that tries to cut medicare or social security for example those remain popular even i think among people in many many people in the tea party so it's much more complicated and it hasn't taken on even though there has been a racist element to it and it hasn't taken on the warning. tones that you see saying in countries like greece like the. new dawn party which is an explicitly neo nazi party world i think the european union plays in all this i mean it's hard for us to imagine or maybe t

a lot paint the tea party as extreme but a lot of republicans are leaving the party to join the tea party. what's the new normal now? >> moderate is a slippery term. it's easier to say what a conservative is rather than what a moderate is. a moderate is basically a practicing mma pragmatitist. actually it's how to get things done so much as articulating the way things ought to be. >> it's mentioned some republicans are leaning more toward the tea party. can traction? >> a lot of this comes down to basic problems that we have with our definitions. but sure. you still have a number of constituents ease in the careen party. if you are looking at gailing out the 2016 nominating contest, there is a reason that chris kristi's name continues to be mentioned in this. he is seen as being the more stereo typical sort of northeastern moderate republican but he has conservative stances. >> people are thinking of what is palatable. i don't know that they think it's authentic. >> that's a question and i think that's something if i were a christie advisors i would be concerned about. his great strength

the voters opposed to the tea party, just flocked to terry mcauliffe. k city, where you're going to have a very progressive guy get elected today. the republican party is going to have to move to the center, and the democrats are moving a little bit. >> i think that boehner has been so afraid of the right because he needs 218, 217 to get anything done. so he's been leaning over to the craziest right and now we're getting more of a picture of the dog. well, it's an elephant is what it is. >> and if john boehner is looking at these exit polls from both virginia and new jersey, he'll see the dog. the dog is the self-described moderates who make up the biggest plurality of voters in both states, both virginia and new jersey. voted by a two to one margin for both mcauliffe and for christie. i find it fascinating in both states. if you look at the numbers on the health care law, on obama care, which rush limbaugh and ted cruz think is this political stick of dynamite that's going to blow up america, the fact that both states, it's a push and it's not the polit

directly ahead, is the tea party holding back the republican party?en west has some thoughts on that. >>> then more embarrassing stuff for the national football league and the miami dolphins. geraldo will update us in just a few moments. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the

has the tea party lost its power? because there are plenty in the republican party who hope so.nly who think that a dying tea party will allow the party to win a national race, ie the white house. out front now tea party favorite, republican congressman steve king of iowa. congressman, look, i appreciate it. i see you laughing. let me get straight to it. there are a lot of republicans you know this who are happy. they think these losses are the nail in your coffin. they want republicans to win a national election. they think they can do it only if you guys go away. that must make you unhappy. >> well, i listen to this dialogue. and it's pretty easy the morning after the election for people to spint results of it around to the preconceived misconceptions they had before the polls. i look around the country and there's one message coming out of new jersey, a different message coming up of virginia and different one coming out of alabama. what is the bottom line answer to this is that the tea party is stronger in some states and weaker in others. a month ago they were accused of ha

he says he's not part of the tea party, he says he's not part of the irresponsible actions of the republicanty. but the fact of the matter is, he only votes his district and has only voted his district when the republican leadership allows him to and when it won't impact the outcome of the vote. >> what do your people think of the tea party? >> you know, our people, as in south jersey, they are sick and tired of the games in washington. and, you know, the encouragement that i'm getting, interestingly, chris, is not just from democrats. it's from republicans and independents. and my decision to run has as much to do by the very conservative voters, very conservative businesspeople, and independent and republicans, who have contacted me, who have said, you know what, we need a change. we need to do something different. we've had this same old actions, the same old rhetoric for the past 20 years. and we haven't had much action. >> we're out of time. what would you do the your opponent, incumbent republican, lobondy, brought ted cruz in to campaign for him. what would you say? what would happen?

there's little daylight between the tea party and the republican party. think about it. both would have millionaires do less -- cut taxes for big oil, cut taxes for multinationals, reduce social security benefits and medicaid coverage. cut student loans, cut veterans' benefits, invest less in education, in affordable college. do less to combat climate change. do less on gun safety. do nothing to fix our immigration system. and keep families who are trying to survive on the minimum wage from ever earning even another penny. it would appear that the only thing they want more of is rush limbaugh. >> well, michael warren? the argument from the democrats. >> i thought it was interesting they mentioned carol shea porter who voted with all of the tea party nut cases in the house for the upton bill on friday. i think he's right that there's a lot less difference between the so-called main stream republicans and the tea party. that's probably to the tea party's credit. the tea party movement has moved into the republican party and moved that party to the right. >> let's talk what

directly ahead, is the tea party holding back the republican party?t has some thoughts on that. >>> then more embarrassing stuff for the national football league for the national football league and the miami i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. if hey breathing's hard.me, know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen w

tea party before tea party was cool. i think virginians are saying we don't want that kind of extremism whether it's in washington or richmond. >> to that point, senator, you bring up the point of extremism. two years ago terry mcauliffe couldn't get 30% in a democratic gub torp primary. why is he the right choice? is this more about rejecting the tea party and ken cuccinelli? >> i think terry spent the last four years traveling around virginia learning more about the commonwealth. i think he's ready to govern. i think one of the interesting criticisms made of terry was that he was a business guy and knew how to get a deal done. candidly where i work having a few more works who could get a deal done, having more people to read a balance sheet i think is a good thing. i think folks across virginia recognize that. >> how has turnout been so far? what are you hearing? >> i heard early reports. i can tell you where i voted in alexandria, turnout heavier than normal. the commentators earlier said, it's a little bit episodic.

on the democrat side and if not the principalfundraiser, he just barely got through against the tea party candide, but the republican party was basically trng to kill by strangling and suffocating him from lack of money. >> if you ask the people, they will say they will beup. >> we all read the polls. so in some cases i would say that terry cauliffe was a flawed candidate. these are not rockstar candidates and i think even bob mcdonnell, the republican governor, s what is that saying in the struggle f the prty? >> get his approval ratings are so down. that is amazin lou: up to oe. i diagree. i think that both candidates could think that both candidates convinced ou candidates. but they chose unfortunate paths in their canddacy. can kuchen away broughtll oo the warmth and energy to his candidacy and frankly i terviewed him and i talked with him and this is a man who isdynamic and a commitd public servant and my gooness, and the remaining weeks of the campaign he was suggish and he looked like he had been beaten to a pulp. it was a strange performance by both candidates. >> don't forget the

you signed onto the effort to do that which some people saw as a tea party effort. are you glad you did that and do you feel you had the results that damaged the party's image? >> i know that we would go from fiscal issues to obama issues that would obscure the strong points of the republican message which is fiscal issues. that is strong at the grassroots. the reason i signed on and the reason i stayed on is because when you vote against obamacare, and when you vote to repeal it, and you say you're going to do what you can because you think it is bad for the country, i don't think i should abandon that. >> you heard from kathleen sebelius this past week. what is your confidence level that healthcare.gov will be working after november 30? >> it will not be. the website in and of itself is a symptom of bigger problems. it kind of obscures these bigger problems. there is a lot of problems beyond that that even if they do get the website working, they will find out that they are not going to get the number of young people in they want. they will find people turned off f

those people are the tea party. they're base voters. and the party can't run away from them. the establishment thought that they would just be able to use their votes and control the tea party's energy, but they cannot. >> reaping the whirlwind. >> exactly. they're reaping the whirlwind. >> you know, joan, when you look at that fact that about a year ago when we had the election almost a year ago exactly in a couple of days, if you looked at 2012, in the ratings, the opinion polls, the ratings of october 2012 a month before, the republican party was doing 26% in approval. after all the talk of change, what has happened? they're now down to 22%. the lowest on record. it's an unbelievable slide for a party that pledged to rebrand and have an autopsy. they've gone down to 22%. >> yeah. the other thing you see in the virginia race, reverend al, is the democratic party is amazingly unified. there are differences at the margins, but you have bill and hillary clinton there in virginia. you've got president obama. you've got vice president biden. people are coming out. it's a unified

if the tea party hates socialism as much, will the tea party congressman of georgia and the tea partynd up and block the 450 million dollars being handed over to a baseball team in america's most recent ugly example of sports socialism? here is the tea party's big chance to show that they really do hate socialism. the tea party has never, ever, taken a stance against sports socialism. the tea party should be out there tonight. threatening to run a republican primary challenger against the sociali socialist, the sports socialist county commission chairman tim lee. the tea party should not give tim lee another day of peace. now that he has embraced sports socialism. what if the county commission chairman was named obama. what do you think the tea party would hatch said about sports socialism coming to the county? every day of tea party silence on this kind of sports socialism in the heart of tea party country, will prove once again, that the tea party doesn't know what socialism is, and is really just the i hate obama party. the mayor said there was no way that the baseball team was goi

tonight's lead, tea party rejection. for three year, speaker boehner has bowed down to tea party it extremists. the movement was fueled by a hateful har right ideology where they shut down the government and held the country hostage. but last night voters sent a clear signal. it's over. in virginia a bellwether for national politics, voters said no to the tea party, to the tea party candidate for governor they said no, ken cuccinelli. it was a close race with big parts of the state going for cuccinelli, but in the d.c. suburbs which makes up 18% of state's population, the democrat won by nearly 30%. the voters in those more moderate areas didn't want a governor obsessed with social issues. >> the ultimate goal, which is to make abortion disappear in america. >> homosexual acts are wrong and should not be accommodated in government policy. >> we have two lawsuits. you're all exhaling co 2, let's all annoy lisa jackson together. shall we? one, two, three. >> that kind of identifiology was rejected last night. a governor wh

inactivity by people who are not tea party republicans. we have to re-energized the republican party. tea partys the candidates. everyone likes our principles better get activated. out of it, the tea party will help reactivate our party so we can be a more major force, not only in iowa, but in the nation as a whole. >> a number of your colleagues have described chris christie as a moderate. from your vantage point, is he a moderate or conservative? how would you describe him? >> i have not had a conversation with him and i don't think i should characterize his opinion. i think there is a tendency that if you are not a purist on everything, you are a moderate rate i don't accept that. i think you have to look at people issue by issue by issue and i am going to give governor christie an opportunity to tell me issue by issue where he stands and i will make a judgment. so i cannot answer your question right now. i should give him the opportunity to talk to me rather than my prejudging him. >> there is the system for selecting candidates, there

>> it is not the establishment versus the tea party. >> the tea party isn't nearly as much fun as it>> i think the motto of the tea party should be back to the future. because think -- no, really. think about it. >> the tea party, now more than ever -- >> anyone, anyone? >> -- is doing everything they can -- within e

is a chris christie acceptable to the tea party to those far right in the republican party? >> the not at this point, which is why you have senator ted cruz from texas, why you have rand paul, senator from kentucky and various other names bantied about by folks part and parcel of the tea party. they're not happy with somebody who is a chris christie who reached out across the aisle. think back to hurricane sandy last year when he was arm in arm with president barack obama. these are visuals that definitely in terms of chris christie's credentials from the tea party and the far right wing of the republican party are just not going to play well with them. so as we are in the kind of shakeout phase of who might be in, who might be out for the 2016 presidential race, you're going to have a whole lot of alternatives to chris christie coming from the far right element of the republican party at this point. >> let's take a listen to what chris christie had to say earlier tonight. >> i will promise you tonight, i will not let anyone, anything, any political party, any governmental e

still ahead, is the tea party cooling down? night's alabama house race put up huge implications for the ultraconservative arm of the republican party. we'll get the first read on what went down in alabama. plus, the separation of church and state and why one small town in upstate new york finds itself before the supreme court. pete williams will join us with the latest. coming up in the gut check, she was ready to run for the goal. why did a high school cross country star decide to sit out of the biggest race of the season? it is our gut check. i think you'll want to hear this and chime in on this one. it's not the "limit the cash i earn every month" card. it's not the "i only earn decent rewards at the gas station" card. it's the no-games, no-signing up, everyday-rewarding, kung-fu-fighting, silver-lightning-in-a-bottle, bringing-home-the-bacon cash back card. this is the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. so ask yourself, what's in your wallet? everywhe

establishment versus the tea party. >> the tea party isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. >> yeah,ell -- >> i think the motto of the tea party should be back to the future. because think -- no, really. think about it. >> the tea party, now more than ever -- >> anyone, anyone? >> -- is doing everything they can -- within the electoral system to tight back. >> we said this race was a referendum on obama care. >> [ bleep ] insurance before sucked! >> this race came down to the wire, because of obama care. >> don't pretend that the old system was cocoon. we won't ever get old and we won't ever die. >> i feel tremendous! i'm ready to take on the world! ooh! >> that virginia understands that obama care is a failure, and although i lost -- >> let's dance! >> we hope to never hear the name cuccinelli again. >> that message will go out across america tonight. ♪ >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the deceased owner of the oakland raiders, al davis, used to say "just win, baby. just win." he used to walk around practice biting his nails, because he was nervous a

tax, tea party, debt obamacare. if the party can, instead of saying, that's not fair, you called me a mean name, i like girls. instead, hit it back at them. call an extremist an extremist and move on to issues that women tell pollsters they care about which are the same issues m care about. >> thanks for coming out to the panel today thanks to our online audience at nationalreview.com and on c-span. appreciate the crowd here. it means a lot we are deeply appreciative to our panelist for a lively discussion. i think 2014 looks fluid. we don't know how it is going to unfold, but we've had some great folks here today. thanks so much. [applause] >> it is election day across the in a number of states. we will be focusing on new jersey and virginia tonight when our election coverage gets underway at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. in virginia about a half an hour from now. today, marilyn tavener medicaredicaid and theices testified before senate committee. here is a little of the back- and-forth. toone of two things is g

there is tea party and there's tea party. sadly, i think they get to flick it. can cucinelli are lumped into this national narrative is being tea party. was a state senator for many terms and was a virginia attorney general and is a patent attorney. he was trained as an engineer and is clearly a credible and competent legislator who happened to be very conservative. deanyoung in alabama was essentially a political consultant who had been part of the chief justice war machine who had been a perpetual candidate and ran many times and lost. i agree, it's probably not fair to lump tea party in. loss for an young variety of reasons and i think they probably nominated the better candidate in alabama. host: springfield, missouri, independent color. -- caller. caller: i think we very much have a corporate congress. whether they are democrat or republican or independent or tea party, they are there to be a public servant. they make more money than the average american. they have more benefits. when they shut down the government, they did not lose their pay. they did not