Transcripts For CSPAN Public Affairs 20121022

Format has been a part of the debates ever since then. I think the National Debt affects everybody. It has a lot to do with interest rates. On a personal basis, how has it affected you personally . I am sure it has. N ve my grandchild re how . Are you suggesting if somebody has means that the National Debt does not affect them . Help me with the question and then i know people who cannot afford to pay the mortgage on their homes. I have problems with the National Debt, but how is it affecting you . If you have more experience in it, how can you help us . She means the recession, the economic problems today. You ought to be in the white house every day and hear what i hear and see what i see and read the mail that i read and touch the people. I was in a ame church, a black church outside of washington, and i read in the bulletin about teenage pregnancies, about the difficulty that families are having to make ends meet. I talked to parents we got to care. Everybody cares at people are not doing well. I do not think it is fair to say that you have not had cancer, therefore, you do not know what it is like. Whenever it is, if you had not been hit by it personally, everybody is affected by that that, because of the tremendous interest that goes into paying on the debt, everything is more expensive. I think the terms of the recession, of course you feel it when your president , and that is why i am trying to do something is, by stimulating exports, a better education system. The first town hall meeting, three candidates. Me turn to bob let me turn to bob and carol and with their reaction. I think president bush in that clip came very close to crossing the threshold that this particular voter, the questioner, was tried to get out, and that was the human connection. What was he feeling . And people made a lot of jokes about bill clinton being able to geneothers pain, at the that he has close to his heart. President bush was already by this point painted as somebody who was disconnected. You will recall the front page of the the New York Times and he did not know what a scanner was on a grocery store. Of course he did. President bush was simply a nice person on the campaign trail in new hampshire, trying to make conversation with a store clerk. That story took root, and is painted a version of him that was so unflattering to everyday people, made him look privileged and above the fray, above the pain, and that left a huge opening for bill clinton in 1992. And bob . Bill clinton had a better response, much more personal on the human level or spots. If i were bill clinton, i would invite you to the white house to see how these things on ouare. He was a nice person who did not get that somebody at the bottom of the economic pecking order, asking somebody at the top, if they can feel their own pain. By trying to figure out what the question was, instead of answering the question he wanted to answer, he failed in the primary mission of the debate, which is to make sure you get your point of view across, you get your talking points across, not simply dances somebodys question in the way that they asked it. I want to share with you and your students one moment from another debate. This took place in st. Louis in 2000, going back to what we were talking about earlier with al gore. Many thought he was too hot in the first debate, too cold in the second debate, but there begin this other iconic moment as somebody moves into your space. Lets watch. Would you agree that [indiscernbile] absolutely not. It is the bipartisan bill that is now pending in the congress. The Insurance Companies support the other bill that is pending, the one that the republican majority has put forward. They like it because it does not accomplish what needs to be accomplished, to get the decisions back to the doctors and nurses and give you a right of appeal to somebody other than the hmo, but you go to the emergency room before you call the hmo before you call 911, and it has strong bipartisan support. It is being blocked by republican leadership, and i would like to know whether governor bush will support the dingell bill pending proo . The difference is i can get it done. I can get something positive done on behalf of the people. That this was that is what this campaign is about. It is about getting things done. I believe i can. What about the dingell bill . We know that al gore and his campaign had prepared that moved, had rehearsed that moment. We also know the Bush Campaign saw it coming, that there had been in the debate prep and efforts to try to create that kind of physical advantage that al gore had, to have him next to bush, to try to visually bowling him. The instinctive reaction bush , contemptuous act, the right move. Is hard to remember was that this was an introduction for challenger like george bush. The question is, who is he . What is he like . How is he capable of handling himself under pressure . Debates are a highpressure campaign yvette, and what you saw with bush, but with reagan and a microphone, was a genuine reaction that resonated with ordinary americans, that connected with your public looking to see who this person is and what they would be like as president. So much of what a president has to deal with does not reveal itself before election day. If you think about how poor and george bush, there was no coverage to speak up of Foreign Policy, and yet the bush presidency in the eight years that followed, are entirely focused on Foreign Policy concerns because of 9 11 and iraq and afghanistan and all the things seeking to pass. We have a sense when we look at these debates of who these people might be, and in that moment no doubt about it, george bush looked very good, very president ial. We have a couple minutes left. I will turn to james at the washington center. The debate taking place tonight, your assessment of what you have seen so far and what you expect this evening. Yes, i believe the debate tonight, the style is the same as the first debate, and one of the questions i had that i was not able to ask is the style of debates, how they may change the way that the candidates can perform on the stage. I hope we do not see a replay of our first debate president obama and romney, but i see that, with a Foreign Policy, that they are much more prepared than they would be. Because of the moderator or because of the format, james . What do you not want to see a repeat of . In the format. The format is the same, but since they have been through it and since president obama will be prepared to night, unlike the first debate, it should be a good one. I am looking forward to seeing it. That me turn to Perdue University about what to expect tonight purdue university, about what to expect tonight. What formula the you think we can get to around a theatrics that we can see . Are you looking for tonight . I get frustrated when the one on one convicts are sensationalized. If the moderator takes more of an active role and make sure their presence is known, you see a lot more less of it. The candidate had prepared for this debate, all of the debates, they have their line set. Not rehearse, but impromptu. We have moved from the multiple moderators to the single moderator to facilitator the conversation and make it more about the candidates and less about the people who are asking the questions. Let me go to george mason, same question. What are you looking for tonight . I am looking forward to the debate, but i am interested to see how social media will affect the different outlooks of the debate. I thought that was interesting in the first and to the debates to see how that has been played out. I think they will be prepared after the first debate because no one wants obama unprepared as he was in the first one. Steve, we will conclude with you and one of your students. What are you expecting tonight . What i expect is romney to keep it going. I think he did a fantastic job in the first debate and that he did a fantastic job in the second debate. Obama needs to find a happy middle. The first debate he was not engaged enough, and the second, he was to engage. If they find a happy middle and it will be a great debate. Agree to conclude our a great way to conclude our debate. Thank you for being with us, and the students are partners in the washington classroom project. The washington center, george mason university, purdue thursday in indiana. Thank you for an interesting and insightful conversation. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] watch and engaged as obama and romney meet in their final debate. Start at 7 00 eastern with the life preview, followed by the debate at 9 00. Bob schieffer moderates from floridas Lynn University. You can follow along online at cspan. Org debates. During the debate, talked directly with other viewers and our online chat room at c span. Org chat. Tonight live, and cspan, c span3, and cspan. Org. Were asking you on facebook, at the debates cover issues important to you . All for your thoughts at facebook. Com csan. Cspan is asking students to send a message to the president as part of this years student cam video competition. What is the most important issue the president should consider in 2013 for a chance to win the grand prize of 5,000. Student cam video competition is open to grades 6 through 12. Conversation with cate edwards. She spoke last month at winterthur university about her experiences campaigning for her father in 2004 and 2008. Winthrop. Welcome, everybody, a conversation with cate edwards. I am assistant director of the west forum and the faculty member. First, please make sure your cell phones are off or on silent. Also, students are welcome to use computers or a pen and paper to take notes. If you use a computer, do not get distracted by all the other things that your computer is capable of doing and stick to notetaking. Todays discussion will include a question and answer period. You should have received a note card on your way. Right any questions you have and hand them to one of the students standing in the aisle. We will sort through your questions and read them for our speaker. I remind you about the rules of etiquette for your questions. Remember to stay on topic. As much as you may enjoy the icerds favorite flavor of cream, it is not a topic, and it will not be read. If you need in the card, raise your hand and someone will bring you one. To introduce an hour event, a conversation with cate edwards is a part of the Speaker Series by the john c. West forum on politics and policy related to the 2012 president ial election. It kicked off last year with five candidates speaking here at winthrop. The forum was founded in 2002 at the university of South Carolina by former governor john west. It came to winter in 2008. The west forum seeks to provoke engagement among young people across the state of South Carolina. Governor west is about what these values throughout his career. He served as the state senator and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina before his election to the governorship. Afterward, he served at the United States ambassador to saudi arabiya and became a professor of middle Eastern Studies at the university of South Carolina. He did much to promote the education engagement of young people across the state. I would like to recognize his daughter and son, as well as bill, who are here with the audience today. Thank you. Our speaker cate edwards also exemplifies the values of governor west. She has participated in two election campaigns for her father, john edwards treat she has experienced civil engagement in multiple ways, but and directorship of a foundation in her mothers honor, works to educate and empower lowincome youth to mr. Shipp, education, and service opportunities. In her spare time, she graduated from honors from princeton, earning a political economics degree. She earned a law degree from harvard in 2009. She clerked for federal judge and washed at a Washington Firm specializing in civil rights cases. She is now a partner in a law firm, specializes in civil rights and labor law cases. In 2011, she got married. It is her engagement in political and civic life that made her an excellent candidate for speaker for the west for more series. She will talk for her experience to campaign and Political Engagement assault as creating a foundation. We look forward to hearing about her experiences in civic and political life. Lets give a warm welcome to kate edwards. Cate edwards. [applause] good morning. Bear with me because i am still getting over a cold. I apologize. I want to say a thank you to katarina and winthrop. I am grateful for all of you here in the audience to share this conversation. I will be honest. I thought maybe too much about what it was i wanted to say. It was hard to think about what i might be able to add to the conversation you had been having over the last several months about the election cycle, politics, campaigning. I will be honest and say i am not completely certain about that, but i will give it a shot. In 2004, and 2008, i spent months traveling across the country visiting campuses like winthrop and talking and the snake to students about the election process and the issues that mattered the most. That me tell you nothing could have been more fulfilling for me. I will start by talking about that experience. You have heard of the bubble, which is the cocoon that surrounds candidates. In many ways the campaign trail is an odd and delusional place. I want to start with an example. In july of 2004, my dad had dropped out of the race and john kerry had clinched the nomination. I was 22, graduated from college a month before. Moved to new york, had an internship at a magazine, but like many recent graduates, i had no sense of what i wanted to do. I was still figuring things out. My second day in the city i woke up with a phone ringing at 7 38. My friend and drew said, congratulations. I had no idea what he was talking about. A few minutes later, i had another call from my roommate who was living in south korea, calling to offer me her congratulations. Again, and finally a third call came in and it was my dad. He said, he had just been chosen to run as senator john kerrys vicepresident ial running mate and to get on an airplane and go to washington. I told him that was old news and he was the third person to call at that point. The networks were already barking about it. That is when i knew my life and my familys life had changed p. In one other universe that koch does someone literally half way across the world tell you that your dad got a job before you know . I threw some clothes into a suitcase and headed to the airport. We embarked on an announcement tour, hitting key battleground states, holding a rally after rally. There is a lot about life that is getting used to come up but i picked one thing up quickly, which is how to smile and clapper the same time. And clap at the same time. At every stop there were massive crowds, cheering supporters, upbeat music, as my family exited and entered stages. From where i stood, it seemed impossible. That we would not win. Looking back, i realize how was this. One moment stood out, which was in october, 2004, at this point i had postpone my internship and was campaigning fulltime, so what i did was traveled colleges on my own, talking to small crowds, and your questions one on one, and sticking to the kerryedwards message. My main goal was to convince students like you to get out there and get to the polls in november, and if they happen to edwards, thatyrry was a bonus. Much more reminiscent of the big crowds, music, and big yards eyes. My mom had a lot of town Hall Meetings that i held, but they were much better attended and she gave a much better stump speech. I was with m ony mom into a dozn for, and i saw a young girl in the front row. She was holding a big sign that said cate is my hero. I want to tell you i was unbelievable that that little girl was making that side. I knew enough that a Campaign Worker had made that sign and made her hold it. She held it up and waved it with enthusiasm, and every time i looked her way she wanted to make sure i saw it. I had this slight moment when i said i maybe i am her hero. That was fleeting. It made me realize something important about campaigning. Not really about the cheering crowds, it is not really about the music, it is not really about shaking hands or doing interviews. Why not it seems like it would be at this point, right . In every single crowd, every single one, there is that little girl or someone like her who is looking on, learning, and taking part in this great process we call american democracy. If you are on stage, you can either be her hero, or you can be heard disappointment. Make no mistake, this makes a difference, because that girl could grow up knowing the issues you could paint on during that rally were the promises that changed her world. Or she can hear nothing but broken promises and turn away from politics. That signed is not just a Clever Campaign trip. Was an enormous responsibility. It is one that i carried Going Forward and not one that i take lightly. Not a responsibility that a real politician should take lightly. Looking back i think that responsibility, the responsibility of making honest promises to the people you are speaking to should be nothing less than the bedrock of our political process and elections. I want to talk about responsibility, because it is not just belong to politicians or their surrogates. It also belongs to every Single Person in this room. Take a step back. Step back because of what to define what i mean by responsibly. It means as individuals we frame our point of view and make decisions with other people in mind, not just ourselves. That is brought and vague, so as we know responsibilities can be a burden and a legend. Each of us have a variety of responsibilities academic, social, familial, professional, personal. Today i want to address our responsibility to our community, country, and world. Civic responsibility and social responsibility. Many of you know about the psychological and sociological problem known as a bystander in effect. It is that we as individuals feel a weakened sense of responsibility when were surrounded by others. I will give you an example of an experiment. Subjects were placed in one of three different rooms under three different conditions. In one room people were placed by themselves. In the second room people were placed with two other participants in the experiment. In the third group of people were placed with two actors pretending to be participants. As they sat in the route they filled out questionnaires and smoke began to fill the rooms. For participants who were alone, 75 of them told the experimenters there was smoke filling my room. When their work he did other people in the room, only 38 reported the smoke. That is half as many people. Even worse, when the two actors were in the room, the actors would note there was smoke and then ignore it. So did most of the participants. Only 10 in that third room reported the smoking in the room. What do we learn from this experiment . First we learned as individuals people like you and me were more likely to speak up when we knew that no one else will. Second, we learn what others are around we wait for them to speak up, for them to take responsibility. Lastly, when we see others ignore a problem, we ignore it, too. Scientists have been treated explanations to this effect. People feel the need to behave in correct socially acceptable way state they do not want to point out a problem when others do not see the problem. That prompts them to act or not act. Second, the presence of other people diffuses responsibility, and there is the assumption someone else laughs, so we do not have to. That is the essential part of a bystander in effect. It can lead to extreme inaction, and that is to the detriment of all of us bystanders and our whole society. It is the condition we find ourselves in as voters in a world filled with other voters. So many americans, and im sorry i have to say, particularly young people, do not make it to the polls on election day. They may have an opinion about who should win, it maybe even feel strongly, but as their daily fills up, their intentions to vote go away. A wakeup with the intent to vote and they wake up with the intent of the, but never make it to the polls, but what does that mean . They are falling back on the bystander in effect. Their belief that their vote is only marginally important and that others will go vote in their stead. We should never assume that someone else is going to vote in our place, because unlike a smokefilled room, other people may not be bothered by the same things that you are bothered by. Im sorry to say that young voters specifically and have traditionally been the participants in the bystander effect. Voters under the age of 30 vote in the president ial election in small numbers. Anything could have happened in every single vote. We saw an increase in 2004 to 40 , and in 2008, it jumped up to 52 . College students are the young people that lead that charge. There were more likely to vote in their age group. During my months on the trail, traveling to colleges, College Students have opinions about politics. They understand issues and have a lot to say about than that. More importantly, as a group, students tend to be progressive. I did not mean liberal. I mean progressive. They have distinct opinions about things. More importantly, College Students have the ability and the inevitable duty to lead the rest of the country. Throughout this countrys history, it is students that have driven great change. Take civil rights. I will read about my state a little here. On february 1, 1960, for black students began a sitin at the woolworths lunch counter in north carolina. This is known as the greensboro four. They were refused service, but were allowed to sit at the counter, so they did and they sat there all day pick on the second day, 20 students showed up. On the third day, 60. On the fourth day, more than 300 people went to woolworths six. Months later, the greensboro four were finally served at the lunch counter. That is not all they accomplished. Those four students, they were freshmen at the time. That an example that became an integral part of the civil rights movement, which what ultimately integrate kinds of places throughout the south. Not a civilrights. Since are the driving force behind powerful protest during the vietnam war, and students have shown their ability to get out front. After hurricane katrina, my dad took a group to the gulf coast to help rebuild houses down there. Who did the turn to . College students. He was not disappointed. 700 College Students joined him on that trip. During their spring bay, they gave up the beach and instead, they lived on a gym floor in new orleans. They cleared debris, fixed houses, and help their neighbors who were so desperately in need. I could go to more examples, but young people have tremendous potential power in our country. So often, we forget, do not use our voices, to not use our feet. And you have all heard the jfk quote. I actually think that in america today, it is ok to ask those questions. We expect our government to respond to our needs. The greensboro four expected more from america. For years, young people have been ignored obama postelection into the eight marked the height of youth voting in america. This is an enormous opportunity. For the first time in a long time, and people are voting bloc that should not and cannot be ignored. Do not lose that important for hold. Foot tall. Dont let your friends. Maintain your responsibility to vote, expressed in your voice be heard, but those who make decisions on your behalf. Margaret mead once said never that that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever happened. I asked you to be that crew. I ask you to stand up to be heard and your voice matters. Your vote is vital. It helps ensure youre not just working for your country, but that your country is working for you. There are other forms of responsibility outside of voting better just important. Last year i left the practice of law to start the Elizabeth Edwards foundation. In large part i reserve her memory, but i did it to continue work she had been doing her life in helping young people fulfill their potential to succeed. To give you an idea of what we do, we run a program that helped High School Students who have great potential, but lack resources and support, and we help them get prepared for and get to college. The program indicates three important things that reflect my mother mentor ship, advocacy, and Public Service. It provides the best we provide mentors to the students in the program and hope they can become mentors themselves. We train the fellows to always get back to their communities, too big Public Service projects. Let me be clear, the world that you address can be big or small. He did not have to start a nonprofit. You do not have to cure a disease. Sometimes responsible the is about addressing smaller communities and smaller needs. Every single day you have the ability to do small things can make a difference in peoples lives. My mom always taught me to call my waitresses by their names, first names. If they did not have a name tag, ask. I always ask her how her day is gone, and you are always kind. Maybe thats small gesture does not seem like a lot to you, but it will be a lot to her or him the. Or him. You cannot forget the small stuff. In meeting smaller needs is why i deal with the foundation and starting very small, a handful of students in the Fellows Program in raleigh, north carolina. If we can help just one child reach for potential, help once did a good college, we have succeeded. Because we have made the difference, even though it might seem like a small difference. Sometimes responsibility is about speaking out when you see in justice. I do a lot of work in discrimination in civil rights. I see cases where someone sat silently by. Maybe they heard somebody say the nword and never said anything about it. Maybe they saw a man being inappropriate to a woman at work and kept it themselves. Maybe they saw a group laughing at a joke about homosexuals and turned a blind eye. A lot of times on the have to do is speak up. Dante says the hottest place in hell are the new in terms of crisis maintained their neutrality. It is not always that easy. Responsibility is not about finding something good to do. Sometimes it is about combating the bad break it is about stopping a bullet, standing up against bigotry and hatred, it is about speaking out. My mom taught me this you did not have to be the one who shouts loudest. Being loud never changed any 1s mine. Mind. Ones the greensboro four were right. If you are right, you can change minds with your message, not the noise street is also not about doing favors for people. We think about it that way, like charity work, but we do it for ourselves as much as anything, because it feels good to help other people. It feels good to help your community. It feels good to both and make your voice heard. Fulfilling our responsibility serves us. When we speak about the dangers of pollution, we are working to save the environment we all live then. That includes a ourselves. If we refuse to be bystanders, if we take our responsibilities seriously, we lift up our society, our community, we left our country. That means we lift up ourselves. Lift up those are around that, we left up america, we lift up the world. So please do not be bad bystanders. Be active. Make a change that mean something. Thank you. [applause] alright, we are ready to take your questions all right, we are ready to take your questions as soon as we get our mikes set up. Hello . Ok. I have a few starter questions that i had some interest in. The first one here is, do you anticipate some day, perhaps even in the distant future, you would run for Political Office . I dido not currently anticipate doing so. Anyone who is called upon to serve a public office, it is a very brave thing to do, an important thing to do, and i do not discount a could be a possibility if there was a pressing need that i do not plan to run for process, no. All right. A second question from our department here. Did you watch the democratic or Republican Conventions on tv . If so, what were your impressions of the speakers or the content of the events . I did. I watched both conventions. One more than another, i guess, but i think it is hard for me to say what my impressions are entirely, because i like a format where there is more engagement between the parties, personally ,versus a speaking format, but i think the important thing for america was to be able to listen to the platforms of both parties and be able to compare them, and i think ultimately, the conventions, the purpose of the conventions , and i think the Convention Still take a job this year to make sure that they had stands on the issues, and they were well known, and i thought a lot of the speakers did a great job, showing how passionate they are about the work they do, which is hard work. Outside of the president , who are some of your favorite speakers . I always love to hear but bill clinton talk, so he is always entertaining, and i thought he did a great job. Mckay, a question from a student in the audience. As a young person, who has already had so many experiences in politics in making education and career choices, looking at the issues and challenges facing youth, what insights can you all for our president ial candidates . What are they getting right, and what are they missing . That is a hard question. But i think one of the main things we have seen in politics recently is increasing partisanship, that is not what people want to hear. That is not responsive to the needs of young people, certainly not responsive to the needs of anyone, really, and i think that in particular, for example, politicizing things that really notnot political is useful, and my particular concern about partisanship of certain issues is that they turned young people off from politics. You are our future. We need you to be engaged, we need you to care about where our country is going, we do not need you to be turned off about things that are not the issues. Those are the biggest things i have had in recent years. Thank you. Another student question. What sparked your interest and engagement in politics and law . I have always paid attention to politics since i was younger, but i did not get into but i sort of landed in politics, obviously. It was not really need going after a political career or anything like that. That was just look, i guess. And in terms of a law clerk, i have always wanted to go into law. I grew up with two lawyers as parents. For some people, that is a turnoff, but i heard incredible stories for but to my parents about people they were able to help and things they were able to do through the legal system and to the Justice System and as advocates for people who could not advocate for themselves. I knew that that is what i always wanted, and i think the world of politics should not be that different. That is essentially what our elected officials are there today. But an advocate of a part of the people who are not always able to do it themselves. On a related note, a student would like to know how someone can get involved with the Elizabeth Edwards foundation. Oh, great. You can send me an email. I will let you know how you can get involved. It has been a really interesting thing to start the foundation and to learn a lot about our world that i was not familiar with, think that i learned about the nonprofit world. Everyone is really nice. They want to help you. It is so different from the legal world, and which not Everyone Wants to help you. There is no competition. It is a lot of people working toward similar goals, and it has been and the lightning experience. Anyone who wants to go into that war, i encourage you to do so. It is a life choice and has been a wonderful one. If you are interested in getting involved, send me an email. Categreater than iscate with a c. We had a speaker come here last week to talk about the flaws of the Electoral College and how it contributes to voter apathy. What encouragement would you give Young Democrats to get out and vote in a state like South Carolina, where they are the overwhelming minority . There are two things. One, i did not disagree about the Electoral College. It might be antiquated. On whatre voice natters will levels. It is not just necessarily saying that the South Carolina and electoral votes are going to area or candidate be. But it is off about the number of people that are getting out in South Carolina, the number of young people that are getting out across the country to vote. The more you go, especially young people, the more people Pay Attention t u. It is a sad truth that our candid its travel to and from to places across the country and to specific groups that they feel are wrong to get out and vote. If you get out and vote, they will Pay Attention to you. Your ideas will get hurt, and it is important to vote in every election. It is an example your setting for yourself every year, and maybe one day you will live in florida or ohio. You never know. Good point. What is the purpose of a College Education . How did your son influence you . Is a good question, and one that being asked more, especially today coming into as economy. I pull start by saying in my college and my family a College Education was always viewed as extremely important. My dad was the first in the cat family to go to college, and he likes to talk about that my dad was the first and my family to go to college, and he likes to talk about that. For me, to go to law school, i had to go to college, but my College Experience was extraordinarily enriching. He grew up in raleigh, north carolina, which i love raleigh, but in some ways it is a small town because you grow up with the same people for your entire life. I was born there and i did not leave until i was 18 feet, i interacted with the same people for 18 years. Go to college, i met people from across the country. I met people who went off after college and lived in south korea and africa, and i met people from all different walks of life and you have interesting and different viewpoints. That experience has been incredibly enriching, first of all. Second of all, the Academic Experience of college, there is nothing that can keep but this. It forces you to expand your mind, your views, it forces you to challenge yourself in ways and i do not know of any other experience that can do that. That is why it is challenging, but it is enriching. Once you move forward to wrap your life, you will back on your college as important. Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve our system . I think money is diluting our system. I am a strong proponent of the slogan corporations are not people. The idea corporations can have an enormous impact on our system and our election process is disturbing to me, and that is a more recent phenomenon. It is something that really bothers me because elections and issues and candidates are supposed to be speaking to the populace, are supposed to be peaking to voters. The idea thats corp. Specifically can control what is said and push certain issues and can control what is done in congress is upsetting, because that is not necessarily working for people. Usually, but often it is to the detriment of individuals, especially working people. I do not think that is right, so one thing i would say is in order to fix it is passing an amendment at this point, seeing corporations are not people. There are things states can do individually to pass similar laws, and reducing the amount of money that lobbyists can give or eliminating lobbyists entirely so that Public Officials are not influenced by money they are receiving from organizations. . Are your political heroes . Who are your political heroes . That is a very hard question. It is hard to say that Martin Luther king jr. Is not a political hero of pretty much everyone in my generation. I certainly hope so. I am fond of hillary clinton, actually. I think she has done a lot for women and politics, and shes also but she is not given enough credit for her femininity, because she is a woman and being a woman has influenced a lot of who she is as a person and the way she talks to people, the way she response to questions, the way that she has formed her beliefs on certain issues. It has helped us develop our Foreign Policy, under her. That note, another question, are you heartened by the number of women at the conventions . I like the idea that you did not have to be masculine to be successful as a woman in the mans world of politics. It is important we as women embrace who we are and do not ever doubt that we are just as powerful and have just as many capabilities to lee as men to lead it as men, and i am an enormous fan as well of elizabeth warren. She was my professor in law school, and she has been a champion for the middleclass for so long. She gave a speech at the Democratic Convention, and i have always been impressed by her. She is one of the smartest people that i have ever known, and she has been leading this fight against what we would call the war on the middle class for years, and now she is finally able to run for senate in massachusetts. I am extremely heartened by her decision to do that. Another question from a student. Living in d. C. , you see american politics up close. How can we encourage American Youth to pay as much attention to our government as they did to the car dasheens kardashians . That is a good question. A difficult one. I do not watch honeyboo for the record, and i saw her on saturday and alive, but otherwise, no. I think it is hard. I think it is difficult, because we live in a society where there is cuts and glamour on one side, and then there is politics on the other. It is hard to compete with the celebrity of hollywood. I do not think politics should. I think a lot of this falls on the media crack falls on the media to make sure there is fair and comprehensible coverage of elections of what is happening on the hill, of the major issues that we are being faced with. Sometimes we do a great job with this, and sometimes less so. I do not know exactly how to fix that problem, but it is one that is worth approaching, and one that may be may be one of the reasons young people are not involved in politics is that just not as interesting as watching so in a way maybe we need a reality show about politicians. I dont know. Lets not do that. What advice do you give stinets in the Elizabeth Edwards foundation about actions or projects they can take to be involved civic cli . Well, one of the things that we do that our program does, and actually just so im very clear, were doing our Pilot Program this fall in raleigh so we dont have students yet. Were in the process of applying to the program and well be accepting them in a couple of weeks. So i have not sat down and given advice, so i dont want to mislead you. One of the things we do is require our students to identify a problem that they see in their community, an issue they would like to address. And then as a group design and implement a Community Service project around that specific problem. So thats twofold. Obviously one thing youre teaching is the value of Public Service, but its also the value of their own ideas to make a change in the community that they see as being really important. So anyone can do this, right. It doesnt take a structure of the he has beth edwards program to do it. Anyone can start a Community Service project and get others involved. It takes some sort of grass roots work. But if you see something that you think needs to be addressed, do something about it. I mean thats the sort of fundamental teaching that were trying to pass along. For them its required, for you its not required but you can all do the same thing that they can which is find out whats wrong and try to fix it. How have you found your own voice and purpose . Has it been difficult . Have your lifes experiences informed your decisions about your life and your career . Yeah, i think everyones Life Experiences at least to some extent inform their own decisions. Oddly, i have to say, it hasnt been that difficult for me to find out what i wanted to do. I went to law school in 2006 knowing that i wanted to do Public Interest law and it sort of just worked out the way that its worked out for me. Clearly some things have been difficult and there are stubles for anyone along the way coming out of college and trying to figure out where is my life going. I worked for a magazine for two years because i wanted to do Something Different knowing i was probably going to go to law school. So a lot of times it takes luck to get where youre going and a lot of times you just sort of stumble on to something you care about. I was informed by my own Life Experiences certainly. And then i made a proactive effort to also go out there and find Life Experiences that i thought would be rewarding and informing for myself. So when i was in law school, i did essentially legal aid work through the Legal Aid Bureau there and for two years of law school, i spent most of my time not studying, dont tell my professors that, but most of my time helping clients in the Greater Boston area who needed legal services. And that made a huge impact on me. Because before i did that, there were parts of me that were swaying back and forth, maybe i should go into private practice, maybe i should go to a big law firm. But that experience made me certain that i wanted to do Public Interest work. So there are things we can all do to try to gather as much information as we can about our potential life paths and careers to make an informed decision. We have a few questions in the political arena. Why do you think president ial candidates are shunned by their parties . Its hard to be assent rist in the partisan system. I think thats the simple answer to it. And i think thats a bad thing. Its an interesting its actually interesting thrks happened i guess it was 2004 during my dads campaign as well because he was considered relatively moderate. But a candidate who is considered relatively moderate at the primary stages, youre not going the Party Activist who are far to the right or far to the left, they have the least that obviously a very conservative or liberal candidate is going to speak to the most. That is who votes in primaries. And thats one way in which its flawed. In certain states independents are allowed to vote and certain states theyre not in a primary campaign. So its difficult to speak to the base. Its difficult to speak to the base and also speak to the electorate as a whole during that primary process. So you end up using the argument but i can win because the independents are going to vote for me and im more moderate and thats not an appealing argument nor should it be. We should be voting based on the issues and our beliefs about those issues. But the problem is that this produces often times candidates that end up at opposite end of the spreck chum and no one in the middle filling that whole. Its up to the parties, its their responsibility to make sure theyre producing the best nominees for the country as a whole for the electorate as a whole and for their party as well. Another student asks since the repeal of dont ask dont tell in 2011, there have been many advancements towards civil rights in the l. G. G. B. T. Community. What changes do you anticipate in the coming decades . I have my hopes. And my strong belief is in the coming decades this is our generations site in terms of civil rights. Im a very strong proponent of gay marriage being legal across the board. Im a strong proponent of gay rights in general but those two things are different. So one of the things that has been on the table for a while is the law that essentially says i do a lot of employment discrimination work but it basically says that the Lgbt Community has the same rights under the employment discrimination laws, title 7 specifically, as any other person who is in a protected class, so race, gender, national origin, age, all of these are protected classes. And for some reason Sexual Orientation is not protected. So thats one small step we can take right now. I work with an Organization Called right to work who does a lot of work in this area. I think thats coming soon. I think that will make a difference for a lot of people. Because the ability for people to work in an environment where their respected and et treated fairly is huge because you spend a lot of your time at work. So its important for people to feel that theyre being respected in that environment. And i think gay marriage is hopefully going to come sooner rather than later. Obviously president obama has endorsed it and hopefully thats something we can work towards in the coming years although it may take longer. Its a very politic sized issue and i anticipate that being a fight. But its a fight worth fighting. I think this will be our final question. Poverty is a big concern of your fathers. What can do to make sure every child eets daily . This is a huge issue and i i will say maybe the one thing i wish had been addressed at the Democratic Convention that really wasnt, poverty is not a political cal platform so that is one thing that makes it difficult to get anything done in this arena. But i think we can start by making it an important issue. If its an important issue to you as voters then it will become an important issue to our candidates and elected officials. So start by realizing this is a serious problem in this country and its not just a problem around the world, its right here in america that its become an issue and especially in the recent years, the number of people who have lost their savings and homes and jobs is hitting more and more people and more kids into poverty. So there are parts of the economic platform that we can use but we need to make it a priority and i guess especially in terms of addressing poverty with children living in poverty specifically, it happens through our schools. Free or reduced lunch is an incredibly important thing but what other ways can our schools start to serve children living in poverty outside of the school day . Thats another thing to think about. There are a lot of things we can do. And the problem with poverty specifically is that its such a deep problem for people and there are just so many different services, so many different paths that we can take. And i mean the first thing is take that first step, lets Start Talking about it and lets start doing something about it. Ms. Edwards, thank you very much for your time here at winthrop. I am sure that we were all enriched by the experience. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. Coming up in about 45 minutes from now our president ial debate preview gets under way. Well have the debate at 9 00 and then your calls and tweets. Some snuents florida are gathered here on the soccer field where they will watch the third and final president ial debate. There are also some food trucks in case the debate watchers want to grab a bite to eat. President obama and mitt romney will get questions tonight focused on Foreign Policy. A headline in New York Times says the debate puts focus on leadership and who will be the best leader. In politico obama to have steak and po date toes before the debate. And a world of problems to debate. We can see on the screen at Lynn University in florida where students will watch the debate tonight. And the preview of the debate will get started in about 45 minutes from now. Watch and engage with cspan tonight as president obama and mitt romney meet in their final debate. Start at 7 00 eastern fold by the debate at 9 00. After the debate stay with cspan to hear reaction from across the country. You can follow along online at cspan. Org debates. Talk directly with our viewers at cspan. Org chat. Tonights debate is focused on Foreign Policy. We got a preview of the issues this morning on journal journal. Weve been talking about the details this morning. Foreign affairs and its role. What are you really watching for tonight as the big focus guest we said Foreign Policy tends not to feature american campaigns because the American Voters dont vote on it. I think the opposite bb the case, one because were two weeks away from the election. Two were suddenly tied in the polls and three the performance have been dramatic with obama sleeping through the first one and coming on strong in the second. So i think you can expect both candidates to swing for the fences to night and make a lasting impression thats going to turn the balance and lead them the last two weeks in the vote. Host the candidates positions, are we going to hear decincheses between their philosophy tonight . Are the differences in tone or policy decisions . Guest thats a good question. Thats hard to sy because romney has been a cipher in the campaign. He has avoided discussing specifics in his Foreign Policy and hes limited himself in criticizing obama. And thats not specific. Its that he should be stronger and tougher. When he talks about what he would do differently it is very minimal. You can look at syria romney said he would be turf but what he would do exactly . Maybe give a few more high powered arms to the rebels. When people ask him what it means to be turf in iran maybe stronger sanctions. So the challenge for romney tonight will be to move beyond mere criticism of the president and come up with a positive agenda and a different agenda of what he would do differently t. Challenge for obama will be different. Obama came into office four years ago talking in very dramatic terms about how his Foreign Policy would be different. He was going to change the overall tone. He was going to do Nuclear Nonproliferation globally. Whats happened instead is hes become a mod rat pragmatic realist in policy. Hes managed things responsibly but not in a dramatic way. This par lells his problem talking about his agenda. What hes said is i can offer you more of the same. So thats not a Good Campaign line. Well be looking to see if he can come up with something more interesting and dramatic than that. Host a top advice tor to mitt romney warned the Obama Administration maybe about to jet son its International Partners as the president continue plates one on one talks with iran over its nuclear arms program. Guest i expect it will feature prominent lifment on the surface the signals that iran is sending that its prepared to talk is a win for the administration because it shows these sanctions which the Obama Administration has managed to put together more successfully than any other Previous White House has forced iran to the table by starting to hit them where it hurts. Thats a win for the administration. On the other hand the iranians use these negotiations to buy time and manipulating for their own purposes and that you can expect mitt romney to take against obama. But what romney would do different and its i ron i can to for him to oh criticize obama for doing it without allies when romneys criticism throughout the campaign is obama tends to rely too much on allies and if romney was president he would take a strong stance and go ate loan on a whole range of issues. Host if youd like to join the conversation talking about the Foreign Policy focus in tonights president debate here are the numbers to call. Host what are the segments of tonights debate. Approximate host what do you read from those topics alone . Guest it is a focus on the middle east region. And people criticize that because it excludes other parts of the world especially asia which has become a big focus of the administrations policy. It also has the potential to get obama away from his accomplishments throughout his presidency. If you go through what those have been they include the december inflammation of al qaeda and the killing of bin laden t. Sanctions on iran, the partial reset of relations with russia. The pivot withation i cant capitalizing on chinas mistake. Some of those are in there and you can expect obama to try to shoe horn them in. On romneys side because he suffers from this lack of specifics and obama has done well on instance and has a big edge coming in with knowledge and substance. Remember romney was like a one man neutron bomb laying waste to whatever audience he spoke to and leaving only the furniture standing. That puts romney in a difficult position tonight so i expect him to try to shoe horn in other issues like defense spending where hes cusing the president of cutting too much and offering trillions more to the military. So i think they will both try to smug until extra topics. Host lets go to matthew. Caller my question would actually be about syria, when sit going to get bad enough to where the United States basically when sit going to get bad enough we will have to take action . The Syrian Border is spilling over in lebanon and i think thats a pretty immediate threat to the middle east and also to israel . Guest thats a great question. I hope they address it but i dont think they will. For the simple reason i dont think they know what to do in syria. I just got back and not only do the countries have a policy but the United States doesnt have a policy which is why youve seen virtual complete nonaction. This is one of these areas where romneys policies dont differ from obamas. Theyre working through their allies in the region to allow the funneling of light arms to the syrian rebels. Romney said he would funnel heavy arms and he said he would work harder than obama to make sure these got into the hand of the good guys not the opposition. But those are very minor differences. And how either of them see the end game playing out, where either of them set the trigger for u. S. Involvement, i dont expect eitherer of them to commit to it because i dont think they have the answer. Caller i hope romney brings up these key issues on Foreign Policy. President obama has failed. Russia is the al lie of china and theyre in cahoots with iran. They promote terrorist who want to destroy israel and america because we are strong. Foreign policy on Illegal Immigrants coming into america and that affect it is working class or the low income and the middle income because you have anywhere from 10 to 30 million illegals taking jobs and destroying our entitlements which makes it harder on africanAmerican People who have their own issues in america and also the poor. So i hope romney hits him with all these issues because president obama has failed with supporting the killing of libyas kadafi and not supporting the dip mats in that country. Guest russia is a good issue to talk about because it highlights one of these secrets of the president on Foreign Policy. Once someone comes in and takes that chair in the white house they find they have very few options on Foreign Policy which is why when you look over the last 75 years there hasnt been that much variation between democrat and republican president s. Russia is a perfect example of that. Romney called russia an enemy of the United States and he was roundly criticized by democrats and republicans for that. And that is because the answer is more knew answer than that. The United States cant label russia an enemy and treat it accordingly because its too powerful. And b if, despite the worsening relations between the two countries russias cooperation is key. The two countries have the same agenda and russia has been helpful to the u. S. There. Russia has been difficult whit comes to iran and a few other issues. To label them to enemy doesnt work. How do you get more from them and obama is struggling with and i dont know that romney frankly has the answer. Again, this should be one of those areas where romney doesnt criticize the president but offers an Police Station for what he would do differently. Thats what we should hope for to nipingt. In terms of immigration, this falls into this category of a subject i was mentioning earlier where both candidates will struggle into the debate and its not Foreign Policy, its domestic policy. I dont think the differences will be profound because what you saw in the last debate is romney is trying to reposition himself as a moderate t. Hard Tea Party Republican romney cast himself is rapidly disappearing and were seeing a return to the massachusetts mitt romney. And the massachusetts mitt romney has much more moderate positions on a number of issues including imgrafplgtse and as he said in the last debate his father was an immigrant and his wifes father was an immigrant. He favers giving green cards to students who study in the United States which and he has say complicated view on deportation. If you can find somebody to explain what that means to me id be all eers. Here is a tweet. He writes politic sizing the benghazi attack we are all in harms way. It did not end with the death of bin laden. Lets take a look at the issue of libya. It came up in the debate last week when the president ial candidate faced off at a town hall event on long island. Lets take a look at wub of their exchanges. The day after the attack governor, i stood in the rose garden and i told the American People and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror and i also said were going to hunt down those who committed this crime. And then a few days later i was greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force base dreeving with the families. And the suggestion that anybody on my team, whether its secretary of state, our u. N. Ambassador or anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when weve lost four of our own governor is offensive. Thats not what we do. Thats not what i do as president , thats not what i do as commander in chief. I think its interesting the president just said something which is on the day after the attack he went in the rose garden and said this was an act of terror. You said in the rose guarden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration. Please proceed governor. I want to be sure we got that for the record. Because it took the president 14 days before he called it an act of terror. He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a rite about this tape to come out. Youre correct about that. The administration indicated that this was a reaction to avid owe and was a spontaneous reaction. It did. It took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. Am i correct on that regard . On sunday the ambassador of the United Nations went on a sunday Television Show im happy to have a longer conversation about Foreign Policy. You can go to the transcripts and figure out what was said and when. Host thats an Exchange Last week at the debate talking about libya. The Washington Post writes that it was a missed opportunity for governor romney to get some ground on this. Are we going to see a different line of attack for both these men tonight as they talk about libya . You bet we are. He tried to play gotcha with the president and blew it. There are two separate issues on libya one of which is a real one and one of which is silly politics and were unfortunately likely to see more discussion of the latter than the former t. Real substantial issue is why was there not better security in benghazi especially when it turns out that they had requested it from the state department. Thats an important question that should be asked and answered. However, what the campaigns have focused on far more thus far is the Communications Issue that is how the Obama Administration dealt with the question publicly after the attack and the Romney Campaign has a point here because despite obamas statement in the rose garden, the next day his u. N. Ambassador went on all five sunday morning talk show and seemed to give a decollar tive statement arguing that this was not an act of terrorism but it was an act of spontaneous street protest. Now the evidence seems to suggest that she was acting on the advice of the intelligence community. And thats how the process is supposed to work that political principles get information from their intelligence people and thats the information that they relate to the public. The problem was in the days following the if i can chure started to change t. Intelligence community started to change its mind. It took some time for them to relate that information to the people in office. And in that interim period, the Obama Administration stuck to its pretty hard line argument that this was not terism. And so you had this growing sense among the public that the administrations story wasnt quite right and then you had what looked like an inflexible position by the administration that no the possibility of al qaeda involvement wouldnt be considered. When the position shifted the administration was left looking kind of foolish. But thats really nothing more than a problem of clumsy messaging by the white house. And to turn this into assign of a massive failure of American Leadership is pretty silly. Host lets go to independent line in texas. Caller good morning. What theyre talking about Foreign Affairs because they dont want to talk about that but frankly, its the same agenda, its just when are we going to war . The American Public wants to go to war with iran. Its been set up before bush senator and even osama wants to kill as many citizens as we have killed. Obama on the benghazi attack i think was good. I think a terrorist attack, it was that and to label an organization too soon would have been too dangerous. I feel were doing what israel wants tooned say that the terrorists are attacking because of jealousy and because we have a better country is absurd. We attacked them first. Were over there expanding what looks like an empire. Were aggressive, were attacking, were not defensive. Come on, were going to war, why dant American Public choose not to go to war. Seems like the American Public wants to go to war. Obama is more realistic in wanting to go to war. Mitt romney wants to go to war. There is a law that doesnt let any country intervene. Guest well, the caller said a lot there so ill respond to one thing which is this claim that americans want to go to war. In fact the polls show this the opposite is true. And this is going to con train both candsdats in the debate and if either of them become president. This is whats limiting u. S. Policy in syria for example. Obama tried very hard and succeeded to extract himself from the war in iraq. And thats been one of the single accomplishments of his administration. Hes in the process of trying to extract himself from another war in afghanistan. He was very careful to dramatically limit u. S. Involvement in lib yafment so the last thing that this president and romney would want and that the public would support would be to get involved in yet another ground tpwhar yet another muslim country. Thats why policy has been so con strained. Romney likes to talk turf but when hes pushed hes careful to stop before opening the door to war because he recognize it is same political exigency as the president does. Host good morning. Caller i just want to say one thing. I think there is a lot of talk about the top picks going on 11 years now between the countries you just named. I havent heard either of the candidates touch on the views of p. O. W. In the u. S. Army cap chured in afghanistan. No one has talked about him on the news or internet and thats it. What do you think about that . Guest you make a good point. First of all, youre right the issue should be discussed. But it reflects a bigger problem which is afghanistan like iraq has become almost an invisible war in the American Public. If you ask most people today, i think they would tell you that the country isnt at war because the country doesnt feel like its at war. Its remarkable we have american men and women in uniform fighting and dying in a country overseas abdomen there is no sense of it on the home front. The country acts and talks like its a country at peace. And these conflicts apart from these rare moments where theyre discussed in a Campaign Like this dont feature in the public discussion. Host go ahead. Caller thank you to cspan for allowing the public conversation. Ive been trying to call in for a while. Two things, we talk tough. I remember it wasnt that long ago that during the Bush Administration we talked about the evil iraq, iran, we invade iraq and wonder why iran gee i wonder why. Benghazi, i watched the hearings and the problem im having is the security youre talking about, they asked for more security and then they had left the country and mr. Nordstrom was asked would more security have stopped this attack and his answer was no. Guest so whats the question. Host i think that was all we got from her. Do you have any reflections on what she brought up . Guest i think the caller is right and nordstrom is right more security wouldnt have stopped the attack. It could have potentially saved some american lives. But the other issue that the discussion of benghazi raises is what the president should have known and when and whether this intelligence and security failing should laying at the doorstep of the white house or not. Joe biden made this point and it was glossed over which is that these kind of requests dont normally make it up to the white house and that is appropriate because the white house cant be dealing with every security request from every local american outpost around the world because the president and Vice President frankly have more important work to do. So while mistakes seem to have been maid to lay them at the foot of the president is not necessarily fair. Now the question is what gets done afterwards . It does raise the level of president ial attention and obama in the last debate said here are the measures weve taken. Weve strengthened security at outpost throughout the region. Weve launched a full investigation. There are f. B. I. Agents looking boo the attacks in libya and the country has promised to bring the attackers into justice. Those are the areas the president did can do something and it will be more fair to hold the president to klt. Host one viewer writes its impossible to host how much do you think the past will be brought up . Will we hear the presidency of george w. Bush brought up or is that not going to be touched by the candidates . Guest romney wont raise it because hes done everything he can to distance himself from the last president as has his party. Its remarkable but not surprising how rarely bushs name has been mentioned over the past two years. Obama will raise it because one of his refrains has been ive been dealing with problems inherited and created by my predecessor. So i expect you will hear some of that. That being said iraq and afghanistan have moved beyond the problems initiated under the last presidency. And the real focus now the arab spring events in syria, events until the middle east more generally, certainly events in asia, these are particular to our period so i dont suspect the tenure of george w. Bush to come up in that context. Host prior to this he served as a deputy manager of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 2006. Frank is our next caller in pennsylvania on the independent line. Caller i was very surprised when romney put in the chain of command. It disappoints me. Eisenhower was right american soldiers are american soldiers. No foreign entity is going to take my grandkids in any war. We have stood there from beirut when we were abandonned on that left frank because my brotherinlaws son was killed there when the military could not have a chain of command. Can you answer to those kids who come out of there. And i think all these ideas of all these peace arrangements that were kicked in the butt and he wants to put net net eni cant had you in the chain of command. Guest i suspect he will make the argument that obama has failed on the palestine issue and will godown what our caller is suggesting which is to say that obama has abandonned americas greatest al lie in the region which is israel. This has become a read meet issue because many in the United States blame obama from having been insufficiently supportive of ids real. And a lot of these voters live in key battleground states like florida. If you look at the record its been solid. Hes been supportive of israel. Hes been a critical friend at times but thats the best role for an american to play. But romney will attack him for daring to venn chure even constructive critism of israel. And the question is how much that bites. This vote is not taken in israel, a country i just returned from three days ago where obama is very unpopular but it will be taken in the United States where israel doesnt feature in but a few battleground states. Its an open question how much Foreign Policy will matter to most voters at all. Host like chicago cub fans in the sfring Jewish Voters hope this will be their year. Will start a significant shift to the political right but scollors who study jewish voting patterns say it wont happen in 2012. Dow want to respond to that . Guest thats very interesting in its absolutely right. We do hear these predictions every four years and a lot of jews start to wring their hands that the alliance between main stream and the Democratic Party will be broken. Its something that my parents mention all the time and yet just as you say and the article suggest it doesnt manifest. Host lets turn our focus to china. It did come up last week at the debate. Lets listen to the candidates. Now were going to have to make sure as we trade with with other nations they play by the rules and china hasnt. One of the ways they dont play by the rules is holding down their currency. That means their prices on their goods are low. That makes them advantage tashese in the marketplace and the u. S. Cant compete. Theyve been a current si manipulate tor for years and years. And the president has a rare opportunity to label them but refuses them to do so. On day one, i will label china a current si manipulate tor which will allow me to put in place tariffs where i believe they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers. Governor romney talked about china as i indicated. In the private sector governor romney vested in pioneer outsourcing. Thats what reporters called it. And as far as current si man lation. The surntsi has gone up because we have pushed them hard and we put unprecedented trade pressure on china thats why exrtsports have increased under my presidency. Host romney wants to label china as a current si ma lip late tor. That means nothing. What does it mean . Guest it means less than romney wants it to. It was mentioned 22 times in the last debate where syria got three mentions and israel got one. Romney cease it as a real winner. Its an important fact of american politics that china bashing has become almost as much a tradition as kissing babies and shaking hands. I think its unfortunate the president got into that game with romney during the last debate because the real issue is not chinese current si. First of all as the president pointed out it has actually aappreciation yated in the last year and a half two years by about 12 . So the minute lation issue isnt. There second what romneys overall argument gets wrong is it is not some game. China getting richer does not eng danger the United States for a few reasons. One a wealthier china is a happier china is a more stable china. Two the United States require a wealthy china in order to keep servicing all of this american debt. And the third issue is china as an economic competitor. The fact of the matter china is starting to price itself out as a low cost manufacturer. And they can produce more cheaply because the chinese are getting wealthy which will make their advantage that much weaker. But there is another issue which none of the candidates mentioned in the last debate and i hope they will tonight the more significant issue with china is not economic, its gee political cal. Its the dominance in the asia pacific region. And he talked about the privet this reorienting of american attention towards the region. And the question there is facing Foreign Policy how exactly do you manage the rise of a newly empowered china . Thats where the china debate should be tonight but i dont suspect it will be. Host welcome lloyd. Caller im an honorably discharged vietnam iv veteran, a senior. And i have a serious concern dealing with both trust and honesty and although i doubt it will answered tonight. I would like an answer to what actually happened in lib yafment now i know libya. Now i know no one can foresee attacks and the future. But what troubles me most was there were five individual requests for additional security. Now im not a political expert by any means but im sure the president is briefed on Foreign Affairs, especially on hotspots, potential hotspots and i believe libya is one. Now if that were the case and he actually knew the day after this happened, i would yes, he wants to be reelected but i would think finding out what happened and the welfare of the American People should be before going on the campaign trail. Host there is a story libya likely to dominate final president ial debate. Guest i would reiterate yes the president is ultimately responsible for the security of every installation around the globe but he cant make daytoday decisions on the staffing and security of all these positions because that would bog him down and he couldnt do the work of being president. So if there were requests for fwreater security. That should be looked at and the truth should come out but whether or not the president is responsible for those individual decisions i think the answer is most likely no. There is another question here which is how much and how should the president be managing intelligence . And you have to talk about how the u. S. Intelligence process works. The United States is a vast aray of security and intelligence agencies and they absorb an unimaginable quantity of data everyday. They are responsible for distilling that into easily digestible packages which they transmit to the people in power. So obama and his National Security team are reading these consensus opinions that come from their intelligence agencies. And everything that ive seen indicates in the first days after the attack the administration was faithfully recounting what they were hearing from their intelligence services. When the picture started to change, it took several days before that information filtered up to the top because again the intelligence agencies need time to process and transmit. And there are good reasons the process work it is way it does. In the last administration, the Bush Administration, the Defense Department and people close to the president , the Vice President s office as well, tried to pluck raw data from this vast stream in order to support their case for war. And the problem is without the filtering and balancing you can get things terribly wrong as the case for weapons destruction in iraq. So you have to cut them some slack and fault them in they got it wrong but not fault the process that got the information to the president. Host welcome our last caller. Caller good morning. I was just wondering, you know the American Embassy is actually in tripoli and that was a compound in benghazi. So my question is i was wondering sit possible that the c. I. A. Got it correct because this up rising began 30 minutes after [inaudible] sit possible they got it right and this al qaeda cell took a [inaudible] guest i think it is possible but clearly youre right in the sense this was an opportunityistic attack. This Al Qaeda Linked cell used this as an opportunity to attack what was not the u. S. Embassy but an outpost in benghazi which was less well defended than a full fledged embassy would have been. The tragedy was the u. S. Ambassador was there at the time and not in libya and was therefore one of the four americans who were killed in the attack. Host one last question about drones. We saw a Washington Post story a couple of days ago saying the c. I. A. Is seeking more drones to use on the fight of terrorism. Hot topic . Guest it is a hot topic and i expect it not to get mentioned tonight for two reasons. One is that its been very successful in decimating al qaeda and its been effective because the United States is able to do it without asking permission of the countries where these terrorists reside. But the reason youre not going to hear much discussion of it because its hard to attack obama from the right. This is a case where obama has looked tough. And romneys whole strategy is to portray obama as a weekling so hes unlikely to challenge him on this issue because its him on this issue because its one of the