Taking phone calls so you can be part of the conversation. Now a panel looks at what is called the trump doctrine and how the Campaign Message resonated with certain voters. Former senator and twotime republican president ial candidate Rick Santorum who authored the book blue collar conservatives was among the speakers. The tdiscussion is part of the Political Action conference or cpac. This is about an hour. Great, lets get started. Perfect pan tell follow ami amity shlaes. Many have forgotten the 1980 polsters were reporting more Voters Holding negative attitudes towards each president ial candidate that time than any campaign since polling began. Of course last year, those records were busted. Also in 1980, fewer polls polled by gallup reported being satisfied with the way things were going in the world. We saw similar low polling numbers last year. The hostage crisis at the time underscored the diminished role, economic crisis, creating real hardship across the country and americans felt neglected by washington and democrats and republicans not surprisingly voted to support Ronald Reagan. They voted for change. On november 3, 1980, night before the election, reagan gave a very famous, very pressing speech that he entitled, a vision for america. There are so many young people here, i think they dont hear this history. They dont understand that Ronald Reagan arrived at such a critical point to really turn the country around and his policies were put in place after hard fought debates and many, many close votes. Changing the direction of the country is a difficult thing in washington. It can be done with the support of the American People. In many ways, this speech could have been delivered on the evening of november 6, 2016. Here is what reagan said to the American People that night. Many of us are unhappy about our worsening economic problems, about the constant crisis atmosphere in our foreign policy, about our diminishing prestige around the globe, about the weakness in our economy and National Security that jeopardizes world peace about our lack of strong straight forward leadership. Sound familiar . He continued in Many Americans today just as they did 200 years ago feel burdened, stifled and sometimes even oppressed by government. That has grown to large to bureaucratic, to wasteful to unresponsive to uncaring about the people anne and their problems. Reagan said we could embark on a new era of reform and national renewal. He detailed policies that would be put in place if he was elected that would turn the economy around. Make government more responsive and return the confidence that proud and patriotic americans working together can accomplish great things. Hashtag make America Great again. Ronald reagans vision brought together a broad coalition. In a similar vein Donald Trumps victory brought together a new coalition of voters and political players who shared many of the concerns that reagan did in 1980. Like reagan, President Trump frightened the ruling class. Like reagan President Trump has taken his message over the heads and around the filters of the media directly to the American People. And americans seem to like this bold style. After all, they voted for change. This afternoons panel brings together four outstanding speakers who each spotted this change in the Political Landscape long before the rest of us. Rick santorum was first elected to congress in 1980 to represent the 19th Congressional District of pennsylvania. 1990. Hes not that old. 90. Then in 94 at age 36 he was elected to the senate in ranks of gop leadership. During the time in congress, senator santorum distinguished himself for principle stance on life and marriage. Many of you will recognize him as president ial candidate in 2012 and 2016 where he again brought very important issues to the debate. Some of which nobody else was raising. So thank you, senator santorum. [ cheers and applause ] salena zito writes for cnn and the new york post. Before joining the examiner, salena spent 11 years as a reporter and columnist covering national politics. Before that she worked for the pittsburgh steelers. And she also worked for senator santorum. Held staff positions for the democratic and republican elected officials in pennsylvania. She interdued every president and Vice President in the 21st century. And on the latest election cycle she interdued 22 president ial candidate. Both democrat and republican. She has add wide ranging beat. If you havent started following her on twitter, i would encourage you to do so. She covers the rust belt and swing states that won donald trump his presidency. For those of you interested in this changing landscape, her writings are important to follow because she lives and works, not in washington, but among the voters whom republicans and democrats will try to most intensely try to woo in 2018 and 2020. Niger innis is the son of the late roy innis. [ applause ] niger serves in addition to the ac board serves as National Spokesman for racial equality. Part of the tea party forward. In addition to his role at core he serve as cochairman of powerful alliance and from black chamber of commerce and American Institute and a member of the Advisory Committee of project 21 for center for puck Public Policy research and Nra Outreach Committee member. For those of you, like me, who are an nra member you might have noticed in this months magazine that came in the mail the other night there is a story about nigers father, roy innis. And robert davi, im sure you recognize. [ cheers and applause ] i feel like he doesnt actually need an introduction. But let me give him his do. Award winning actor, writer, veen director, and talk radio host. You will recognize him from more than a hundred movies. The goonys. Die hard. He was in a james bond film. Licensed to kill. What you may not know is that when he is not acting or writing or directing or producing or appearing on talk radio, he is raising his five children, four dogs and two cats. And then he fills his spare time with volunteering for a very long list of Worthy Charities that serve children and protect animals. He has a special interest in internet safety and homeland security. Lets kick this off. Senator santorum, lets start with you. Since youre a former politician, you should be able to dissect this changing Political Landscape. You spotted this shift in the Political Landscape several years ago and in fact you authored a book titled blue collar conservatives 2014, in 2014. Why do you think donald trump was the only other president ial candidate besides you who spotted this trend . Well, i did write the book back in 2014. I actually wrote it based on my campaign in 2012. When i was campaigning for the nomination i think i visited over 50 manufacturing facilities. Not just in iowa but all over the country. And had an Economic Policy really focused on manufacturing focused on helping the american worker, really was really a worker centric type of campaign. And it was the reason i did as well as i did. I know others felt there were other reasons but i know from looking at our data, thats why we were getting the folks who ended up voting for donald trump this time, we were getting them in the last primary cycle. And i felt it was important that we look at who the Republican Party really is. The Republican Party isnt the same Republican Party than when i started to get involved in politics and i was involved in college in the 1980s. It is very much a blue collar, an corporate Suburban Country Club any more. Those voters, if you look at every suburban area in the United States have all gone blue. It is a more rural, a small town, and it is a blue collar type of constituency. But the Republican Party leadership never recognized that. Our philosophy never understood that these are the foekts that are counting on us to maintain not just an economy that works for them but also a culture that works for them and Security Posture that works for them. So i wrote this book called blue collar conservative and the story i will tell is about three months after i wrote it, i got a call from trump. He said he wanted to see me. And when i was in new york, if i could drop by. So about a m or so later i happened to be in new york and i arranged to come up to him. I walked into his office up in the tower. I walked in the door and he is sitting behind his desk holding a copy of my book. And he is waving that book. Before he said anything, he just said, i read your book. And i said, the hell you read my book. He said, no, i read your book. Its a great book. You know this is real. I said, you didnt read my book. He said, no, i really read your book. And so i decided, look, you know, im not going to im going to test him. So i did. And so i asked him certain things and there is a fictional family if the book. And so i asked him the name of the fictional family in the book. He knew the name. Now whether or not someone did cliff notes, i dont know. But this is what impressed me that he read the book. He then began to talk about, this is the message we need to communicate. Working men and women in this country are hurting and america, you know, america is really not giving them the opportunities they need. And we had a 15minute discussion. And during that time he said that he was thinking about running for president which i completely discounted. So im not all that wise. But from my perspective, where donald trump was coming from, this is something he believed in. Something he understood. And something that is really at the core of who he is and why he wants to be president. [ applause ] salena, i want to talk about another book. You wrote an interesting column about understanding donald trump. You said one of the keys was the art of the deal. And you have read the art of the deal. What does that tell you about donald trump . Well, you know, if you remember when president obama was running when he was candidate obama, everyone fawned all over both of his books. They read it with detail and pull pulled excerpts out. Echb candidate running add book. But i thought it was important to read his because he was not the politician. He was like something completely different. I think i read it in the 80s a lot of it started to feel familiar to me. But while there was a ghost writer he completely outlined exactly what happened during the entire election. How he approaches the press. How he approaches the deal. How he speaks. And so when he started running and my peers were sort of break freaking out a little bit, im like, thats what he is. And he overpromises. Because he always want to have leverage. And i think it is really important to understand who the person is youre covering. So you understand when they do things and you dont quite know what they are talking about, you know where they are coming from. Thats great. Niger, salena is also pointing out trump won states and came within 400,000 votes of winning within 40,000. 40,000. Even closer. Have you an interesting perspective on that. He tapped into the forgotten man in those places. I think issalena covered those areas. What is clear is that, those who dont know history are doomed to repeat it, and here about the forgotten man, i think of the reagan democrat. I think of even going back way back, way before your time, nixons silent majority. What was brilliant about nixon tackling into the silent majority in the 70s and reagan in the 8 os, often times the establishment press, the left wing establishment press, no offense, salena, but would label these folk as somehow they are all white. And that somehow by even trying to tap into the working class descent americans that you were being racist. What i find brilliant and the distinction if you will between the trump doctrine and the silent majority and even the great effort that reagan camp made, is that President Trump made it a point in this entire campaign from the moment he announced throughout the primary season, general election, first day, he made a statement as president elect, the inaugural speech to assert that he is targeting the inner cities for economic development. [ applause ] and there was a moving moment during the campaign when the president went to, kennedy at the time went to speak to a black church in detroit and deliver that consistent message. That was important. What is more important is within a week or two weeks, he went to mississippi. And he went to a predominantly white audience and gave the same message. And you know [ applause ] a and look, there is a tremendous opportunity out there for the president , for the country and it is very rare that you have these moments in time like the civil rights revolution when you had bipartisan effort. Blacks, whites, others come together. For a moral cause. It is very rare that political and moral imperative come together. President trump and what he is doing to realize that that working class guy in virginia, West Virginia, that out of work coal miner in West Virginia or pennsylvania or ohio, that white guy has the same interests as somebody in inner city detroit. God bless him for what hes doing. [ applause ] and robert, youve got a very unique perspective. You live if california so youre conservative in a very blue state. However, your father was han italian immigrant. You grew up in astoria queens. Not far from where mr. Trump was. You might identify, even folks who consider themselves the forgotten man, you endorsed donald trump in 2015. 2016. 2015, i think, way ahead of us. June 16, 2015. Way ahead of pups. Us. I wrote an article on breitbart the day he announced and came down the escalator. So im interested in what reaction you get in california. But also interested as talk radio host i i need a bulletproof shield. So how are you dealing with this . Well back when my grand pare parent settled in queens, Roman Catholic family. My mother, great faith. My dad worked three jobs to support the family. And he was proud of doing so. And our faith, when i grew up, you could have prayer in school. Different era. As a side note, i think it is so imperative that we reinstitution back in our schools, prayer in school with , a moment of silence in school. Thats one of the issues of the for gett forgotten man. Deep faith and patriotism. You have the violence you see in our streets with the youth and confusion. I think, i saw something on the news, more women are taking antidepressents now than ever before. More of our women than we care about women. We care about the health care of women. And Mental Health care of women. I think thats coming from lack and attack on our christian ju da Judeo Christian values. And i respect all of the capped dat candidates. But donald trump said something very early on, if you remember. And i mentioned this the other night. He said, we will say Merry Christmas again. We will say Merry Christmas again. How many of us have watch the incremental destruction of our faith and values offer the year. I have seen it over the last five or six decades. And what we have when we have a politician, and all great men, and they communicate an idea. They forget the Popular Culture aspect of it and how to communicate that idea. Now i want to go, and i wont take too much time on this. This is why i did trump. I come from new york, dont forget. Donald trump is a builder. What does a builder do . Builds. He looks up and dreams. He was a kid from queens that worked with Steel Workers and construction workers and electricians and building and buying wood and lumber yards. He was there with the working class of america. He liked putting on that steel hat. If you look at his work ethic. Even with his children was the work ethic of the forgotten man. Hard work gets what you need in america, an opportunity. This is what Donald Trumps message was. This is why he resonated with an authenticity of being able to communicate to those who felt what they call is the forgotten man. Now i did a show on november 15, 2015. And i called it, and it was when people were saying, that a lot of the Trump Supporters were angry. And neil said to me, do you think they are angry and racist . I said, neil, am i racist . Am i angry . No, neil, they arent angry. It is love of country, neil. There is a group of people in this country that feel ignored. They feel ignored, neil. And thats what donald trump answered to. That population that feels ignored. So you can go on and on with this. My radio listeners resonate with that sentiment across the nation. And having the protection of our nation. The immigrant population my grandfather came in, as i said earlier this morning, speakia te english. They told me in the house, speaka the english. Learn english. Can you love your culture but learn english. Today the immigrant population is so out of control, because we have flood open the gates, that it is hard on our universities an schools and the way the education project is, it has not trimmed down this. Trump understands all of this. And i think that his force of nature will. God providing that the administration and the gop elites dont try to do the roman senate act on him. That we have a leader that continues on and protects the forgotten man. Our countdown clock is ticking. I want to switch to a lightning round. If we can do quick short answers. Rick santorum. Front runners are tom perez, former secretary of labor and Obama Administration and Keith Ellison [ audience booing ]. What does this tell you about the Democratic Party . Lightning round. They are a Hard Left Party that is completely sold out to their special interest. I was watching the democratic debate. Im a commentator on cnn so i have to watch these things now. And you just sit there and it is just all special interest talk. All using all these politically correct words. It is completely disconnected to working men and women and o people who are out there in america just trying to live their lives without government telling them what to do because of a particular class or racial or ethnic group. Salena, you said the establishment took donald trump literally but not seriously. Tom perez won the dnc chairman. So yeah, we know what the Democratic Party will look like. Establishment took donald trump literally but not seriously and voters took him seriously but not literally. Can you explain that . I found it so insightful. And the fact that media doesnt get that says a lot. I travel all across the country, 50,000 miles, all the state he won and some he didnt. What i noticed when i went to rallies he would say things and sometimes you know, the media would like their hair would catch on fire. But as i talked to voters they would say, well, his tone is serious. But i dont take everything he says to the literal way. Donald trump does nap that. He doesnt use value words the way reporters and media do. We use was editors, fact check, and politicses do the same thing when writing speeches. Sorry, rick. But you know, he didnt do that. And i learned that from his book. And people didnt take him that every word meant exactly what he was saying. Niger, right track wrong track numbers seem to be moving in the direction of right track. Americans seem to be in a better mood. How do you explain that . Arent they watching demonstrations . Who are the people at town halls . And why are they so upset . One of the interesting things that someone said to me as i was getting ready today is the fact that there is actually an activist website that pays organized protesters. 2500 to start. Health care. Dental care. Flex vacation time. That is an actual website. There are forces out there that are paying these protesters. But what we all have to realize is that they dont represent us. They dont represent the American People. The American People have caught on that that is a lot of noise. I want to weigh in quickly on the race for control of the loony bin. You know, one of the frightening things, you know, the leading candidates, wons that disciple of Woodrow Wilson or karl marx. But one of the most frightening things i heard about perez is that he reformed the Justice Department under president obama. I was like, really . Of course i was reported on ricks network. Just kiting. Just kidding. On cnn. Dding. On cnn. But really . We have troubling times. And those of us on the right side better stick together. Robert, the president mentioned in his speech yesterday, several times, rule of law, victory and win is something dedicated to a country and people that believe in freedom, security and the rule of law. How do you interpret that . Is that part of the trump doctrine . What are people going to be looking for . I met a guy through a cardiologist in new york who was a new York City Police officer 25 years. Who worked for the Trump Organization. His father was also worked for the Trump Organization as a doorman. Now, trump was walking by one time and he saw a group of kids, your age, that were working for him, sitting down reading books on the side during the break. Two days later, donald trump said, to john brian, irish immigrant, john, what are the kids doing . They were close friends. They are studying for their exams, mr. Trump. Trump came back the next day and said, listen, we have this space over here. I want these kids to sit at desks and give them time to study for their exams. Law and order. Now not just law and order in terms of whats on the streets. What we have seen, and you mentioned the Justice Department that perez helped restructure. Instead of a Justice Department that comes out and backs the men in blue that risk their lives everyday and there may be a few rotten apples here and there, instead of protecting them, all we heard were, attackes from the left on our men in blue. Continued attacks. Donald trump said i am the law and order president. We have in chicago, in the inner cities, across america, drugs flooded in this nation, ruining our kids, our communities, our families. And in the world. He is a guy that want to see order and form. Builder, structure, understands that. Thats law and order. Thats what we need in our nation. You dont need a chaotic nation. [ applause ] we just have about one more minute. I want to go down the list. What are the resources you all each would recommend for the activist listening and present here today, is there somebody you read . A website you go to . Who do you look to for inspiration . What provide great resource . Salena . I try not to read anybody else so that it doesnt impact my reading to my writing. So im very guilty of not doing that. Okay, rick . I mean, the beautiful thing is we have a lot of great think tanks now that developed here in d. C. Obviously you know heritage, but aei. Im a big fan of Arthur Brooks and what he bring to the table really talking about how both from an economic but cultural point of view that we the Republican Party, which i do believe is the party of working people, can communicate and provide a better vision. I think donald trump yesterday did that. In part. But weve got a lot more work to do and that means all of us have to start thinking differently about the party we are and learning and understanding how we meet those needs. Last 10 seconds . Keep coming to cpac. Awesome. I will second that motion. But i will also give that caveat, because of the internet we can get information all over the place. I met Andrew Breitbart on the uss Ronald Reagan in 2002. At that time he he told me because i was an outspoken conservative in hollywood. He said, i want to start this dream. Have you breitbart all over the world. You have world net daily. Cpac. Look at them all. And then have you the news. Because you have to formulate an opinion and be engaged in what is happening in the world. But not just from one perspective. Because as we know, weve got the media industrial complex. That are trying to do our time ends. Sign up for daily signals, morning bell at heritage foundation. Please join me in thanking this tremendous panel. [ cheers and applause ] former trump president ial campaign manager, corey lewandowski, offered his insights recently into President Trumps white house, with what it took to get there and how the president bl campaign operated. He was in his home state of New Hampshire and he sat down for a discussion at New Hampshire institute of politics. See his remarks saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on our companion network cspan. Heres a preview. We looked at a couple different factors coming into the race. The early voting was a primary indicator and the state of florida was the most that muumu. We didnt know how they would break. We didnt know if they