>> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! >> now a look at paul ryan. the man. >> jamesville, wisconsin, is where i was born and raised, and i never really left it. >> the lawmaker. >> i have focused on solving the problems that confront our country. >> and his impact on the race for the white house. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." in this special hour, we're taking a close look at the man mitt romney has asked to join him on the republican presidential ticket, paul ryan. fittingly, romney made the announcement in front of the battleship "the uss wisconsin." ryan, chairman of the house budget committee, made a name for himself here in washington by battling deficits and fighting for cuts in government spending. listen to how mitt romney broke the news. >> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! his leadership -- his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school. that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should. but paul did. with the help of his devoted mother, s brothers and sister, and a supportive community. and as he did, he internalized the virtues and hardworking ethic of the midwest. paul ryan works in washington, but his beliefs remain firmly rooted in jamesville, wisconsin. he's a person of great steadiness whose integrity is unquestioned and his word is good. paul's upbringing is obvious in how he's conducted himself throughout his life includi his leadership in washington in a city that's far too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. he doesn't demonize his opponents. he understands that honorable people can have honest differences. and he appeals to the better angels of our nature. that a lot of in the other people who might disagree with paul ryan. i don't know of anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment. >> paul ryan was only 28 years old when he was first elected to the united states congress. he served seven terms, almost 14 years. at 42, he's the same age as the eldest of romney's five sons. ryan's catholic with a wife and three young children. >> i want you to meet my family. that's my wife, jana. our daughter, liza, and our sons charlie and sam. i'm surrounded by the people i love. i love you, too. jamesvle, wisconsin, is where i was born and raised, and i never really left it. it's our home now. for the last 14 years, i have proudly represented wisconsin in congress. there -- there i have focused on solving the problems that confront our country, turning ideas into action, and action into solutions. i am committed in heart and mind to putting that experience to work in a romney administration. my dad died when i was young. he was a good and decent man. there are few things he would say that have just always stuck with me. he'd say, son, you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. well, regrettably, president obama has become part of the problem, and mitt romney is the solution. i represent a part of america that includes inner cities, rural areas, suburbs and factory towns. over the years, i have seen and heard from a lot of families. from a lot of those who are running small businesses. and from people who are in need. but what i've heard lately, that's what troubles me the most. there's something different in their voice, in their words. what i hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations. uncertain futures. i hear some people say that this is just the new normal. higher unemployment, declining incomes, and crushing debt is not a new normal. i've worked closely with republicans as well as democrats. to advance an agenda of economic growth, fiscal discipline, and job creation. >> paul ryan's name was certainly on many people's short lists of vice presidential possibilities. still the choice is somewhat surprising and carries some very definite risks. our chief national correspondent john king is here to assess what's going on. you spent a lot of time studying paul ryan. and you have looked at the pluses he brings to the ticket and some of the minuses. >> it's bold and risky all at once, wolf. the biggest plus is the immediate one you see. romney had a bit of a swagger, he's looser. this is the first oh, yeah, i'm the nominee, the leader of my party. and you could see him a little looser today. the american people are going to decide between romney and obama. but can paul ryan help? here's some of the pluses. you see evidence already. he energizes a republican base that's been somewhat suspicious of romney. you can see it already. people saying this is a big ideas guy. we want him there. he's an energetic debater and campaigner. 42, you mentioned that. you could see it today. he adds youthful vigor to the base. but there are some downsides. he has never run, meaning he's never won, statewide. so can he help mitt romney? can he put wisconsin in the republican column? that's a big question mark. the candidates will be together. their first event in the milwaukee suburbs. that's the key test there. zero foreign policy experience. people are saying governor romney's also weak there. the democrats will make that an issue. and on the one hand, 42 is youthful vigor. on the other hand, some will say is a 42-year-old house member ready to become commander in chief? >> policy experience and most of his experience has been within washington and government or in think tanks, legislative aid. he doesn't bring, for example, the experience in the private sector that mitt romney would bring to the ticket. >> right. and so you'll have the one hand as paul ryan said today, there's a great combination. here's a guy from the outside. he was a governor, chief executive, a businessman. he doesn't have washington experience. i'm a guy who can help him navigate the nooks and crannies of the bureaucracy. governor romney is right when he says democrats respect ryan. they do respect him. as someone who comes to the table with ideas, not just with rhetoric and partisanship. >> yeah, he's a likeable kind of guy. that's what you hear as well. today i spent part of the day going through a lot of the interviews i've done with him over the past few years. i want to play this little clip and then i want to talk about it with you. it's about taxes, which is a very, very sensitive issue. >> not only are we open to tax reform as you describe it, it's in our budget. what we propose in our budget that passed the house is get rid of these loopholes in exchange for lowered rates. and what we want to do is get rid of these loopholes. all of these loopholes in exchange for lowering everybody's and every business's tax rates to make us more globally competitive. >> he doesn't like the fact, for example, that a company like ge pays no taxes for whatever reason. he wants to do away with those kinds of loopholes, different tax rates for u.p.s. as opposed to dhl. he goes into some specific details. is that orthodoxy as far as that conservative base which some of whom see any reduction in those loopholes as an affect the tax hike. >> it's becoming orthodoxy as far as simpler and fairer. even governor romney who's been criticized, aha, is he hiding some of his money overseas says let's get rid of those. however, some republicans draw the line they won't take that reform if in the end it brings more revenue to washington. what ryan said is i'm not going to consider that. he says it's critical to "a," to make it simpler for middle-class families, but he'll be very honest. he says the main goal is for businesses. you take away those stacks of the tax code, you get rid of all the loopholes, he thinks more money goes into the economic, economic growth, more of a reagan/kemp supply side. >> he said to me in these interviews he wants to work with democrats. he wants to find compromise. that hasn't happened lately, but maybe it will happen down the road. >> with these issues front and center, maybe whoever wins might have a mandate to govern. maybe. >> we'll see. john, thanks very, very much. we're only just beginning our special hour here in "the situation room." we have inside information into how mitt romney picked paul ryan. stay with us for a window into his decision-making process. 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>> well, that's something i've learned working with him as chief of staff in the governor's office for four years. there is a way, because he's very methodical in making his decisions. and what he wants is a couple things. first of all, he wants all the information. and we went about a very thorough process in making sure we had a lot of information about a broad group. he also doesn't like to rule anything out until he has to. you know, the first swath was brought. we got a good cut of information about a lot of people. he then narrowed it down. and we got even more information. we got personal information from each of the potential candidates. and at that point, again, we had some attorneys look through and go through everybody's record to make sure that there was, you know, i didn't want to miss anything about them. and then mitt took these candidate dossiers, and he thought about them. he read all of them word for word. i had talked with each of the candidates personally. he had obviously been campaigning with a lot of the folks that he was considering. and he read the dossiers. and we narrowed it down once again. and we did, you know, an even more deep dive on them. and then gave them the final product. he's thinking about it now. >> does he solicit your advice? >> he solicits the advice of a small group of his advisers. but then he asks, i think, everybody he meets. you know, what's your thought on this? >> and he listens? >> he listens. i mean, he asks -- you know, sort of people you wouldn't think that he'd ask about it. he talks to, you know, he calls friends from all walks of his life, all across the country, wanting to mow what thknow what. he listens to that. but he haven't told him -- i have not shared with him my opinion because i think it's important that i'm the object e objective -- >> so it's his comfort level with someone. >> yeah. >> and his feeling that person's qualified to be -- >> yeah. >> -- president. >> yes. absolutely. i mean, obviously, his first qualification is that the person is qualified to be president. and perceived to be qualified. >> gloria is here with me in "the situation room." good interview. i'm glad you did that. let's talk a little about what this says about mitt romney, what it says about paul ryan, the impact of all of this on the campaign. >> first of all, i think as beth myers says, it shows you that mitt romney is somebody who likes to look at all the data when he's making a decision, and the way she describes it it as someone who's very methodical. i also think he had to be personally comfortable with the person he was going to put on the ticket. but aside from that, wolf, i think it tells us something about where this campaign is headed. i think they took a look at the campaign, and they said, gee. we cannot run just against president obama's economy where they would have been up five or seven points by now. instead they're not. it's been either flat, or they've been down. so they said, look. we need to focus this campaign. and what they've done by putting paul ryon on the ticket -- and this is not without some risk -- is they focus this campaign and said, look, this is about the future, the economic future of this country. they want to talk about spending. they want to talk about tax cuts. they want to talk about deficits. and use that as a way to talk about the economy and where they would take it. >> looks like they've got a good, good relationship. >> yeah. >> it looks like they've energized this campaign. we'll see what happens, gloria. >> this is day one, right? >> we'll see what happens day two, tomorrow. thanks very much. paul ryan's midwestern roots, how his wisconsin hometown shaped his political belie beliefs. that and a lot more straight ahead. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. ♪ this is the sound... you feel that? no. the eassist is working. right now. that's spandau ballet, man. you did this all the way to the restaurant. yeah. we were going up a hill. getting extra horsepower. from a battery-powered generator. ♪ ah, ah ah, ah, ah ♪ it's helping us conserve fuel. this is important. [ male announcer ] the all-new, 37 mpg chevy malibu eco. from new technology to old friends. chevy runs deep. want my recipe for healthier hair color? natural instincts! formulated with aloe, vitamin and antioxidants natural instincts has a system that's a healthier way to radiant color. indulge... with natural instincts. less guilt, more gorgeous. consider the journey of today's athletes. their training depends on technology. and when it takes a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell. they rely on copper to go for the gold. duracell. trusted everywhere. and soon...even more reason to trust duracell. duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. duralock. coming soon to every duracell battery. when mitt romney first introduced his new running mate, he said paul ryan's beliefs remain firmly rooted in his hometown of janesville, wisconsin. that's where our athina jones is now. what are you finding out? >> reporter: hi, wolf. here we are outside of paul ryan's house. we spent the whole day talking to people all across town. and as you might imagine, wolf, people here are of two minds of congressman ryan and what it will mean for the republican ticket. folks here in paul ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin, are reacting to the big news. >> i think he's an excellent candidate. >> i personally don't like what he stands for. >> reporter: the seven-term congressman who comes from a prominent local family is well known in this town southwest of milwaukee. he attended school here, is a parishioner of the catholic church and his brik home on a quiet street sits near the home of extended family. neighbors describe him as down-to-earth. >> we've spoken to him in the neighborhood. we're friendly that way. just a downhome kind of guy. he's in the labor day parade with his kids and his daughter was selling lemonade. >> reporter: at a water ski tournament on the river, voters celebrated what they called ryan's vision and expressed hope that he will help the gop win this traditionally blue state. >> i think that he's got the country -- wants to get the country going where it needs to be going. budgetwise. and the economy. and but it also makes you feel good as a wisconsinite. so i hope that helps some of the other people who are on the fence or whichever to lean on over. >> reporter: while at the farmers' market just down the street from his office, voters applauded romney's choice for different reasons. >> i was very excited and inspired. >> reporter: why? >> just because paul has a great vision for america, and i think he's the right choice. >> reporter: some democrats say the pick many conservatives are hailing as bold and outstanding because of ryan's commitment to deep budget cuts will end up boosting the democratic ticket. >> i'm totally elated. >> reporter: why is that? >> because it's going to be easier for the democrats now. i think they can attack two guys, two birds with one stone, and there are fiscal restrain, read the records. they stand for the 1%. and they're going to gut all the programs for the poor. >> reporter: both detractors and supporters have good things to say about ryan. >> he sticks to his beliefs. and he's a big advocate for the district. i think he's a hardworking person. >> i think he's a man of integrity. >> reporter: but one thing voters we spoke with from both parties seemed a bit unsure of is whether the 42-year-old is ready to be president. >> i think he's not old enough yet to know what he's doing. >> reporter: do you think that paul ryan, he's 42, do you think he's ready to be president? >> i don't know yet. i mean, that's kind of young. >> reporter: now, as you know, wolf, i don't have to tell you that wisconsin has been a reryably blue state for years. ronald reagan was the last candidate to win it in '84. it's been a mixed bag. president obama won this county with 64% of the vote in 2008. of course, paul ryan has been elected seven times. so while there are plenty of democrats around here, there are also plenty of republicans. it will be interesting to see how the state goes in november. wolf? >> we'll see if paul ryan can turn things around in wisconsin for the republicans. athena jones, thanks very, very much. mitt romney's former republican presidential rival newt gingrich is standing by with his take on paul ryan. that's next. 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>> well, he special would have been on the very short list. and i was asked the other day in some editorial board, if you're looking for somebody to think strategically, who would you want in that room? and i immediately said paul ryan. here's a guy who has mastered the budget, but more importantly, he was one of the key players in creating a republican majority in the house in 2010. he knows how to focus the disciplined, get key things done. and yet he's a very down-to-earth kind of guy. if you look at his life in janesville and his family, he's going to resonate with middle erica, and he's going to resonate with midwesterners. >> he's got a wonderful family. he is well liked. but the democrats are going after him already. you shouldn't be surprised. on some of the substantive policy issues, which is fine. i want to see a good strong policy-oriented debate instead of focusing on trivial things. they're focusing on the impact it would have on low-income families. his programs would cut $3.3 trillion in low-income programs. another $2 trillion over ten years in other low-income programs. they say 62% of the cuts would come from low-income programs. so does this represent a problem down the road for him in this race over the next 87 days or so? >> well, i think actually it's the reason that it makes governor romney's choice courageous and correct. this is going to be a campaign about policy. paul ryan can defend what he's trying to accomplish. for example, in new york state medicaid, over 10% is fraud. over $4 billion a year. now, if we modernize medicaid, we're not hurting the poor. yeah, we're going to spend a lot less money if we just stop paying the crooks. >> waste, fraud and abuse, while it's important -- and don't get me wrong, it's very important -- that's not going to necessarily cause massive budget reductions. >> but medicare and medicaid is probably between $70 billion and $110 billion a year. >> i don't know -- where are you getting that number? >> that number comes from first of all "the new york times," general accounting office. the level of fraud in some of these programs is astonishing. so i think you'd see with the ryan approach an effort to decentralize back to the states, to go to a much less expensive program, and the fact is, this is what obama and biden are going to have to answer, if you don't want to cut anywhere, how are you ever going to get out of this massive deficit problem, and how do you avoid becoming greece? by the way, greece now has 54% unemployment among young greeks. >> they say they want to cut the democrats but not necessarily the areas you want to see, but cut some of the tax relief for the wealth yegs iestwealthiest, to get into that right now. but i do want you to hear what vice president joe biden back in july, july 16th, said about paul ryan because this sets the stage for an excellent vice presidential debate in october. >> these are honorable decent men and women. i'm not playing the game, you know, these guys are bad guys. they just have to different values set as to what is the most important thing that we should be doing. just look at congressman ryan. a bright, bright guy. an honorable man. his budget, which has been embraced by, i believe, every member in the republican side and the house of representatives. you might remember the first ryan budget last year, there was nothing subtle about it. it dismantled medicare and would have turned it into a voucher program over a ten-year period. >> dismantled medicare, turned it into a voucher program. well, he did call -- and he has called ryan for massive change in the way medicare has operated for people who are under 55 years old. a voucher program. >> sure, but now wait a second. let's start with facts. it is a fact that vice president biden represents the team that took $700 billion out of medicare in order to pay for obamacare. so here are the guys who have been gutting medicare, trying to cover what they're doing by attacking. second, congressman ryan has worked very closely with senator ron wyden, democrat from oregon, they have a bipartisan medicare reform plan that allows you to keep the current plan if you want to, or it allows you to go to a defined payment plan. but you get to choose. i think it's a very rational thing to do. it's something which many moderate and liberal organizations like brookings have said ought to be done. and so i think that it will be interesting to see if we can have an honest debate over the future because frankly, the obama team has gutting medicare, taking $700 billion, and putting it into obamacare. >> i've interviewed him many times over the years. i've always found him to be reasonable, ready to compromise with democrats. i know some conservatives, maybe you weren't happy. he voted for the t.a.r.p. legislation. he voted for the auto bailout which the president obviously supported, mitt romney didn't support it at the time. he's got -- he wanted to extend all the bush tax cuts that the conservatives like. are some of these votes that he had going to undermine -- going to hurt him with your fellow republicans? >> well, i think he's going to have to explain some of them. but the fact is, he is seen by virtually every conservative activist in the country as one of the most courageous and most dedicated advocates of getting back to a balanced budget, controlling spending in washington, returning power to the states. i think that it's very clear that paul ryan represents in the jack kemp tradition and the ronald reagan tradition the next generation of idea-oriented republicans and i think he's going to settle well with the country who is going to find it courageous -- and as you pointed out, very practical, willing to talk -- >> i think he is on that sense. vice president biden, by t way, issued a press release saying that he called him to congratulate him on the selection, welcomed him to the race. the vice president urged congressman ryan to enjoy the day with his family. he said he looked forward to engaging him on the clear choice voters face this november. this is going to be good debate between these two men. i'm looking forward to it in november. i know you are in october, excuse me. >> in that sense, i think it was a courageous decision by romney because it creates a clear division. there are two futures for america. you get to choose which future. the american people get to make this decision. and it elevates the campaign from the trash talk we've been getting recently into a serious choice. and i hope that the obama team will decide that they're actually willing to engage in a serious conversation. >> i'm sure that there will be a very serious policy debate right now which is what the american people want, they deserve, and there are clear differences between the democratic ticket and the republican ticket. mr. speaker, we'll look forward to seeing you at the convention in tampa. >> thank you. >> thank you. the obama camp is already showing us how it plans to run against paul ryan. we'll get the white house reaction. and other reaction. that's next. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. mid grade dark roast rest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing. ♪ zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. 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>> reporter: absolutely, they are. but not just seniors. they also plan to target women, veterans, college students, and as i mentioned, middle-class voters, arguing that paul ryan's budget also includes cuts to programs that impact all those constituent groups and that they will target all those constituent groups by pointing out there are ways paul ryan's budget would hurt them. so expect a targeted message that, again, this romney/ryan budget could be damaging to each of those groups, wolf. >> jessica is over at the white house, thank you. joining us on the phone right now, someone who has worked closely with paul ryan. congressman chris van hollen of maryland. he's the top democrat on the house budget committee. the chairman of that committee is paul ryan. as we all know. congressman, thanks very much for talking to us. tell us, what do you think of this decision by mitt romney? >> well, wolf, i've worked closely with paul ryan, and we get along personally, but we have very strong disagreements on budget issues and the economy. and i think this choice does crystallize a lot of issues in a way that's going to help the president because what mitt romney does by this decision is that he wants to double down on an economic plan that helps people like mitt romney at the expense of the rest of the country. at the expense of everybody else because if you look at the ryan and now romney budgets, that's exactly what it does. it provides these very big tax breaks to the very high end of the income scale and asks everybody else to sacrifice for the purpose of deficit reduction while asking nothing from folks at the top. >> he's made it clear to me in interviews over the years, he recognizes there needs to be compromise. he has to work with democrats. has that been your experience with him personally as the two top members of the budget committee? >> well, wolf, all i can say is that the republicans have put forward their budget on the floor of the house. it's an uncompromising budget. they rejected every single one of the amendments that democrats on the budget committee offered. it's a very lopsided approach compared to the bipartisan plans that have been recommended by groups like simpson-bowles. it doesn't even come close. and it doesn't come close because all of those plans say that we needhared responsibility. and the ryan plan doesn't ask the wealthiest to contribute one penny to deficit reduction. they ask everybody else to contribute which is why it does hit seniors on medicare, why it hits -- gives education budgets, and why it hits middle-income tax payers. >> listen to this exchange that was caught on tape last year by abc news between paul ryan and former president bill clinton. listen to this. it's fascinating. >> hey. paul ryan. >> how are you? >> i'm doing great. >> it's good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> i'm glad we won this race in new york. but i hope the democrats don't use it as an excuse to do nothing. >> my guess is it's going to sink into paralysis is what's going to happen. you know the math. we knew we were putting ourselves out there, but you've got to get out there. you've got to get this thing moving. >> do you want to talk about it? >> yeah. i'll give you a call. thanks. >> sounds like they were equally frustrated in that little conversation. i don't know if you could hear it as well as i could. what did you think? >> well, the reality is that the democrats have put forward a number of proposals to modernize medicare. we just have a very different way of doing it. our way says that we need to put more focus on the value of care provided as opposed to the current system which provides a lot of focus on the volume of care, but the republican plan that ryan's put forward shifts the costs and the burdens onto seniors. and i know president clinton does not support that plan. what president clinton supports is the kind of balanced approach that has been recommended by simpson-bowles. again, not every recommendation, but that framework, and i can tell you, wolf, that the president's budget proposal comes a lot closer to that balanced approach than anything that ryan or the republicans in the house have put forward. in fact, bowles, co-chairman of the committee, wrote a column recently to say exactly that. >> as you know, paul ryan was a member of the erskine bowles commission. he rejected it. but so did president obama. he rejected it as well even though he named that commission. here's an area where, for different reasons, paul ryan and president obama, agree. they didn't like the erskine bowles recommendations. >> what bowles and simpson have both said is that they loed at the president's budget proposal, and it comes a lot closer to the balanced approach they have proposed than the republican budget that's been put forward in the house by ryan and the house republican leadership. and the reason for that is that the ryan budget doesn't ask for one penny from the very wealthiest americans to help reduce our deficit. and the math is pretty clear. if you say the wealthiest don't have to pay a penny more, it means your budget everybody else. that's exactly what their budget does. they've been very uncompromising about the approach they've taken. in fact, as you know last summer, they threatened to have the united states default on its obligations for the first time in our history if we didn't enact their budget proposal. >> chris van hollen is a colleague of paul ryan on the house budget committee. congressn, thanks for joining us. paul ryan has been on a mission to re-invent the republican party. we're going to talk about his ideological roots when we come back. 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"the new yorker" magazine published a fascinating profile of the congressman by its washington correspondent who tweeted this about ryan friday night -- "he's a very nice guy but i would be flabbergasted if romney picked him as vp." ryan is also a cnn contributor, with us right now. why would you have been flabbergasted? >> well, i just didn't think -- this is contrary to what i thought of as romney's strategy in his election and frankly, his character. he's played it safe in this election and i thought his strategy going into this vp pick was focus on the economy, don't make the race about yourself, don't make the race about your vice presidential candidate and this changes that. this says, okay, i can't just rely on the bad economy or rely on obama's failure. i've got to change this more to a choice between two big, bold, contrasting ideologies. >> today you wrote romney has made the most daring decision of his political career. not just the last few weeks, but the career. >> i think so. another way of saying that is romney usually plays it safe. this is a gamble. we don't know. paul ryan's budget, the ideas -- hello, everyone, i'm fredricka whitfield in atlta. one day after making a formal announcement as a ticket for president and vice president, mitt romney and paul ryan now making another stop, this time in north carolina. they'll be making two stops in north carolina as they continue to make their bus tour through swing states. paul ruin of wisconsin right now speaking. he and his family welcomed to the stage, along with mitt romney and his family. they are now in high point, north carolina. >> thank you for what you're about to do because together we are going to get america back on the right track. it is our duty to offer you, our fellow citizens, a clear choice in this election. we have a clear choice of two futures. are we going to accept the stat cuss quo, accept the path that president obama has put us on, with government taking over our health care, government taking over all these different aspects of our economy, washington picking winners and losers in our economy, putting us on a path of debt, putting us on a path of doubt an decline, or are we going to get america back on track, turn this economy around, get back people to work and leave our children a better future? we can turn this around. we can do this. we can get this country back on track. we can get people back to work. we can get our debt paid off so our children inherit a better standard of living than what we gout because that's what our parents did for us. but we're going to need your help. we're going to need you -- this is all of us in it together -- we're going to need you to talk to your co-workers. we're going to need you to talk to your friends and your neighbor. this election is so important, we need you to talk to your relatives even on this one. we're at an inflection point in this country where the very idea of what this country stands for is on the line. america is extremely unique, because it is not just a place. it's not just north carolina or wisconsin or massachusetts or maine or california. america is an idea, and the idea of america was very clear. our founders made it really explicit. our rights come from nature and god and not from government. that's the idea of this country. that's the nature. the principles that built this country -- liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination, government by consent of the gofrverned. those are the principles that made us great, the principles our founders put forward and secured, every nation faces this test. thiss our generation's test. and when a country is facing a test like this, is when a country so desperately needs leadership. you know, the history books say that there are common characteristics of what makes a great leader. a person with a bedrock of principles, a person with a moral campus, a person with a vision, and a person who has the skills and the experience to put that vision into place. guess what? sounds like this guy, doesn't it? we know who we are. we know