enter the 2012 me -- campaign. you may have thoughts about him and drew the raised or any of the gop candidates running for president for the first 45 minutes. specifically, we are interested in hearing from republicans on your thoughts. you can focus on them as a whole, you the focus on them specific. but we are interested in your thoughts on the current crop running for the presidency on the gop side. here is how you can call us this morning. a story stemming from herman cain's winning of the straw poll. this is rachel weiner talking about mr. cain. another perspective on the gop field as a whole. from the op-ed pages of "the washington post." eugene robinson start by talking about mr. cain. with those thoughts in mind, you can add yours as well as far as the current crop of the gop presidential field. if you want to call us -- again, republicans only -- yes, you got also e-mail us and contact us by twitter. croft and, maryland. we will speak to ronald first. caller: i am very disappointed in the republican party. i have been voting republican -- i have voted for some democrats -- for quite a period of time. the tea party people who really hate the government, they hate people. at a time when the government really should be helping people, funding jobs and funding construction and funding america, sending $12 billion a month over to iraq and iran -- in afghanistan, while our country is crumbling. host: would you look at the current field, who is most in line with your philosophy? caller: the republican field? i don't like any of them. i don't like any of them dared all of them are kowtowing to the t ba'ath party. host: who did you vote for last time? caller: who did you vote for last time? -- i vote for less time? i voted for president obama. host: alabama. caller: i disagree with the german who just spoke before. we do both for what we believe in. as far as the candidate -- gov. mitt romney, i don't care for him at all. i hope mr. christie does not get in. i like mr. cain. and mr. perry -- except for his standard immigration. host: you did not care for mitt romney. caller: i could not put my finger on it -- the same thing about john mccain. i had my -- to hold my nose and vote for john mccain. host: you hope that gov. christie did not enter. caller: the same thing about him. it seems like the big people in the republican party trying to get the ones they want to be in but people like me see the ones that we want. it is like there is a disconnect. host: mr. cain best reflects your personal philosophy? caller: yes, he does. a lot of his views reflect my personal philosophy. host: what do you make of what happened in florida with a straw poll and his viability? caller: i think it gave him the big boost he needed. i really do. host: shreveport, louisiana. good morning to you. randy, go ahead. caller: as far as i am concerned, the whole bunch -- not a whole bunch, but 99 percent of them are the same old political machine. ron paul has the answer. getting the troops back home and getting everybody killed, spending a bunch of money for nothing. it is all big corporations. he is the only one -- he was telling everybody what was going to happen in the last election and everybody laughed at him. and the man is right on the money. here is a couple of things i disagree with -- but he is a man i would vote for. it would not bother me to see herman cain on his ticket. host: how you think mr. paul -- how you think he is conducting this campaign rather -- caller: he is doing a lot better. you got all of these yale and harvard people trying to get into office. it is the same political machine. they are going to end up throwing perry and mitt romney under the bus and try to hustle in kristi and get everybody to look at him -- chris christie and get everybody to look at him. these people are bought and paid for by corporations and the global deletes. that is all this is. ron paul, he is a man of the constitution. he's got good morals. the rest of these people, they adjust the same old political machine as obama, bush, clinton, bush, and the rest of them. host: we will leave it there. ron paul coming up again on twitter this morning. indiana. tom, good morning de caller: good morning. host: what do you think about the field? caller: i like herman cain. because i watched him on tv last week and he mentioned something i don't think a lot of people know -- the government is raiding social security to pay for a lot of other programs. and if they stayed out of that, social security would never go broke. and i would like to see a republican -- herman cain, ron paul, are anybody say, let's get out of the wars within one month or two months and stop wasting our money over there because it is not appreciated. i don't like ron paul's -- watching the debate, the last one, where he says get rid of minimum-wage. it would not create more jobs for poor people. what does he want them working for? $2 an hour? is that how we are going to compete with china? another thing, i don't see anybody in my party going after china on how they are cheating us all the time. they are stealing everything. host: mr. cain getting a lot of activity on twitter bang --- cain made comments about his win of the florida straw poll. >> when the people are sending two distinct messages from this florida straw poll. number one, the voice of the people is stronger than the voice of the media. you know that the mainstream media has been trying to make the republican nomination into a two-person race, or, if not that, like last august it wanted to basically turn it into the flavor of the week. the second is the message is more powerful than money. my opponents, they spent a considerable amount of money trying to influence the outcome of the straw poll. i rented a bus, traveled around the state, talked to people, held rallies, and shared my common-sense simple message about what we need to do to fix things, especially the economy. and the whole 999 solution is resonating with people. host: there is gop presidential kamen it -- candidate herman cain. in case you are joining us, we are asking republicans to weigh in for the next 35 minutes on the gop presidential field. if you want to weigh in yourself -- woodbridge, virginia. charles, good morning. caller: i basically am with those who are not excited about the field. i don't know what it is about the republicans, why we cannot bring up a good field of smart people who have not been in politics before it and want to shake things up. having said that, herman cain is pretty impressive up there. but the one that i never thought that i would ever consider has really caught my eye, and my year, rather, and that is gingrich. his past, mainly his personal issues, i had wrote him off but he is more and more stepping up to be the most -- the one that is most delectable on stage. i think he is the guy now. being rich and cain would be the ticket -- newt gingrich and herman cain. host: what appeals to you? caller: when you listen to him, i was saying 80% are hard core conservative concepts but about 20% -- he is one willing to negotiate. that is our problem right now but i am a hard-core conservative. i am really tired of obama. and harry reid and all of these people. but if we do not find somebody who is willing to give an inch we will not get anything finished. i think newt gingrich's the one to do that. his contract of america -- the 21st century contract with america he is coming out with the next week or so, i think everybody should pay attention to it. i don't have any idea what it's going to say but i will and to listen. host: what about who the people call the front runners? caller: i am not interested in them at all. mitt romney, just as the other fellows, he is an absolute cookie cutter politicians. i don't care what he says, having been is -- in business. he has not brought up china. he has not brought any issues that are important to business in china. as far as rick perry goes, i don't know if this guy knows where he is. i don't know how it got elected in texas so many times. i am not interested in either one of those guys. i don't care who is running. i would not vote for either one. host: new jersey. good morning, pat. caller: for this presidential election, i am looking at herman cain and ron paul. it is tight between which one i will vote for. i like the idea of small government but in this bill in time i like somebody who is financially savvy running the country. host: what is mr. herman cain fit that belt -- bill? caller: i was reading a buy on him, and -- bio on him, he went from being a ceo to buy a subsidiary out and making it a successful business. host: does he appeal more to you personally, and so, what specifically? caller: his federal income tax going down to 9%, it really appeals to me. i don't make a lot of money with my job but the idea of actually not having the federal government take most of my paycheck away from me every single week really appeals to me. it is more money for me to spend the money to put back into the economy. host: your thoughts on the gop presidential field. republicans only. until 7:45 a.m. or so. let's look at some of the stories of the paper. this is "the wall street journal." a review of freddie mac in their practices when it comes to mortgages. kansas. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been aware of newt gingrich for many, many years. he is older and he has an experience of deeper thought and understanding of our governments and what has not worked. he has been there and he has seen it. and i have heard -- i can't quote him verbatim. i would like to have a copy of all of his speeches. host: let me make a suggestion. if you have a computer and you can go to the internet, i would invite you to go to our c-span website. if you do, we have a video library. caller: i will do that. but i want to call everybody attention to the fact that we don't really need a new young man who doesn't really understand what government is all about. we should never privatize war. if we are going to war we should conscripts our own people and paying for it ourselves. host: that is money in the kansas. she gives me an opportunity to make a plug for the video library, part of our services. a 2012 campaign coverage. you can go to our website and on the front page you can see a link in the far right corner that says video library. we invite you to type in any of the candidates' names and you can see a listing of the video appearances they made not only on this program but other forms as well. it gives you a good chance to see their thinking, thoughts, and how they developed over the years. again, that is c-span.org. high point, north carolina. caller: from the people i heard talking, i prefer herman cain myself for president. host: why is that? caller: he seems to know what he is talking about and he seems to me he is for the people. obama said he was going to fix everything up and he ain't done nothing -- obama is like what the indians used to say about the white man win they came -- when they came, false promises. "the new york times" this morning out of london. scotland that a chief prosecutor has asked the libya's new government to assist in tracking down documentary evidence and witnesses for a possible mistrial for those responsible for the lockerbie airliner bombing. delaware. philip, good morning. caller: i am a republican and i would like to send a message to all the republicans that have been calling in. you must unite whoever -- behind whoever the nominee and maybe in order to defeat barack obama. if not, you are going to have barack obama for another four years. you have to stop finding fault with the republican nominees -- nobody is perfect. they did it with mccain and ended up with barack obama. he is loving it right now. republicans, unite, whether the nominee may be. herman cain, mitt romney, rick perry. any one of them is better them what we have now. host: who is your favorite? caller: my favorite is mitt romney and he will be the man. i think because the appeals to everybody. not just two republicans -- but he appeals to independents nd even appeals to democrats but he is a much better candidate and experienced man than what we have now. host: by your own statement, why do you think he will be able to unite all of these forces especially within the republican party went? >> , i think his experience, his know-how, he is charismatic and is a good man basically, a man of values. i think he will take a good vice presidential candidates and that the republicans don't find fault with him and beat him, we will have him as president. not barack obama. host: does any of the current field provider good vice president of canada? caller: ne one of them. it could be michele bachmann, it could be herman cain. host: indianapolis, indiana. you are up next. caller: i like herman cain. i have ever since he started. i would like to see newt gingrich be in a good cabinet position. my comment about the first caller who called this morning. he was pretending to be a republican. i listened to him and could also tell that he was not a republican. he was a democrat trying to dissuade some people. anyway, herman cain. host: before you go -- newt gingrich in a cabinet position. which position? caller: anyone of them in high of authority. he has good ideas. treasury. host: tennessee. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span and thank you for the students cam. today it is herman cain and newt gingrich. i am a tea party member -- i want a line on c-span just for tea party members. we won herman cain, a staunch conservative, in the white house, taking our country back for our children. he said of 10% is good enough for god, 9% of a good enough for us. he will stand with israel. that is the man we need. america better wake up and look what is going on. do something for our children this time and not for politicians. host: tennessee. indiana, i am sorry. caller: i would vote for herman cain. he and ron paul are the only one speaking to the truth. host: aside from florida, what does mr. cain have to do to gain a better stronghold? caller: continue speaking to the truth. host: does it have the ability to do that? caller: yes, i do. host: he has been in the ditch with the rest of us. in knows how to work and to get the job done. this is twitter -- "the new york post" has a feature looking at gov. chris christie who is set to speak in simi valley, california. you can see it tonight at 9:00 on c-span. the governor, besieged by republican insiders to enter the presidential field after rick perry's gop debate meltdown takes a national stage tonight. this trip takes him to california, missouri, and louisiana. aides say it was scheduled well in advance. the latest push to get in to run for the white house. former first lady barbara bush reached out to chris christie's wife to convince her their children and family would be able to thrive in the white house despite the fishbowl-like attention. las vegas, nevada. caller: i would vote for none of the above at this point because they keep calling the health care law obamacare, and i think it is very derogatory. i just could not think it is right. host: that is the only thing that would keep you from voting? caller: yes. host: who did you vote for last time? caller: obama. host: and you are republican? caller: yes, i am. i don't like the way the republicans are doing the middle-class and they are not raising taxes on a higher class. host: why do you think that falls into republican principles? caller: i just do not think it is right to take medicare and everything and make us pay -- make the lower class pay more. host: plymouth, minnesota. good morning. caller: there you go. another democrat per cent -- pretended to be a republican. was it out of his mind? he does not believe one thing that a republican does. he must think we are all stupid or c-span is to become a to. anyway, herman cain, he gets my vote absolutely. i thought all of these tea party people and republicans were racist? and we are all calling in for herman cain. there you go, democrats. put that in your pipe and smoke it. host: facebook is also available to you if you want to weigh in. we put a question for the morning. you can see on the front page. you can weigh in as well. michael binder says -- new hampshire. tony, good morning. caller: i am primarily looking at ron paul with a strong second of newt's gingrich. host: tell me what went into your decision making process. caller: i think the primary motivator for this election is going to be the economy and acting ron paul's supply-side views are most spot on with what we have seen, with what is happening in the economy. no matter how many times they try quantitative easing and of the demand-side policies and always fails and always end up costing more. ron paul has a less expensive solution that will work. host: mr. gingrich? caller: i like newt gingrich. he has a lot of experience and the only republican the field who can claim under his belt that he has balanced a budget, which i think in the last 50 years or longer. he worked with the democrats, yet he still at the same time got conservative policies passed. i think a lot of republicans don't like to admit that. clinton was not as bad as some of these more leftist democrats that we are seeing today. host: there is a story in "the new york times" about those pushing gov. chris christie to run. you can see him tonight at 9:00 on c-span. it says -- manchester, new hampshire. hello to bob. go ahead. caller: how are you? calling from manchester. i don't know if there is a particular title -- newt gingrich, i think i would go for. there is similar to what the other gentleman had said. i wish that there was a presidential candidate out there that i could vote on that would bring all of the troops home, shot our borders down, get the economy rolling back. host: here is a story in "the washington post" out of russia. but mayor putin set to reassume the presidency -- block near putin is set to reassume the presidency -- vladmir putin. ohio. jessica, good morning bid caller: yes. i was just thinking, to may, michele bachmann and herman cain are looking very good -- to me. but i have a novel idea, which is the candidates should have to get a credit report rating. to show they can manage their finances before we give them over to the government. thank you for c-span. and for letting me -- host: without saying the numbers, leaving best defines that in the current crop? caller: i really liked cain. he seems to be very articulate and resonates with my beliefs. host: did you hold these beliefs before the florida straw poll? you are breaking up. apologies. let's go next to springfield, missouri. you are on. springfield, missouri. caller: i want to say that ron paul is the only one to vote for. host: because? caller: he will bring the troops home, and the federal reserve. get our economy rolling again. host: can i ask why you trust him? caller: because he had an outstanding voting record. he has been saying the same thing for over 25 years and he has never changed his position. if nostra bombers were alive today he would have a hard time keeping up with ron paul -- if nostradamus were alive today. pensacola, florida. sean. caller: good morning, pedro. good to get through to you. you are always the top drawer -- i have been watching you for 20 years. i am not overly impressed but i would say herman cain is good. i do like ron paul. i kind of lost interest in michele bachmann, though. i am a 67-year-old goldwater republicans, where i am coming from. but i saw somebody on c-span at the beginning of the month will item -- found it interesting. his name as buddy roemer. he said he was going to be throwing his hat in. there is a seasoned man. i want somebody season. not a chris christie. host: if you care about celebri