democrats tied republican jane corwin to ryan's plan, which makes major changes to medicare. what did we learn from this, mark? >> when they change seats and one party wins and the other part of this is, they get attention. the especially get attention when it rolls out a single issue that captures the american people's attention. republicans are on the defensive, but democrats are on the offensive. let it be noted that kathy hochul was a far better candidate than gencorp when, but that the ways that medicare -- then jane corwin, but medicare helps democrats and republicans. >> colby? >> she is in the middle of this ocean and all of a sudden this 50-pound weight called medicare since her to the bottom of the ocean. >> evan, you predicted that this would be demagogued. >> demagoguing works. to be apocalyptic about this, if the democratic system cannot figure out what to do about this problem, it is a big trouble oil country. >> charles, what is the lesson from this? >> evan's wisdom, demagoguery works. republicans are linked to this proposal, there is no escaping it. all house

democrats tied republican jane corwin to ryan's plan, which makes major changes to medicare. what did we learn from this, mark? >> when they change seats and one party wins and the other part of this is, they get attention. the especially get attention when it rolls out a single issue that captures the american people's attention. republicans are on the defensive, butemocrats are on the offensive. let it be noted that kathy hochul was a far better candidate than gencorp when, but that the ways that medicare -- then jane corwin, but medicare helps democrats and republicans. >> colby? >> she is in the middle of this ocean a all of a sudden this 50-pound weight called medicare since her to the bottom of the ocean. >> evan, you predicted that this would be demagogued. >> demagoguing works. to be apocalyptic about this, if the democratic system cannot figure out what to do about this problem, it is a big trouble oil country. >> charles, what is the lesson from this? >> evan's wisdom, demagoguery works. republicans are linked to this proposal, there is no escaping it. all house rep

jane corwin was looked at as someone late to the defense of that plan. and special elections turn on lots of things. turnout, the third party candidate -- gwen: it's possible to overinterpret. >> yes, but republicans and democrats in the aftermath are looking at medicare and saying this was the lever. this was decisive. the polling for three consecutive weeks before this election was held showed hawkull ahead. there was plenty of money engaged in this. medicare was her top issue and she prevailed in a very red district. that means republicans have to do one of two things. get off the medicare train entirely or defend it more aggressively. >> which one are they going to do? >> they will stick with it. they are now in the process of trying to defend it more aggressively. i talked to paul ryan yesterday. he said to me this is no time to go wobbly. this is a churchillian moment for our party and for me. he said he talked to 100 house republicans in the last 48 elections, since the special election. all of them said, put me in, coach. we're ready to defend th

we just cannot afford ja davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand in creating the democrat majority with nancy pelosi. >> she has done a great job for this country. >> great job? jack and kathy cannot fight for us. they come with strings attached. host: what is gng on here? guest: folks are wanting to put two candidates as the negative. jack davis on one side. it is an interesting race. i am sure the new york voters are tired of hearing about it. it is a very republican district. district. host: those were congressional at. here are some for jane corwin. >> cafe is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. and -- kathy is the one who says she will cut medice and social security. >> im jane curtin. i will n cut medicare or social security. >> look for yourself. >> look for yourself. kathy hochul.caf >> i am kathy hochul and i approve this message. guest: this is all about medicare. in the first ad from jane corwin, she is trying to distance herself a little. corwin did say she supported the brien budget and m

corwin and tea party candidate jack davis. elaine quijano has more. >> we're fighting to preserve the american dream. >> reporter: republican jane corwin is pushing to get out the vote. >> i just want to remind you the election is on tuesday. >> reporter: in this republican stronghold that supported george bush and john mccain. >> got my vote. >> my husband is going to vote for you too. >> great. >> reporter: corwin is on defense over the republican's plan to eventually replace medicare with a voucher system. they say that will prevent medicare from going bankrupt in 13 years. >> that's our mandate to make some changes torque make sure the program is around not just for seniors today but in the future. >> it's going to definite state medicare, shing to save it for all of us. >> reporter: in a district where 40% of registered voterses are 55 and over, medicare has become the top issue. >> who will fight to keep medicare for our seniors and future seniors. >> reporter: democrat kathy hochul. >> secure my medicare. >> reporter: h

we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand in creating the democrat majority with nancy pelosi. >> she has done a great job for this country. >> great job? jack and kathy cannot fight for us. they come with strings attached. host: what is going on here? guest: folks are wanting to put two candidates as the negative. jack davis on one side. it is an interesting race. i am sure the new york voters are tired of hearing about it. it is a very republican district. district. host: those were congressional at. here are some for jane corwin. >> cafe is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. and -- kathy is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. >> im jane curtin. i will not cut medicare or social security. >> look for yourself. >> look for yourself. kathy hochul.caf >> i am kathy hochul and i approve this message. guest: this is all about medicare. in the first ad from jane corwin, she is trying to distance herself a little. corwin did say she supported the brien budget

corwin last night. corwin steadily lost support after she came out in favor of the republican budget plan which proposes cuts in medicare to lessen the deficit. the election was called to replace republican chris lee who resigned after his shirtless photo appeared on the internet. >>> back to our top story, we want to take a look at local news coverage from the latest round of storms. from our affiliate, kfor news channel 4. assigned to the dangerous task of documenting the disaster unfolding before them, putting themselves in harm's way to bring you these astonishing reports. >> it's bigger than before. it's across i-40. >> look at that. you can see it. you see it? see the bright spot? that's just ahead of it. look at the size of it. a giant wedge tornado. i-40 is closed. they're shutting it down right now. get ready to get out of the way or get below ground. do you see that? that is a giant cloud on the ground. it is huge. >> winds are 80 to 100 miles an hour and slow. it's truly amazing. that is the

we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand in creating the democrat majority with nancy pelosi. >> she has done a great job for this country. >> great job? jack and kathy cannot fight for us. they come with strings attached. host: what is going on here? guest: folks are wanting to put two candidates as the negative. jack davis on one side. it is an interesting race. i am sure the new york voters are tired of hearing about it. it is a very republican district. district. host: those were congressional at. here are some for jane corwin. >> cafe is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. and -- kathy is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. >> im jane curtin. i will not cut medicare or social security. >> look for yourself. >> look for yourself. kathy hochul.caf >> i am kathy hochul and i approve this message. guest: this is all about medicare. in the first ad from jane corwin, she is trying to distance herself a little. corwin did say she supported the brien budget

kathy hoakhold deseated jane corwin in what's widely seen as a referendum on medicare. corwin was favored to win but saw it evaporate. the special election came after congressman chris lee resigned. lee quit in february, when shirtless photos that he sent to a woman who wasn't his wife turned up online. >>> former senator john edwards may be prosecuted for violating campaign finance laws. the justice department is reportedly about to file charges against him. a grand jury has been looking into allegations edwards used $1 million in campaign money to hide the identity of his mistress. >>> president obama is in london this morning on day two of his state visit to britain. today he'll meet with prime minister david cameron and address the british parliament. last night, though, mr. obama, along with mrs. obama, were guests of honor at a state dinner. during the president's toast to the queen, there was an awkward moment. >> this realm, this england, to the queen. >> the president turned to toast the queen, then realized, he had to wait for the song "god save the queen" to

corwin is forty two percent of the vote there was a third party candidate jack davis but he only took nine percent of the vote the democrats won because they successfully turned this election into a referendum on the republicans plan to end medicare take a look at this ad that's been running around the nation. as we saw yesterday's election the american people are putting up with the right wing radical agenda to kill medicare so it's paul ryan with the help of the tea partiers and it's millionaire and billionaire financier is like the koch brothers killing off the republican party as we know as we know it and it's talk about this issue is phil kerpen vice president for policy of americans for prosperity phil welcome back my pleasure thomas nice to see a hopeful soul of the fourth democrat to ever hold the city as i mentioned since eighteen. seats hundreds isn't it time for the republican party is for backing away from from paul ryan the way the new congress tried to do sunday in africa and i think that would be a big mistake to read this race that way the democrat here only won by abo

we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. host: in "the washington post" story -- the democrats have also created a web site. here is what the front page looks like. house republicans' budget subsidized millionaires, of course, and oil companies but ends medicare. big oil subsidies, tax cuts for millionaires and tax breaks for of shoring companies tallied 172 billion. in fact your telephone calls. this is antioch, california. patricia, independent. how old are you? caller: i am 60. the way to improve medicare is to go with dennis [inaudible] plan. if we all pay into it, everyone can be taken care of. right now as far as doctors opting out of medicare, doctors would go out of business without medicare. there are maybe one or two that can afford to exist without medicare. hospitals would close without medicare, without the medical insurance program. i am 60 so i am not included as part of this new ryan plan, but i have concerns for other people. my mother is on medicare right now, and she pays $100 per month out of personal sec

corwin is forty two percent of the vote there was a third party candidate jack davis but he only took nine percent of the vote the democrats won because they successfully turn this election into a referendum on the republicans plan to end medicare take a look at this ad that's been running around the nation. as we saw at yesterday's election the american people are putting up with the right wing radical agenda to kill medicare so is paul ryan with the help of the tea partiers and its millionaire billionaire financier is like the koch brothers killing off the republican party as we know as we know it or talk about this issue is phil current vice president for policy at americans for prosperity phil welcome back my pleasure thomas nice to see a hopeful soul in the fourth democrat to ever hold the city as i mentioned since one thousand. seating hundreds isn't it time for the republican party is for backing away from from paul ryan the way the new gamers tried to do a sunday and a half ago and i think that would be a big mistake to read this race that way the democrat here only won by abo

we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand in creating the democrat majority with nancy pelosi. >> she has done a great job for this country. >> great job? jack and kathy cannot fight for us. they come with strings attached. host: what is going on here? guest: folks are wanting to put two candidates as the negative. jack davis on one side. it is an interesting race. i am sure the new york voters are tired of hearing about it. it is a very republican district. district. host: those were congressional at. here are some for jane corwin. >> cafe is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. and -- kathy is the one who says she will cut medicare and social security. >> im jane curtin. i will not cut medicare or social security. >> look for yourself. >> look for yourself. kathy hochul.caf >> i am kathy hochul and i approve this message. guest: this is all about medicare. in the first ad from jane corwin, she is trying to distance herself a little. corwin did say she supported the brien budget

in one of new york's most conservative districts, democrat kathy hokul defeated jane corwin. the race came done to one key issue. >> republican jane corwin supports a budget that essentially ends medicare. >> reporter: that would be congressman ryan's budget plan that would replace medicare with taxpayer subsidized insurance plans. americans age 55 or older would not be affected by the changes. facing withering criticism, ryan defended his proposal. >> people may not like the plan but it fixes the problem. it gets the debt paid off. it balances the budget. >> reporter: democrats are gloating over hokul's win. >> i think new york 26 tells republicans that the end of medicare is bad policy and bad politics. >> reporter: republicans chalk up their loss to a third party candidate aligned with the tea party who they say drained support from corwin. whatever the spin, it seems clear that without the ryan medicare plan, republicans would have been able to hold on to the seat. democrats think they've finally found a winning issue. an abc news poll last month found that 65% of america

republican jane corwin placed second with 43%, followed by democrat-turned-tea party candidate jack davis at 9%. at a victory rally tuesday night, hochul supporters chanted "medicare, medicare." >> tonight, we showed that voters are really willing to look beyond the party label and vote for the person and the message they believe in. ( applause ) and we showed that thousands and thousands and thousands of voters are more powerful than millions and millions of dollars of special interest money. ( applause ) >> woodruff: outside interest groups, including the conservative american crossroads, spent more than $2 million on the race. in a statement, the group's c.e.o. steven law said, "what is clear is that this election is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks that 2012 will be just like 2010." house budget committee chairman paul ryan authored the republican medicare plan. today, he warned against politicizing the issue, at a washington event hosted by the peter g. peterson foundation. >> whenever you put out a reform and what they do with medicare is they shamelessly demagogue it, call it m

jane corwin square off against cathy hokol. this special election will be held next tuesday in new york to fill the vacancy of former republican congressman chris lee who resigned on february 9 after he was caught soliciting -- caught soliciting women on craigslist. this is one hour. >> welcome. our panelists are joining me. we have our candidates seated in the order they appear on the ballot. first we have cathy hokol. corwin.e corps wh we invited a third candidate but he did not respond to our invitation. we did not invite the green party candidate because he did not qualify under our debate conclusion guidelines. we begin with our opening statements, the order which was determined by a coin toss and miss corwin will go first. >> thank you for hosting this event. i sat in critical decided to run for congress because i look at the federal policies coming out of washington and that believe our government is taking the country in the wrong direction. i grew up loving the american dream by coming from a middle- class family and m

our participating candidates, kathy hochul and jane corwin. for our reporters, we had wxxi's -- wxxi's voice of the voter debates are supported by the rochester area community foundation. i'm julie philip reminding you that the special election is next tuesday, maye 24. from the wxxi studios in rochester, good night. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> next on c-span a senate hearing examining the future of nasa and space noo flight. then a news conference with the russian president. and a debate between the candidates for the special election in the 26th congressional district of new york. on tomorrow's "washington journal" a look at the g.o.p. presidential field with tom davis of the republican mainstream partnership. consumer product safety commission chairman ines tenenbaum. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> history is, as you know, is much more than just politics and soldiers. and social issues. it's also medicine and science

and jane corwin running on the republican, conservative, and independent line. we invited a third candidate, jack davis, but he did not respond to our invitation. when did not invite the green party candidate because he did not qualify under the debate guidelines. we begin with opening statements, the order of which was determined by coin toss. >> thank you very much for hosting this event. i decided to run for congress because i look at the federal policies coming out of washington and i believe our government is taking this country and the wrong direction. i grew up loving the american dream. the team from a middle-class family. my parents did not have college degrees. we worked really hard, took some chances, had a great people working alongside us, and we were successful. when i was a kid, i remember delivering phone books with my friends. as a teenager, i used to proofread the phone pages. after going to college and getting my m.b.a., i came and worked in the family business and the rochester area. i also helped as chief financial officer of finances, worki

>> jane corwin has embraced it. she's been asked again and again and continues to support it. >> corwin doesn't disagree. >> medicare is certainly a very important issue to our seniors and that's why i'm working so hard to support a plan that is going to protect medicare for seniors and ensure that the program is around for future generations. >> reporter: a big factor making this a dead heat, jack davis who says that he represents the tee party tea party across lines and a sign of how stakes the are, close to $2 million so far, and national leaders flying in to show their support. >> i think she's a great candidate. >> regardless of the outcome t. will be significant as it previews the battle lines ahead that we'll see in the next round of congressional races next year. very close race and everyone is watching and the election is tuesday. >> this tuesday. $2 million and good for the local economy. they could use some of that economic stimulus. >> that's just from the outside groups. a couple of the candidates have

corwin. jack davis, 12% support. this is between the 4% march sxwrmarch margin between the democrat and republican. the fact a democrat is competitive is a surprise. the last time a democrat was elected to this seat in new york 26 was more than four decades ago. that's why we are watching it so close. >> kate bolduan, live from capitol hill, many thanks. >>> checking other news. the supreme court has ordered california to trim its state prison population by more than 30,000. they have two years to do it. the problem, huge overcrowding that the court found cruel and unusual. state officials hope to avoid mass releases. they are looking to transfer lower-level prisoners to county jams. >>> the christian broadcaster behind all the doom's day drama said he misunderstood what the bible was trying to tell him. >> the great earthquake and rapture and the universe melting in fervent heat will all happen on the last day october, 21, 2011. in other words, we have been teaching that it would happen on m

our participating candidates, kathy hochul and jane corwin. also, thank you to our panelists. wxxi's voice of the voter debates are supported by the rochester area community foundation. that special election is next tuesday, may 24. from the wxxi studios in rochester, good night. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] a thaw morning on c-span -- energy secretary steven chu visits capitol hill to discuss his department's annual budget. then "washington journal" live with your phone calls. later, live coverage of president obama as he talks about the middle east. >> history is, as you know, is much more than just politics and soldiers, social issues. it's also medicine and science and art and music and theater and poetry and ideas, and we shouldn't jump things into categories. it's all part of the same thing. >> samuel morris, john singer sargent, thomas edison, henry adams, sunday night on "q&a," part one of two weeks with david mccullough on the americans who made the journey to america from paris, on 8:

we just cannot afford jack davis or jane corwin. >> meet jack davis. he claims he had a hand at creating nancy pelosi's democratic majority. great job? nancy pelosi pushed through the system was that created jobs in china. jack and kathy cannot fight for us when they come with strings attached. the national republican congressional committee is responsible for the content of this advertisement. host: the latest ads in rochester and buffalo, new york. thank you very much for being with us. you point out in your story this morning that she is up four percentage points. another poll has it essentially a dead heat. how did it get this close? guest: there are three candidates in this race. certainly, medicare has emerged as an issue that many voters are concerned about. there was some polling and a poll that found on saturday that one in five voters -- medicare is the most important issue. host: in the poll, you point out that the candidates' unfavorable ratings continue to grow. what does that tell you about the negative ads we have seen? guest: yes, the u

a new college poll shows that the democrat kathy hochul has a slight lead over republican jane corwin. the tea party candidate, jack davis, had 12% support in the poll, far behind the others, but enough to affect a close race. one of robert gates' on a pass before retiring as defense secretary is to set the pentagon on a budget-cutting course that he spent much of his tenure trying to avoid. gidget de -- he is expected to give details of the approach in a speech today at a washington think tank, expected to be his final speech before he retires. intelligence officials are warning against deep spending cuts by congress. they say the u.s. could end up with the same intelligence failures that led to the september 11 attacks. in the report being released today by the intelligence and national security alliance, it warns that when the u.s. declared a victory and slashed intelligence operations in africa, that was just as al qaeda was taking root. meanwhile, lawmakers said that while the are keeping the budget just about flat for 2011 and 2012, there is still $80 billion for the third strai

state assembly woman jane core win, it's heavily republican. a majority of registered voters in the district are over 45, and corwin's staunch support may dim her chances. kathy hochul is only down five points. that's amazing. the republicans were on full display last night. the big-name contenders didn't bother to show up. the most popular guy there, based on recent polls was ron paul, coming in a whopping 35% in the recent polls. john boehner didn't even care enough to watch it. he spent his night at a steakhouse. sounds like an average night for boehner, swilling cabernet all night long. he said there's more time for people to get in. wow, that's not exactly a hardy endorsement for the field. they spent a lot of time on social issues and of course bashing obama on foreign policy, despite the fact we just got bin laden. here's a sample of the debate. >> governor pawlenty, you've had plenty to say about romney-care. >> governor romney is not here to defend himself, so i'm not going to pick on him or the position he took in massachusetts. >> wh