Fresh off his State of the Union, Obama hits the road

>> in democratic strategist tad devine , a senior adviser for the kerry and gore campaign. tad, great to have you with us.

>> good to be with you.

>> what is president obama trying to accomplish with this five-state swing after the state of the union address ?

>> well, i think he wants to take that message that he delivered so powerfully to the nation last night and amplify it. he's standing in front of a construction site . a high-tech manufacturing site. earlier today he was in iowa at another manufacturing site. he's going to go on tomorrow and the next day to talk about energy and education and job training. so i think what the president wants to do is take that message he gave to america last night. if we pull together, have a system that treats people fairly, if we make the right investments we can rebuild this economy and don't have to go back to the economy he was left with the day he became president.

>> now one of the things he has said is that we should -- the congress ought to extend the payroll tax extension and he also talked about how they should deal with a fair tax reform policy. i just had a tea party congressman on who fairness, you can't even get them to discuss. how do we translate this into legislation, tad?

>> well, i think what the president is doing is the right way to win that fight. last night he talked about it in very human terms. he had warren buffett 's secretary sitting next to his wife in the halls of congress and he illustrated what warren buffett said months ago. that his secretary pays a lower rate than a billionaire does on his tax ooes --

>> that warren buffett pays a higher rate than his own secretary. and there's no better illustration of that than mitt romney 's tax returns which he made public. it's unbelievable that somebody who is making so much money, over $20 million, is paying so little in taxes. it's because the system is broken. i think the fact that the president has decided to take this on, the fundamental question of fairness in our society and make the fight on behalf of the middle class is very, very powerful. it's going to resonate with people. and i think the reason he's going to win this election.

>> now the thing that bothers me is that when you raise this, their response is you are just envious. you are just jealous. i mean, it is bad enough you have this lopsided arrangement, but on top of that is to say, well, this is lopsided. this is not fair. oh, you're just jealous.

>> well, you know, they are going to do everything to try and stop this debate. let's face it. the public is with the president when it comes to this issue. i think people recognize that there's fundamental unfair innocence the tax system . the president said it well. it's not a question of class warfare . it's just common sense that millionaires should pay as much in taxes as secretaries or working people do. so i think if the president goes out and frames that argument powerful, if he advances it the way he's doing today, i think he's going to win that fight and ultimately win the election as well.

>> now we had a note that he was met at the air strip when he landed by the governor of arizona . and they exchanged some words about the book scorpions for breakfast and how the president wasn't pleased with it and how she's been extremely critical of the president. i think also while he's there he's going to deal with the question, at least deal with the whole question of immigration and latino voters who are dissatisfied with a lot of what the right has done around this question of immigration, which is certainly this governor's -- i know from marching out in arizona about immigration rights. so clearly that's part of the issue when we look at the polls. the president is more than 2 - 1 beating mitt romney with latino voters. does this five-state trip also deal with the issues like immigration and other issues around the economy?

>> i think he will deal with the issue of immigration as he did in the state of the union address last night. i think the president is going to have a real advantage with latino voters. he's on their side and fights that matter to them. whether it's the dream actor other policies that mitt romney and other republicans have opposed. the president has made it clear he wants to take on this tough issue of immigration and try to find a path forward so we can have people who want to come to this country have an opportunity to do so legally. that people who seek an education can do so with as much assistance as possible. and i think our business leaders are telling us they want people who are trained here with the skills that they need to work in businesses and to establish new businesses. that's a key to our economic success and future. so the president is on the right side of that fight. the fact he'd go to states like arizona and nevada and colorado, where latino voters can be the crucial difference in winning those states where he has a huge advantage already and where he can build on that advantage, i think it's one of the reason he's has a good chance of winning all those states in the general election .

>> tad devine , thanks for your time tonight.