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American Morning
Democrats Take Control of Congress with a Projected 26-Seat Margin
Aired November 08, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: While the U.S. Senate is still undecided at this hour. The Democrats pick up four of six seats needed for control there, locking in a win for Claire McCaskill in Missouri overnight. Republicans hang onto a seat in Tennessee, however, Bob Corker defeating Harold Ford, Jr. there.
But there is an all out fight in two battlegrounds this morning, Virginia and Montana, the winners of those races will determine who controls the Senate. President Bush to call Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi this morning. She, expected to be the first female speaker of the House.
We'll hear from him at a news conference set for 1 this afternoon, Eastern Time, you'll see here on CNN, of course. We'll keep you updated as results come in throughout the morning. We have reporters in those two undecided states, of course. Ed Henry in Virginia, Chris Lawrence in Montana.
We also have a breakdown of the issues that drove the vote. We'll take a look into the future. What will the power shift in Washington mean for President Bush's last two years of office? And for the next campaign, for the race for president in 2008.
Let's get right to Virginia. A recount is looming. A legal battle could be brewing with one candidate claiming victory, the other refusing to concede defeat. CNN's Ed Henry live now from Richmond, Virginia with more.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Miles.
I'm outside the election night headquarters of Republican Senator George Allen, which perhaps has become the morning after headquarters. That was the site last night of some shock and awe for team Allen.
As the night wore on, they saw the senator's small lead shrink and shrink until finally he fell behind. What's shocking for them, mostly, this was supposed to be a cake walk for the senator, just a few months ago. He was going to win this re-election easily and head on to a White House run in 2008. That was not to be.
One miscue after another, especially that infamous "macaca" moment. Now Allen in a dog fight and in danger and maybe on the verge of losing a senate seat and, perhaps tilting control of the entire United States Senate to the Democrats.
Jim Webb, the Democratic challenger, now up about 8,000 votes, but there are still six precincts in the Commonwealth of Virginia that have not yet been counted. This morning we're waiting for those results. But that did not stop Jim Webb in the wee hours of the morning from declaring victory, while Senator Allen said he's not conceding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM WEBB, (D) SENATE CANDIDATE: We all go out, we vote. We argue, we vote. But also I would like to say that the votes are in, and we won.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN, (R) VIRGINIA: The point of the matter is, I've been through it. I think that the counting -- I know the counting will continue through the night. It will continue tomorrow. And I want to thank you all, because I know you're going to be like a bunch of eagles and hawks, watching how every one of these votes are accurately counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Virginia law does not allow for an automatic recount. Instead, if the difference is within 1 percent, as it is right now, then the loser has the ability to call for a recount. But that cannot happen until the end of November, November 27th, in particular, when Virginia has to certify those results. Between now and then, they'll be canvassing, checking, rechecking. If there's a recount, it cannot start until the end of November, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So, what happens though, until the end of November, is sort of tantamount to a recount, right? They're checking all their results, right?
HENRY: Checking, rechecking and presumably, that would help them lay the groundwork if there is a recount, to see whether they have all their ducks in a row. It's a big if whether there would be a recount. You would presume the whoever the loser ends up being is going to want to make sure everything is double and triple checked, because there's so much at stake. It is not just one Senate seat. It could potentially be, depending on Montana, control of the entire Senate, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Ed Henry, in Richmond. Thank you.
The other crucial race, which could tilt the balance of power in the Senate is in Montana. And that's where the votes are still being tallied in the race between John Tester and Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. Tester, as of now, is slightly ahead. There are wrinkles here. Let's get the latest from Chris Lawrence is in billings.
Chris, good morning.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Miles, "slightly" is the operative word. The gap is now closed between John Tester and Republican Conrad Burns. The gap is closed to about 1,600 votes. That's all that separates Tester and Burns at this point.
We've also learned that there are about 500 absentee ballots that have yet to be counted in one county, because they are reportedly illegible. The election officials have scheduled to review those ballots at about 1:00 in the afternoon today.
Again, Tester holds a very slim lead. It will be interesting to see what effect President Bush may have had on this election, if any. The president did come to Montana just five days before the election. He appeared with Senator Burns and campaigned for him. He urged voters to vote for Burns, telling them that Democrats would raise their taxes if Burns wasn't put back in office.
I spoke with one voter who said he specifically voted for Burns because of his strong support for President Bush's agenda. But yet again, I spoke with another voter who said things just aren't going well, and he voted for change because of Burns' strong association with the president, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence in Billings, thank you.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: All right, so while we await the outcome in the Senate, the Democrats are celebrating huge wins in the House. CNN projects Democrats picked up at least 28 seats. They only needed 15 to take control, for the first time since 1994.
Why did Americans vote the way they did? CNN's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider is with us this morning to take a look at that question.
Good morning to you.
WILLIAMS SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: OK, the takeaway. What did voters and maybe more importantly, Republicans learn last night?
SCHNEIDER: That voters want change, they were unhappy with the way things were going in the country. The primary reason, the war in Iraq. But there were many other reasons as well. Corruption, scandals in Washington. The sense, as you see here, these are the top issues.
The economy, this is an interesting issue. The Republicans thought the economy would be terrific. And issue for them, the stock market is hitting record highs.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm surprised it's got 39 percent.
SCHNEIDER: Look, gas prices are dropping. But we also heard, just a little while ago, on this show, that the housing slump, most Americans have their retirement locked into their housing value. When they see housing values decline, they get very, very nervous. Wages are stagnating, jobs are being lost. So the economic issue did not pay off for Republicans.
S. O'BRIEN: Which is interesting, because every time you do -- often, when you do an interview with a Republican candidate, they would immediately turn the issue from Iraq to, in fact, glowing about the economy. And you can see, from those numbers, it really did not work for them.
SCHNEIDER: It did not work for them.
S. O'BRIEN: All politics is local, is how the saying goes.
SCHNEIDER: Nope.
S. O'BRIEN: OK.
SCHNEIDER: This looked like a parliamentary election, they would call it in Europe. Because voters -- you know, when you go in -- I've covered elections in Europe. When you interview voters, who say who are you going to vote for? They say I'm going to vote Labor or I'm going to vote Conservative.
Well, in this country they'll usually tell you who they're going to vote for. But this time, a lot of people -- I was in about a dozen congressional districts, a lot of voters said, I'm going to vote Democratic, they didn't even know the name of the Democrat. But they said, I'm going to vote Democratic, because I don't like Bush. I don't like the war. I want to make a statement. You found that happening all over the country.
S. O'BRIEN: Whenever you would ask Republican leadership about whether this vote was a referendum on the president, they would immediately say no. They'd say back to all politics is local. It's about certain issues. This has proven that not true, right?
SCHNEIDER: It's not true. The best example is Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, who had a 63 percent job approval in Rhode Island. They liked him. But they didn't vote for him. They didn't vote for him because he's a Republican. Even though he's anti-war, he didn't even vote to re-elect President Bush, the fact is, he would vote to make the Republicans majority party in the Senate. His opponent said you are empowering the Republicans if you vote for Chafee. Most voters in Rhode Island didn't want to do that.
S. O'BRIEN: Republicans worked hard to motivate and mobilize the core, the base. And some people said ignored the swing voters. That kind of came back to bite them.
SCHNEIDER: Yes the swing voters swung back and they swung against the Republicans. They were supposed to be irrelevant and in previous elections, for about the last 10 years, swing voters are divided evenly, so who cares. They're independents.
They are like a third sex. Who needs them? But in fact is this year they really had their revenge. Independents voted almost 60 percent for the Democrats. We haven't seen that since exit polling began about 30 years ago. This was swing voters swinging hard. S. O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, on the program, a bumpy ride at the polls. We'll look at the glitches nationwide, that made for a rough day for some voters.
And now that the Democrats are poised to control the House, will President Bush have to change the course in Iraq? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D-MO) SENATOR ELECT: This election was not about me. This election was about you. It was about you and thousands others like you across this state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: That's Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri, just a few hours ago. She unseated one-term incumbent Jim Talent. Going into election day the polls told us this was the closest Senate race of them all. McCaskill ended up winning by about 30,000 votes, however. She'll join us here, in our next our -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It was a convincing win for the Democrats in the House. CNN projects that they are going to pick up at least 28 seats, and the Senate is just two races away from changing hands. Americans went to the polls and demanded change in no uncertain terms. Paul Begala is a Democratic strategist, also CNN political analyst. J.C. Watts is a former Republican congressman, also a CNN political analyst.
Gentlemen, I welcome you.
J.C., let's start with you because it was a bad night. What's the message Republicans need to take from this?
J.C. WATTS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Soledad, I said last night, I'm not so sure the American people were voting for Democrats. I think they were voting against Republicans. I think that gives Democrats an opportunity, I think, to make tremendous gains over the next couple of years.
The message was change. Well, change from what? Interest rates are down, unemployment's low, deficits are down. I think it's too --
S. O'BRIEN: Right, but we saw on the exit polls that the economy didn't rate as a kind of issue --
WATTS: No, but I'm saying -- no, it didn't because people didn't pay attention to that because what they did pay attention to is corruption in Washington -- and Iraq. I'm not so sure they were saying we're opposed to the war in Iraq. They were saying tell us what's going on. What is the plan?
Now, as I said, the Democrats are going to have an opportunity to say, OK, our plan isn't being against the president's plan. This is our plan. I think that remains to be seen, what that plan is.
S. O'BRIEN: When you hear somebody like Vice President Dick Cheney say, essentially, "full steam ahead". Was that a strategic mistake, as opposed to, sort of the reality of there is a lot of violence in Iraq and candidates can't really necessarily do something about that?
WATTS: Well, I think there were some conviction to him saying that. However, if you are saying that and the benchmark every day is American soldiers' lives being lost, more money being spent, what are we going full speed ahead on?
And, again, I think that's the question. That's the question of the day. And I think if Democrats are going to, I think, make gains over the next couple of years and even just the next couple of months, they have to frame that to say this is our plan.
I think the president and his team -- I don't think they've done a very good job framing that issue to say this is what we're going to do to win. This is how we're going to win. The American people want to win this war. They also want to know what's the plan to win it.
S. O'BRIEN: You're talking about expectations and the ball is kind of handed right to the Democrats now. It's great news and also sometimes troubling news as well. What do Democrats have to do? And what can they do?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, they have -- I guess my old boss Bill Clinton would call a high-class problem. Right?
S. O'BRIEN: A problem you'd like to have.
BEGALA: Exactly, it's the kind of problem, you'd like to have. I watched Miles interview with Rahm Emanuel earlier, he's the congressman from Chicago, who chaired the Democrats campaign committee. And he went right to the agenda. He did not simply say, we're going to oppose President Bush. He said we're going to raise minimum wage, we're going to clean up the culture of corruption in Washington, energy independence.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, blah, blah, blah. He went on and on.
BEGALA: That's not blah-blah though. That's an agenda for change that Democrats say that they are for. They should be able to pass that in the House --
(CROSS TALK)
S. O'BRIEN: Yeah, but you look at the polls --
BEGALA: Now, let's watch and see if the president vetoes it.
S. O'BRIEN: -- and you see that people are very interested in seeing a change in Iraq. If in two years we don't see a change in Iraq because at the end of the day President Bush is still the commander in chief, won't that be a big, big problem? Because expectations, what people campaigned on was change in Iraq.
BEGALA: Absolutely. But ultimately only president can make that change in Iraq. The Congress will now, I trust, push him, pressure him -- hopefully almost force him. Congress can't cut off the money for the war in Iraq. Every Democrat I've talked to said they won't do that. Because you don't want to tell the commander in chief we're going to cut off funds for troops, when they're in the field.
That is ultimately the power that Congress has, but essentially Iraq is the president's war. And the president's got to find a way out. Congress can hold his feet to the fire, give him accountability, the oversight, that he has not had. Right? They can demand that Donald Rumsfeld be fired, as almost every Democrat running can and has.
They can look at where the money has gone. There's $9 billion of our money that is missing over there, in Iraq. Nobody knows where it is. Congress can do a lot to affect policy in Iraq.
But at the end of the day, you're right, the commander in chief, is going to have to get us out of this mess.
S. O'BRIEN: Two-second answers, from both of you: What does the president have to say at 1 o'clock, this afternoon, when he holds his news conference? Quickly.
WATTS: Soledad, it's a new day in Washington for the president.
S. O'BRIEN: And he gets that. That's what he has to say?
You agree, Paul?
WATTS: He has no choice.
BEGALA: He's got to stop being clueless Joe Jackson. He's got to work with Speaker Pelosi. He's got to get some things done. He's going to have to compromise, Mr. President. It won't kill you to raise the minimum wage for working people, for example.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll be interested to hear what he has to say at 1:00 Eastern Time. We're going to have that, right here, on CNN.
Paul Begala and J.C. Watts, nice to see you guys. Thank you. I know you've been busy, so we appreciate it.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad.
In Yellowstone, Montana, this morning, they are recounting every last vote after the election commissioner didn't configure some new electronic voting machines properly. Now results of that recount, may very well, tilt the balance of power in Senate. CNN's Sean Callebs with more on the SNAFUs many voters faced, as they went to the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): A ghost in the machine had election officials in Denver red faced, and voters upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very frustrated, discouraged.
CALLEBS: At times poll workers couldn't check voter I.D. because the city's computerized registration database kept crashing.
To pass the time, there was music, snacks and water for those waiting and waiting. A kind gesture, but --
LORRAINE PARKER, VOETER: Never had this long of a wait in the 20 years I've been in this neighborhood. I've seen people angry and leaving.
CALLEBS (on camera): Major glitches hit Denver polling centers throughout the day, at one point shutting down all 55 of the city's polling sites for more than half an hour. The end result, huge lines like here at botanic gardens, where people had to wait more than two hours in line to cast their vote.
(Voice over): Democrats went to court in an effort to keep polls open an additional two hours. But a judge denied the request. Colorado wasn't alone. In Ohio a judge kept 16 polling sites open an additional hour and a half in part because of electronic mix-ups.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They delivered the wrong memory cards.
CALLEBS: Technology was also the culprit in voting delays in a host of states, including Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Illinois and Florida.
And then there is Frederick, Oklahoma, a so-called rogue squirrel chewed through a power line. Shortly after his lights went out, so did those in three precincts.
Back in Denver, any one in line by 7 p.m. was allowed to vote no matter how long it took. But the wait was too long for Lorraine Parker, who planned to vote for a Republican governor for the first time in her life.
PARKER: I guess there's a part of me that's getting to the point where if they don't care, I don't care. I just need to go now. Thank you.
CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN, Denver, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: You want to tune in tonight for our post election special, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. Wolf and Lou and Paula will break down the results and what they mean to all of us. Then Bill Maher will share his take on the results with Larry, at 9:00 p.m. At 10:00 p.m., we'll have a special post-election edition of "Anderson Cooper 360". It all begins tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern Time -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a look at the ballot issues voters faced, minimum wage, marijuana, same-sex marriage, some of them. And the morning after election 2006 could be seen as day one on the road to the White House 2008. That's still to come on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The balance of power in the Senate. It's very much a developing story this morning. We're still awaiting results from Montana and Virginia. Those results will determine whether the Democrats or the Republicans get control of the Senate.
There weren't just people on the ballots. There were also lots of ideas, voters in several states weighed in on same-sex marriage, raising the minimum wage, stem cell research, legalizing marijuana. The list goes on and on and on.
AMERICAN MORNING's Ali Velshi watching those results for us this morning.
Hey, Ali. Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: The marijuana thing didn't roll anywhere. I mean, nothing.
It was on the ballot in three places. And nobody decided to do that. South Dakota had the marijuana thing on the ballot for medicinal purposes. Didn't work.
But a couple of other things I wanted to tell you about. In Arizona, they did pass a measure to make English the official language of things done by the government. Part of the argument there was to reduce the printing costs in Arizona for having to distribute all sorts of, you know, documents and government matters in different languages.
And in Michigan there was a measure to restrict affirmative action as it relates to colleges and universities, admission to colleges and universities. Those two did pass.
What didn't pass, back to Arizona again, do you remember this? The measure that was going to award through a lottery system, a million dollars to a voter? The idea is that if you came out to vote you got yourself, you know, put in for a million bucks. That didn't go over so well; 67 percent of Arizonans voting against that measure.
What didn't pass, as well, which was interesting, was a measure in California, Proposition 87, which was meant to fund alternative energy. That was defeated in California. Those are some of the other measures we've seen across the country. We'll keep following it.
S. O'BRIEN: Ali, thank you.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Those minimum wage votes were important votes. I'm sure the market will be looking at those and other things. Andy Serwer is here with the business implications of the election so far.
Andy, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning to you, Miles.
So far the reaction from the stock market has been fairly negative, and here's why. With those two outstanding Senate races, in Virginia and Montana, there's uncertainty over who will control the Senate. And we know the old line, and it's true, the market does not like uncertainty.
You would think here, once this all settles out, Wall Street will be happy with the results because you'll have a Democratic Congress, at least in part, the Senate, again, still outstanding. But with a Republican executive, that should produce at least some measure of gridlock. Businesses often like that, because it means nothing gets done. There's no regulation. It's a little cynical, but it's absolutely true.
M. O'BRIEN: Generally businesses like the status quo?
SERWER: They like the status quo and they also like it when Washington has its hands tied.
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
SERWER: And that is what it looks like we're going to have here. As far as the futures being down, that's not a big deal. And this will probably get resolved soon, so not a huge impact on the stock market. The stock market was also up two days in a row, so we may just be cooling off a little bit.
Let's look at some industries that could be helped or hurt by a Democratic majority. Starting off by those that could fare well, with a Democratic Congress.
First of all, Fannie Mae Freddie Mac, these are two companies, that have been closely tied to the Democratic Party. I think is the best way to put it. And they've been under a regulatory cloud. That may be lifted.
Metals, this is an interesting one here, these are businesses, steel and such, that are helped by trade regulations, protectionism. Democrats are big on that. So that could be good for the steel business.
Alternative energy, environmental cleanup companies, that maybe is kind of obvious. Democrats tend to lean towards those businesses.
Now, what about hurt by a Democratic Congress? Oil and gas, you might have figured that, with Exxon, Chevron and those kinds of companies making record profits. Democrats might go after them.
Same true with the pharmaceutical businesses. We might see caps on prescription prices, although, generic drug makers might fare well. Because they might get a boost from that. And defense, that's also is fairly obvious. The Democrats may look to cut back on defense spending. So some interesting stuff there, I think.
M. O'BRIEN: Of course, if it's gridlock, maybe none of that is true?
SERWER: And I think that is maybe what we're going to get, at least to a certain extent, over the next couple years.
M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, thank you.
SERWER: Thank you, guys.
M. O'BRIEN: Stories we're watching for you. The battle for the Senate, centered in two states this morning. Results from Montana are due within the next couple of hours.
Plus, the FBI looks into claims of dirty tricks on election day. We'll have more of that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. America votes and the Democrats dominate. They're going to take back the House, first time that's happened in 12 years.
M. O'BRIEN: Control of the Senate remains a cliff hanger. The deciding votes still coming in, two states in question. We could be talking recounts on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Wednesday, November 8th, the day after elections. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
Americans waking up to a new reality in Washington, D.C. A change they voted in during a dramatic election night. That's not continuing well into the morning. The House is going to belong to the democrats. That's the first time that's happened in 12 years. Control of the Senate is coming down to two races, Virginia, where the Democrat Jim Webb holds a slim lead over Republican George Allen, the senator there. Those votes, of course, far from final. And they're still counting in Montana. Democrat Jon Tester is hanging on to a tiny lead over the Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. Those results are due some time this morning. We're going to be talking with Mr. Tester, that's straight ahead. First though, a look at how voters made their choices and made their voices heard as they called for a change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. RAHM EMANUEL, (D) ILLINOIS: The American people have sent a resounding and unmistakable message of change and new direction for America.
S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): An historic night for the Democrats, the party winning far more than the 15 seats necessary to take control of the House of Representatives and for Nancy Pelosi to become the new House speaker.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: The campaign is over. Democrats are ready to lead. We are prepared to govern, and we will do so working together with the administration and the Republicans in Congress in partnership, not in partisanship.
S. O'BRIEN: Pelosi, now set to become the first female speaker of the House, the Senate is another story. There Democrats needed six seats for a majority. Early on red turned to blue in Rhode Island, Ohio and in Pennsylvania, where incumbent Rick Santorum, one of the most powerful Senate Republicans, was swept out of office by Democrat Bob Casey, Jr.
SEN. RICK SANTORUM, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: I congratulate him, and I mean that wholeheartedly. I congratulate him, he ran an excellent campaign and I know he'll be, he is a fine man and he'll do a fine job for Pennsylvania.
S. O'BRIEN: With the Senate still very much in play, Tennessee became a must-win for Republicans and Bob Corker didn't disappoint. He defeated Democratic Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.
REP. HAROLD FORD JR., (D) LOSING CANDIDATE: We went through a hard campaign, a tough campaign, a lot of things were said, but it's now time for all of us to figure out how we'll come back together and heal and make this thing called our country work again.
S. O'BRIEN: Then early this morning Missouri fell to the Democrats with challenger Claire McCaskill outlasting incumbent Senator Jim Talent.
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D) MO. SENATOR-ELECT: Tonight we have heard the voices of Missourians, and they have said we want change.
S. O'BRIEN: In Virginia, voters heard this.
JIM WEBB, (D) VA. SENATE CANDIDATE: The votes are in, and we won.
S. O'BRIEN: Democrat Jim Webb declaring victory in the Virginia race over incumbent Senator George Allen, before the race was officially declared. And a recount there appears likely.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN, (R) VIRGINIA: My friends, stay strong for freedom and representative democracy, accuracy in elections will prevail. Thank you and have a good night. We'll see you tomorrow counting the votes.
S. O'BRIEN: And that leaves Montana where the Republican incumbent Conrad Burns is in a very tight race against his Democratic challenger Jon Tester. The race, too close to call, but one that could give Democrats a clean sweep in the midterm elections.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Because of some glitches in Montana, the counting is still going on there. Meanwhile, there's already talk of a recount and legal challenges in Virginia. We've been talking about that all morning, no matter who appears to come out on top. Now even before the midterm results are locked in, today could be seen in some ways as the first day of the next campaign, the race for president in 2008. And of course, there are lots of big questions, too, about if Democrats can actually fulfill some of those big promises that they made in the campaigns. Candy Crowley is with us this morning. Nice to see you.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you. I mean in fact, it all kind of goes together. Because one of the big questions is, we've seen what the voters want. Can this Congress deliver change? And part of what may hinder that is what's going on and that is the 2008 race is under way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): It is a new game.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Today the American people voted for change.
CROWLEY: The question is whether the American people will get change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holding one House or even two Houses when the presidents of the other party really is not a prescription for an elaborate or energetic legislative program to get through that the Democrats would want.
CROWLEY: Which is to say a Republican president with veto power and a Democratic Congress without the members to overturn that veto is a recipe for, if not gridlock, at least two years of minimal forward movement. And about the war --
PELOSI: Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq.
CROWLEY: Perhaps, but there is a reason they call the president the commander in chief.
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: There's not a lot we can do actually to force the president to leave Iraq. But ultimately, we can have some influence.
CROWLEY: And against this backdrop, consider this, the end of the '06 election cycle is the beginning of the '08 presidential cycle. You don't believe me?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) ILLINOIS: Nothing that would happen tonight would discourage me from making that race, but it's something that I've got to spend some serious time thinking about.
CROWLEY: About 10 percent of the U.S. Senate is running for president. Which translated means they have their own agendas. And on both sides of the newly reconfigured partisan divide, they are kicking it into gear.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Well I haven't made that decision yet.
CROWLEY: Note John McCain's election night setting. Flag to the left of him, flag to the right. He's looking down right presidential. And what's up with this? Senator Hillary "I haven't made any decisions yet" Clinton, won a landslide re-election and left the stage arm in arm with her husband as the band played on.
CROWLEY: The song, Baby, you ain't seen nothing' yet.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: So, kick it off, Soledad we are in to '08 and, you know, political junkies like me, that's kind of nice.
S. O'BRIEN: Get a good night's sleep and then you start up again. In a way, you know we thinks the lady and the dead gentleman doth protest too much. You know, nobody's running but everybody is kind of running.
CROWLEY: Exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: But of course as you point out in the piece, the big issue could be Iraq, because Democrats are on this platform of we will change the way it's going in Iraq. If they don't deliver, regardless of who's at fault, the president or gridlock or whatever it is, that's a big problem come '08.
CROWLEY: It really is a big problem. Except for, I mean there's two ways voters can go. They can either go, well, wait a minute, these people didn't do what we thought they were going to do, time for a change. Or they might say, well you know what, what they really need is a Democratic White House. So it cuts both ways. I think American people know there is a limit to what you can do. I mean that's why they call it the balance of power. That's why we have three branches of government. Look, the president also is looking to legacy now. This is the time when in the last two years of eight years you kind of turn to that. So there are some things that argue for getting something done. It's just whether it's going to be anything major and again, the president pretty much gets to decide about Iraq.
S. O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley, thank you. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks Soledad. Elections are never perfect, but some are less perfect than others. Who can forget the hanging chads of six years ago. Well this year we haven't heard of a debacle of that magnitude, but there are still plenty of reports of shenanigans and snafus. CNN's Tom Foreman with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It didn't take long for allegations of election shenanigans to crop up. In Kentucky, a poll worker was accused of choking a voter and pushing him into the street. In Georgia, in Wisconsin, bomb threats interrupted voting for a time. In Pennsylvania, a man was charged with smashing a voting machine with a paper weight. And complaints of ballot and electronic voting irregularities arose in many places.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's mad, it is unethical.
FOREMAN: Maryland was a hot bed of discontent, after Republicans started handing out voting guides which Democrats say implied the Republican candidates were Democrats and that other dems endorsed them.
JOSEPH KHAWAM, DEMOCRATIC VOLUNTEER: And I just explained to them that it was unethical and there's no need to be trying to trick the voters into voting for them.
FOREMAN: The Republicans say the brochures just pointed out that some Democrats do vote for Republicans. And of course, the GOP had its own complaints. In New Jersey, for example, they say someone chained shut the front door of Republican Tom Kean's campaign headquarters and broke keys off in other door locks. Democrats say they didn't do it, Republicans don't buy it.
EVAN KOZLOW, KEAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: These are the types of attacks that a party of (INAUDIBLE) Hudson County and the people of New Jersey tonight are going to, I think, say no to these types of tactics.
FOREMAN: Almost no one is admitting to the dirtiest tricks, and with reason. Many of them are illegal.
(on camera): The FBI is investigating numerous claims from people who say they were intimidated into staying away from the polls in several states. And yet, there is good news --
(voice-over): The Justice Department says overall it has received far fewer complaints than the 1200 filed only a couple of years ago. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, you've heard the expression, as Ohio goes, so goes the nation? Well, we'll look at the big Senate battle in the buckeye state. Plus, minimum wage hikes were on the ballots in several states. Andy will tell us how they fared. "Minding your Business", stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: In the Midwest, the Democrats take charge in at least two battlegrounds. In Ohio, the Democrat Sherrod Brown takes a Senate seat from two term incumbent Republican Mike DeWine. It was a tough race. Our John King has been calling Ohio the cesspool of American politics. The perfect assignment for AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken, he joins us from Columbus. Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I don't think the chamber of commerce here is going to be all too happy with that.
M. O'BRIEN: I think John has probably been hearing from them. But remember, it was John King who said that, not me.
FRANKEN: Well, yes, but you're channeling him, you know.
M. O'BRIEN: Yeah I am, I'm afraid.
FRANKEN: Let's move on to the business here. The one thing that is so important to point out here, I believe, is just how accurate the polls were.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): How many times did Ohio Republican Senator Mike DeWine supporters say it's not over till it's over? Well, it's over.
SEN. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: You know, in this race, we fought hard. We did everything we could do, but it just was not to be. This was not the year. We could not win.
FRANKEN: This was definitely not the year for Republicans and Ohio was once again delivering on the state's reputation as the nation's political bellwether.
REP. SHERROD BROWN, (D) SENATOR-ELECT: Today in Ohio in the middle of America the middle class won.
FRANKEN: One of the toughest Senate fights of all came in Missouri where Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican incumbent Jim Talent fought tooth and nail before McCaskill finally nailed it in the wee hours of the morning. And Talent threw in the towel.
SEN. JAMES TALENT, (R) MISSOURI: All of our efforts fell a little bit short this time, but they were worth the making, weren't they?
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D) SENATOR-ELECT: It has been a long time since our party really had something to celebrate.
FRANKEN: But on occasion, the Democratic surge crashed into overwhelming GOP resistance. That's exactly what happened in the heavily Republican suburban Chicago congressional district, where Iraq war amputee Tammy Duckworth finally had to concede.
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, (D) LOSING CANDIDATE: It's ok, we put up a tough fight, folks. You guys did a great job!
FRANKEN: Back in Ohio, another closely watched House race was high ranking Republican Deborah Pryce's battle to keep her House seat. The bitter fight was still being bitterly fought hours after the polls closed. It is still too close to call.
REP. DEBORAH PRYCE, (R) OHIO: This is going to be a victory in the R column and I'm going to enjoy celebrating with all of you at a later date.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Well if she does finally celebrate, I have to tell you Miles, she's going to be one of the few Republicans who is doing so.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken in Columbus. Thank you.
Control of the Senate may hinge on a recount under way in Yellowstone County, Montana as we speak. The new voting machines that were not configured properly and so now they're going through the e- ballots one more time. Here are the results so far, 91 percent of the vote is in. Jon Tester has 174,045. He is the Democratic challenger. Conrad Burns, the incumbent Republican with 172,302. The difference between them, 1743 votes. Jon Tester the Democratic challenger joins us now by phone from Great Falls, Montana. Mr. Tester good to have you with us. Are you ready to declare victory yet?
JON TESTER, (D) MONTANA: Absolutely, Miles, looking good.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Tell me what is the thinking on this recount?
TESTER: Well, I mean I just think that it was just a little glitch and they're going through it. But I like the position we're in. I think we're going to win this thing. It looks very good from our perspective.
M. O'BRIEN: Your opponent has a long history of come from behind or close victories. You must be a little bit concerned about that.
TESTER: Actually, Miles, no. I think that, honestly, as we look at the charts as they're coming in, I think we're in really good shape.
M. O'BRIEN: Were there any signs, aside from those misconfigured voting machines there in Yellowstone County, any signs of irregularities out there in Montana?
TESTER: Boy, none that I've heard of. I think everything just went along well. You know we had probably a record turnout for a midterm election. And we're making sure every vote gets counted, so everybody's voice is heard. M. O'BRIEN: There was a libertarian candidate, Stan Jones in this and he got 9100 votes. Would you have liked to have had some of those? What happened there?
TESTER: Would have sure taken them. The representative government that we have right now allows everybody to get in and be part of the system and I think the system is working very, very well.
M. O'BRIEN: Jon Tester, thanks for being with us.
TESTER: Thank you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we're going to talk to one of the incoming leaders of the House. Will the Democrats do once they finally take charge, that's ahead.
And President Bush is going to hold a news conference this afternoon to discuss the election results. That's at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. CNN, of course, going to carry it for you live right here. We're back in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In Connecticut, Joe Lieberman is headed back for another term in the Senate. This time, though, as an independent. Just one of the big surprises in the election. AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian live for us in Hartford, Connecticut this morning. Hey, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Certainly a lot of surprises. You know in some of these races, the candidates spent a record amount of money to try to get the attention of the voters. But tens of millions of dollars wasn't always the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): He lost as a Democrat but won as an independent.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (D) CONNECTICUT: I'm Joe Lieberman and I approve of this election.
LOTHIAN: Three-term U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman says voters in Connecticut followed their hearts.
LIEBERMAN: And in doing so, chose progress over partisanship. Problem solving over polarization. And the mainstream over the extremes.
LOTHIAN: Next door in Rhode Island, popular Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee was toppled by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, (D) RHODE ISLAND SENATOR-ELECT: You had the choice of a lot of things you could have believed in this campaign, and you believed in me, and I will never, never forget that.
LOTHIAN: The war in Iraq and scandals weighed heavily on voters. But not every race turned on those issues. In New York, Senator Hillary Clinton was easily re-elected, despite her initial support of the war.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sending me back to the Senate to work for the public interest.
LOTHIAN: In New Jersey, ethical questions surrounded incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, but he was elected to a full term for the first time.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, (D) NEW JERSEY: In this election, I have walked by faith and not by sight. And my faith has been renewed.
LOTHIAN: And even though incumbent Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds became embroiled in the aftermath of the Mark Foley scandal, Reynolds held on to win in a hotly contested race.
REP. TOM REYNOLDS, (R) NEW YORK: The victory belongs to each one of you who helped me make sure that we got our message out.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: In some of these races, the television ads were especially negative. Some voters seemed to be turned off by it all, one voter telling me at least I don't have to see them anymore. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Oh that voter is not the only person who feels that way. I'd vote on that count, too. Man, enough already. All right, Dan Lothian for us this morning. The morning after, appreciate it Dan. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Stories we're following for you right now, Virginia leading the fight for control of the Senate. The heated race between George Allen and Jim Webb isn't over yet. Might be some time on that one.
Plus, corruption leads the list of motivators for voters. Did former Congressman Tom DeLay's ethics investigation play a role? We'll ask him, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Beyond the elections on Tuesday, some key business propositions were on the ballot as well. Andy Serwer's got a look at those, he's been "Minding your Business." Good morning.
ANDY SERWER: Good morning Soledad. A lot of impact for consumers, businesses, employees all across the country. Let's start off with the minimum wage because this has really been an issue that has become a hot button. Of course the national minimum wage, $5.15. It has not been raised for a very, very long time. Eighteen states have already raised it higher than $5.15. It was on the ballot in six states yesterday, passed in all states. And we want to run through what we've got here. You can see at the top, Ohio and Colorado, $6.85 is the highest. Arizona, Missouri. Let's talk about Montana and Nevada because there's a couple special things there. In Nevada, it's $6.15 if these companies don't offer health benefits, so a little bit of a wrinkle there. And as far as Montana goes, it's the $6.15 or the federal minimum wage, whichever is higher. So in other words, if they raise the federal minimum wage above, then they go back to the federal minimum wage. Ohio, Missouri, also indexed to inflation, which is interesting because when inflation rises, the minimum wage of the states will rise there. So 24 out of 50 states have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage. It kind of makes you wonder what the heck is the federal minimum wage there for. Is it a state issue? Which entity has the jurisdiction, the federal government or the states? And I think we'll be visiting this again.
M. O'BRIEN: Does the federal government have any power to impose a minimum wage? I mean there's no way they can do that, right? It's not like highways --
SERWER: You mean one that will be lower.
M. O'BRIEN: Well yeah, or whatever.
SERWER: Right, well they do. It does not trump, certainly from a lower standpoint. Any way, let's move on to some other ones, prop 87 in California, this is an interesting one where they were going to levy a tax on oil companies and use the proceeds to pay for alternative energy. That did not pass.
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