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CNN's Ballot Bowl: All About the Candidates
Aired January 05, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John King in Bedford, New Hampshire, thanks for joining us on this Saturday afternoon.
We are just days away from the New Hampshire presidential primary. The lead off presidential primary in the United States in a very heated and volatile contest on both the Democratic and the Republican side. Today we want to have round two of what we call the CNN BALLOT BOWL.
If you were with us on Tuesday, just before the Iowa caucuses time for you the voters here in New Hampshire and across America to hear the candidates in their own words, unfiltered snippets of their speeches. Some of them live, some of them taped. A chance for you to see and hear the candidates as they campaign for their party's presidential nominations. Across the state of New Hampshire today again, campaigning in advance of Tuesday's key primary here, all of the key players in both parties.
For the Democrats, Barack Obama, the big winner of the Iowa caucuses out campaigning today as is Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina who of course was the democrats' vice presidential nominee four years ago.
And on the Republican side, the Iowa winner, the surprise so far in the Republican side, Mike Huckabee tried to see if he can sell his social conservative message here in libertarian New Hampshire. Also out for the Republicans, the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He is from the neighboring state of New Hampshire, owns a vacation home here. And after coming in second in Iowa, very much needs to turn his campaign around here in New Hampshire.
Also on the Republican side, the maverick Senator John McCain of Arizona. He won here back in campaign 2000. He's in a dead heat in the polls here now, counting on a win in the New Hampshire primary to revive a campaign that many had written off back in the summer months but is resurgent now.
Again, we will show you snippets of the candidates all day long, soon we will go to Lebanon, New Hampshire, that is where John Edwards is about to hold a town hall meeting and on this very busy day of politics, we will have other news for you, as well.
In Wyoming, Republicans are holding their caucuses. It is a small state, not always a meaningful affair, but if you are one of the Republicans who has been shutout so far, say in Iowa, struggling a bit perhaps here in New Hampshire, a chance to get on the board. So we will watch the results there to see if former Senator Fred Thompson for example can break through out in the state of Wyoming.
Also later today, we expect some time in the 5:00 hour, CNN's first New Hampshire tracking poll. The first chance to get a glimpse of how, if at all, the Iowa caucuses impacted the presidential race here in New Hampshire. That should be in our 5:00 hour, we'll have Bill Schneider with us for analysis and throughout the day as we show you the candidates in their own words. We will benefit from the reporting and analysis of the best political team on television.
Dana Bash out today with Governor Huckabee, Mary Snow tracking Mitt Romney and other Republicans. On the democratic side, Suzanne Malveaux and Jessica Yellin, as I mentioned Bill Schneider also will be joining us. A full day of coverage here. We want to begin as we wait for Senator Edwards in that live event with our Mary Snow. She was with Governor Romney in Iowa, she is with him now here in New Hampshire.
Out in Iowa Governor Romney was trying to sell himself to the evangelical base of the Republican Party but Mary as he campaigns here in New Hampshire with the stakes so high, we're hearing a very different tone from the governor, aren't we?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are, John and he really is trying to sell himself as the agent of change and he is sharpening his attacks against his main rival here, Senator John McCain. Mitt Romney is fine-tuning his message saying Washington is broken, trying to portray Senator McCain as someone who has been in Washington for too long.
He also tried to say today that mavericks, reference there to John McCain, are ineffective and he also talked about Washington political ways with lobbyists at both elbows. This, as really the pressure is on him. He had so much at stake in Iowa. His defeat there is really putting him in a tough spot here, as he is in a very tight race with John McCain.
He was in Dairy, New Hampshire this morning and he told a crowd, he tried to put the best face on coming in second and trying to glean this message from the victors in Iowa. Here is Mitt Romney in his own words this morning in Dairy, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was happy to come in second because the people I beat, included some household names. The ones I was worried about. John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, I beat them all by better than two to one. I was pretty happy with what we were able to do there in Iowa and plan to do the same here. And there were a couple of people whose prospects coming out of that election, I think, took a big hit.
It was a message I read into those votes and that is Hillary Clinton, who's been around Washington forever and John McCain, who's been there even longer. Those two were handily rejected by people who had messages of change with new faces and new ideas. Governor Huckabee and myself, people from the outside, Barack Obama talking about change, because the American people recognize we're not going to change Washington by sending back the same old faces and just have them change chairs. We have to have new people.
Now, I have up here this to-do list. This is if you will the kind of list that you would have with your garage mechanics of things that are supposed to be done to your car that we have been hearing about year after year and it's time to finally do something about it. This list came from the customer, meaning the citizens I have met across the country. And you see it doesn't end with the 11 that are there, it's meant to go on and on and on. I've heard a lot more than just these twelve things.
But just to remind you of the kind of challenges we face. We want a stronger America. We want a stronger military to protect us with better intelligence as to what's going on in the world and we want to strengthen our alliances around the world. We talked about those things, I will do those things.
Number two, we want to end illegal immigration. Just think about that. Just think about how long Washington has talked about ending illegal immigration. At least since the '80s. And the first two runs they said, well, let's give them amnesty and that will stop it. All right, it didn't the first time. Then they gave them amnesty again, it didn't the second time. Amnesty for about 3 million.
Now we have something like 12 million and the senate comes out, they all get together in their Washington, political way and I'm sure the senate cloak room with the lobbyists on each elbow and they say what are we going to do about illegal immigration. Then they have a lot of wonderful ideas, but you have to look very carefully at the provision called the Z-visa. It says that everybody who is in this country today, illegally, is entitled to get a Visa. It sounds like -- so it's a temporary visa. But then you keep reading, but this temporary visa may be renewed indefinitely.
So, in other words, everybody who is here illegally today gets to stay forever and that is a form of amnesty. It is wrong, it's one more effort to pull the wool over our eyes. It will not fix illegal immigration. I will. Now we have reduced taxes up there. There's always discussion about reducing taxes, but then the question is always, who gets their taxes reduced? Do you feel, do you feel as middle income taxpayers your taxes have been going down?
No, I didn't imagine so. And so there are always plans but somehow the people who have the most burden who are raising kids who are thinking about college who are paying what now, $700 to fill an oil tank and $50 or $60 to fill a gasoline tank. These are the people who need the help and that's why I proposed a couple of things.
One is I want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I've learned the lesson of Reagan 101. Barack Obama, I don't know if you watched the debates in Iowa, but Barack Obama got up there and Hillary Clinton said oh I have all this experience. I've been in Washington all these years and yet he just trounced her there because all that experience isn't what they wanted to hear about. They wanted to see somebody who said they would do something new and change Washington. And I'm convinced that when the time comes to have our nominee go up there and face either Barack Obama, whoever they put up there, that person has got to be talking about their capacity to bring change. Or the same thing that will happen, or that happened to Hillary Clinton, what happened to our nominee and we cannot afford Barack Obama as the next president. He's a very nice fellow, and he's a well-spoken fellow, but he's never done it. It's one thing to say it, it's another thing to do it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You're listening there, that was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney campaigning here in the state of New Hampshire earlier today. Remarkable how much his message has changed in just literally overnight on the flight from Iowa to New Hampshire.
Governor Romney who was courting conservatives in Iowa now talking of his record as Massachusetts governor, someone who has worked with democrats, someone who can get things done, someone who he says is the fresh voice, the fresh face that Washington needs to break partisan gridlock. The stakes are high for Governor Romney here in Massachusetts.
On the other side of the break, we'll discuss his campaign with Mary Snow. We'll also dip in to let you hear the Iowa win of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, in his own words.
Again, you're watching the CNN BALLOT BOWL, the candidates for president in their own words. I'm John King in Bedford, New Hampshire, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back to the CNN BALLOT BOWL, I'm John King in Bedford, New Hampshire.
Throughout the day, we are giving you a chance to listen to the candidates for president. Democrats and Republicans in their own words, unfiltered snippets of their speeches. Some of them live, some of them recorded in the days of campaigning. The early days of campaigning here in New Hampshire after the Iowa caucuses. The New Hampshire presidential primary now just three days away. The critical voting here and as we give you the candidates, present to you the candidates today in their own words, also some other big political news.
We expect just a couple of hours from now, results from the Republican caucuses out in Wyoming, a small state. Not always all that significant in presidential politics, but, still, a snapshot of how Republicans feel as they choose the candidate to lead their party after the George W. Bush presidency.
Later tonight, a very important release, the first CNN tracking poll here in New Hampshire since the Iowa caucuses results earlier this week. Barack Obama the big winner in Iowa on the Democratic side, Mike Huckabee on the Republican side. All of the other candidates now scrambling to try to reassert their presidential campaigns. The stakes very high on the Democratic side for Senator Hillary Clinton who came in third place in Iowa and as well for John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator.
The vice presidential nominee of the Democrats back in 2004. Largely overshadowed in this campaign because of all the attention given to Obama and given to Senator Clinton. Senator Edwards hoping for a little magic here in New Hampshire to revive his struggling campaign.
He's short on money but he says he will hang in and he's speaking to Democratic voters right now in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Let's listen.
JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can lose as many as 30 million more jobs over the course of the next decade. The group most at risk, the group most at risk are college graduates. Think about that.
Now, it's not just what's happening here, by the way. Look at what's happening in Iraq. We have a bunch of paid mercenaries roaming around over there. Working for Blackwater and other private contractors making 10 times what our men and women in uniform make. Halliburton gets billion dollar no-bid contracts in Iraq. When will this stop? It will stop when we stop it. When we stand up and say enough is enough.
We want our democracy back. We want the promise of America available to our children and our grandchildren and people keep saying to me, you know, it sounds like you take this very seriously and very personally. I do. I take it very personally.
Because I watched my father, who's seated behind me, go into the mills for 36 years day after day after day. He wasn't lucky enough to be able to go to college. But he went and did hard, tedious work day after day, week after week, year after year. The same as my grandparents had done. My grandmother who helped raise me, she would take care of us, cook for us and then leave to go work her shift in the mill and come back home.
I watched them work and sacrifice. Why did they do it? Why did your parents do it? Why did they work and sacrifice? They did it so that you could have a better life, that's why they did it. They have passed this torch to us. We have an enormous moral test.
Are we going to ensure that our children have a better life than we had? This will not take care of itself. I wish it would. I wished just nice words and being good to people would take care of it, it won't. We have a fight. We have a fight, not against politicians and we actually need a president that will unite the American people in this battle.
But we have a serious fight against these entrenched money interests because they have a grip on your country, just as sure as I'm standing here. Nothing will change if we're not willing to take them on. You know, I'm proud of the fact that I have never taken a dime in my entire time in public life from a Washington lobbyist or a special interest pack. I'm very proud of that.
Because I don't think you can take these people's money and take them on. It doesn't work any more than you can sit at a table and negotiate with drug companies and oil companies and they'll voluntarily give their power away. It does not work. We have an epic fight on our hands. You better send somebody into that arena who's ready for the fight when you go to the polls here in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Because if we have a battle in front of us, we do, and great American presidents have been faced with this battle before.
This is not the first time. Teddy Roosevelt, who had strength and back bone and had some fight in him, he is the one who broke up the trust, broke up the monopolies on behalf of the American people. Franklin Roosevelt did exactly the same thing. A transformational president. This is a president who was vilified by big corporate America.
Why? Because he stood up to him. He was not making deals. He stood up on behalf of the American people. He used to say he welcomed their hatred because that meant he was doing the right thing. It means he had a little back bone and then Harry Truman comes along right after him, you know the famous Harry Truman story. Somebody said to him, Harry, you're giving them hell, he said no, I am just telling the truth and it feels like hell.
Well, this is about truth. It is about telling the truth. And the truth is that these powerful money interests are stealing our children's future. Just as sure as I'm standing here they are. And we have a responsibility, the torch has been passed to us to ensure that we do what our parents and our grandparents did for us.
And I look at the America we have today and I love this country so much, but this is what I see. I see an America where last year Exxon Mobil made $40 billion. $40 billion in one year. I look at an America where last year the CEO of one of the largest health insurance companies in America made $200 million.
In one year, one year, the top 1 percent of Americans took twice as much of America's income as they took 20, 25 years ago. This is not hard to understand. The rich are getting richer and the biggest corporations in America are getting wealthier and wealthier and their profits are going up and up and up.
Now, let me say this, I want to say it clearly. There are very good businesses and very good employers in this country. They are. People who are responsible and moral and fair to their employees. That's not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about some of these big, multi-national corporations who are manipulating this government and this democracy against your interests. Every single day and preventing the American people from getting what they need.
But I think of this picture that I just described, Exxon Mobil's profits through the roof, CEO of a health insurance company making $200 million in one year. And then I put it side by side with this picture. Tonight, 47 million Americans will go to bed knowing if their child gets sick they're going to have to go to the emergency room and beg for health care. Tomorrow, women will go for an examination or they'll do a self-examination. And they'll find a lump in their breast and they'll be diagnosed with breast cancer, much like Elizabeth was. But we have great health care coverage. Some of these women ...
KING: You've been listening here to live coverage of former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. One of the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, speaking at a town hall meeting in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Want to bring in now for a bit of analysis, a member of the best political team on television our Suzanne Malveaux.
Suzanne, you spent a fair amount of time with Senator Edwards out in Iowa. For many candidates coming in second place in Iowa would be viewed as a good thing, a chance to build momentum for Senator Edwards especially because of his role in the last presidential campaign, perhaps not enough?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly need New Hampshire as well. They're hoping that South Carolina is going to be a strong showing for him, but they really need to build up a lot more here and what he has been doing and what we've heard just over the last 24 hours as he's painting this picture as a battle between him and Senator Barack Obama, he's almost ignoring Senator Hillary Clinton say he got the message that voters are talking about change. That they are the agents of change.
So that is why you will hear him make comparisons with Senator Obama, not necessarily even Clinton. He's almost casting her as being dismissed at this point. That's she's establishment, that she is old school and then you're also hearing what are these sharp contrasts that he's trying to paint between himself and Senator Barack Obama over special interests, fighting and taking on that specific group.
That has been a very consistent message. She has talked about some of the specifics at times talking about Exxon Mobil and other corporations that he says he is not going to negotiate with when it comes to health care and his plans that these are groups that he is essentially going to fight and take on.
So, he's been mounting this single message here that he's the one of the people, the one who is the toughest. The one who is born for this fight. Trying to paint Obama as someone who is a little too timid, a little too soft. One who is willing, perhaps, to negotiate a little bit too much. That he is not going to be tough enough on those specific groups, the special interests at the same time trying to marginalize Senator Clinton as much as possible -- John?
KING: A populous message from Senator Edwards. Suzanne Malveaux, Suzanne thanks very much. And Suzanne will be back with us soon to discuss the candidate Senator Edwards as she says is trying to ignore, Senator Hillary Clinton who of course has enormous stakes here in New Hampshire after her third place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Suzanne will be back with us. Other members of the best political team on television as well, Dana Bash, Jessica Yellin, Dan Lothian as we cover all of the candidates here in New Hampshire and present them to you in their own words.
Unfiltered coverage of the candidates as the CNN BALLOT BOWL continues, Barack Obama after the break and also some early results from the Wyoming Republican caucuses. A small state out in the mountain west. The voting today as the nominating process continues and we're just days away from the critical New Hampshire primary here.
We'll present you the candidates in their own words, all day long, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: I'm John King in Bedford, New Hampshire. Welcome back to the CNN BALLOT BOWL.
We want to share with you some results just in from the Wyoming caucuses. Republicans caucusing in the state of Wyoming today, 12 delegates at stake. Early results coming in to us, the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has won four of the 12 delegates. California Congressman Duncan Hunter one of the long-shot candidates in the Republican race for president has won one of those delegates. Four for Romney, one for Hunter, seven more still at stake out in the state of Wyoming.
We'll bring you the results as they continue to come in to us here at CNN. Wyoming Republicans voting in their caucuses. We are in the state of New Hampshire with a primary coming up just three days from now and as the candidates are out, their spouses are also attending a forum at the palace theater in Manchester, New Hampshire. The wife of Dennis Kucinich speaking at the moment. Some of the other candidate spouses expected to stop by, perhaps Michelle Obama we are told, Cindy McCain as well. We will dip into that as news warrants.
Again, you're watching the CNN BALLOT BOWL, the best political team on television. All across the state of New Hampshire and throughout the day we will be presenting to you the candidates unfiltered in their own words. Stay with us, I'm John King in Bedford, New Hampshire. We'll be back with more of the BALLOT BOWL in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: I'm John King on the grounds of the spectacular Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, New Hampshire. Welcome back to the CNN BALLOT BOWL.
Just before the break, we were discussing earlier results just in from the Wyoming Republican presidential caucuses. 12 delegates at stake in the state of Wyoming, a reliable red state in general elections.
So far, the results in, four delegates go to the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, one delegate to Congressman Duncan Hunter, one of the long-shot candidates for the Republican nomination. Again, 12 delegates at stake. The five we know about so far. Four for Romney, one for Duncan Hunter. Not usually a very significant event in the nominating process. But it is an event where Governor Romney has tried to prove he is running a national campaign.
For a little bit more on that and the potential significance, let's bring back in our Mary Snow who has been tracking the Romney campaign from Iowa, now on to New Hampshire.
Mary, the Romney campaign, many will say Wyoming, so what, we're looking at New Hampshire but the Romney campaign would say?
SNOW: It'll count because right after he lost the Iowa caucuses, traveling back to New Hampshire, he reminded everyone about Wyoming and said that he had sent two of his sons out there questioning who else of the Republican candidates had done -- had sent family members out there. And his press secretary today reminding reporters that Mitt Romney has visited Wyoming. He has put resources in there.
So, he's trying to portray this image that his campaign goes beyond Iowa, New Hampshire, where there's been so much focus and he was really banking on winning both of these states. He's increasingly talking about looking beyond Iowa and New Hampshire. Talking about Michigan, in particular, where his father was once the governor.
And he told reporters yesterday that he plans to press on with resources, not only from contributors, but from his own fortune. And we know from a few months ago that he had poured at least $17 million of his own money into this campaign. So, he's really vowing to press ahead -- John?
KING: It is remarkable, Mary, to watch the Romney campaign set back in Iowa, a dead heat in New Hampshire and we should know, we're awaiting the first CNN tracking poll post-Iowa caucuses to be released tonight in New Hampshire.
And as Mary noted, Governor Romney using much of his own resources, some say more than $20 million of his own money by now and we are told by the Romney campaign today, he will buy two separate two-minute blocks on television on the eve of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Two minutes on WMUR TV here in New Hampshire, two minutes as well on the NBC affiliate in Boston, Boston TV stations seen across much of southern New Hampshire. So, Governor Romney with high stakes here in New Hampshire but pressing off in Wyoming, as well.
Another candidate here who is riding a wave right now, the candidate who you might say not only has the momentum, but seems to have the moment coming out of Iowa is the Illinois Senator Barack Obama. He is the junior senator from Illinois, challenged all along by Senator Hillary Clinton when she was the front-runner as someone who did not have the experience to be the next president of the United States.
Well, he won a dramatic victory in Iowa, he is hoping to follow it up with a dramatic victory here in the New Hampshire primary. Again, only three days of campaigning left until that primary.
Helping track the Obama campaign for us, our Boston Bureau Chief Dan Lothian -- Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, John.
Well, indeed he is trying to build momentum that started in Iowa here in New Hampshire and he's also trying to counter the criticism that he doesn't have the experience. Senator Hillary Clinton has been pounding away at that fact that she is the one who is prepared and ready to be president on the first day on the job, but that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be president.
He's trying to prepare the audiences out there at his rallies today and all the voters in New Hampshire to that criticism. Here is Senator Barack Obama in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: New Hampshire, a few days ago, something special happened in the Midwest. A few days ago, the people of Iowa decided to set aside their fear and their cynicism and reach for what was possible. And New Hampshire in three days' time, it is your turn to bring about change in America in three day's time.
You have the chance to turn the page and create a different kind of politics. In three days, you can do what the cynics say can't be done, what Iowa did on Thursday night, what America can do this entire year. At this defining moment, you have a chance to come together as Democrats and Republicans and Independents and say that we are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come in 2008.
If you believe in what you've seen yourself happening this week, then we have the chance to finally overcome the resistance of the insurance lobbies and the drug lobbies and the HMOs and stop talking about the outrage of 47 million people without health insurance and actually start doing something about it.
Now, this is something that is personal to me. This is personal to me. My mother died of cancer when she was 53-years-old. She never got to see her grandchildren. And that was tragic enough, but what compounded the tragedy was in the last months of her life, she was spending time reading an insurance form because she had just gotten a new job and there were some question as to whether or not the insurance company would pay was going to pay for her medical bills, whether this was a pre-existing condition.
I know what it's like to see a loved one suffer. Not just because they're sick, but because of a broken health care system. And that is why I have said we can create a health care system where everybody can have insurance that is at least as good as the health care I have as a member of Congress and we can put more money into prevention and more money in the management of the chronically ill and if you have health insurance, we can lower your premiums to reasonable levels and we don't have to wait 20 years from now or 10 years from now to do it. We can do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States, if you believe.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: If you believe, we can start taking away those tax breaks from the companies that ship jobs overseas and start investing in America, providing -- providing tax breaks for companies that are building right here in the United States. Putting some of that tax relief that's right now going to tax havens and corporate loopholes into the pockets of hard-working Americans who deserve it, that is something that we can stand up for right now to restore balance to our economy.
All of us admire the free market. All of us believe in free enterprise. But what we also believe is that if you're able and willing to work, you should be able to find a job that pays a living wage, that you shouldn't be bankrupt when you get sick. You should be able to send your kid to college, even if you're not wealthy. You should be able to retire with some dignity and some respect.
We should not just respect wealth in this nation. We should be respecting work. We shouldn't just be representing Wall Street in Washington. We should be representing Main Street and New Hampshire. That is what we have the opportunity to do in three day's time. If you turn out, we can change our economy so it works for everybody, not just somebody. That's what we have the chance to do in three days time.
In three days time, I want to harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs and finally start breaking the grip of foreign oil on our economy and on our environment and on our national security. We can end the tyranny of oil, once and for all, if you believe. If you turn out, in three days time.
In three days time, we have the chance to make a statement all around the world right here. In all these media right here, there are folks from countries on the other side of the planet. And they're watching what America's doing. And what we want to be able to say to them right here in New Hampshire, in three days time, is that America is back. That we are ready to lead once again.
And, yes, we will lead militarily. I will not hesitate to strike against those who would do us harm. But we are going it lead with our values and our ideals, as well. I will end this war in Iraq. I will bring our troops home within 16 months.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We will finish the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan. And then, we will confront with the rest of the world the challenges that we face in the 21st century.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Senator Barack Obama tapped into younger voters in Iowa. They made up a big part of his support there. He is doing that here in New Hampshire, as well. Reaching out to not only young voters, but also to Independent voters. And also asking Republicans to support him -- John?
KING: Dan Lothian, part of the best political team on television. Dan will be back with us later today as we continue the CNN BALLOT BOWL. This is fun for us, and we hope it is both enjoyable and informative to you. The candidates in their own words as they campaign in advance of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary.
Here's how the "Des Moines Register" put it when they left Iowa earlier this week: "Obama, Huckabee Win Big First Test." You just saw Senator Obama there.
On the other side of the break, the surprise winner on the Republican side. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, our Dana Bash has been tracking the Huckabee campaign from Iowa on to New Hampshire. Stay with us. Governor Huckabee, more of the best political team on television and more of the candidates in their own words when the CNN BALLOT BOWL continues.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back to the CNN BALLOT BOWL. I'm John King at the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, New Hampshire.
Part of our unprecedented effort to give you a chance to listen to the candidates for president, Democrat and Republican, in their own words. Three full days of campaigning left before the critical lead- off presidential primary here in the state of New Hampshire. Round two as the "Boston Globe" calls it.
Well, the winner in round one on the Republican side was the surprise candidate, a man who was at single digits in the polls, nationally virtually unknown just a few months ago. The former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee propelled to victory in Iowa because he is a former Baptist minister who had deep support among Evangelicals.
Well, New Hampshire is a very different place, a very different piece of terrain for the surprise winner of Iowa to campaign on. Dana Bash, part of the best political team on television with the Huckabee campaign out in Iowa, now here as it moves on to New Hampshire.
Dana, what's the difference?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A big difference. But, you know, first of all, I'm here on the streets of Manchester because Mike Huckabee, since he really hasn't spent a lot of time here, he just went into a pizza place here to try to shake a couple of hands before he went on to prepare for a debate tonight.
But the difference -- you know, I was on, as you mention, I was in Iowa with him and on the plane coming over, was asking him about the fact that he is going to have a major challenge here and that is because he did so incredibly well in Iowa because he appealed to that strong Evangelical base. You know, 60 percent of the voters, it turns out in the caucus, were Evangelicals, he got the vast majority of them and in part, it was because he would really rally them with his applause lines about his opposition to abortion. He would say it was in his gut and it was in his soul. That's what really helped him there.
That, as you said, that base simply doesn't exist here in the Republican party. It's a very, very different Republican party. So, what is different so far in hearing him on the stump is what he is not saying. He is not talking about the social issues at all. Instead, what Governor Huckabee is doing is trying to appeal to what New Hampshire Republicans really stand for. And that is -- they stand for getting government out of your life and also for lower taxes.
Listen to what he said yesterday in Henniker, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the challenges the next president also faces is to make this economy work for everybody. You know, I hear people in my own party sometimes talk about how great the economy is doing, everything's just doing terrific. For a lot of folks, it is.
But if you're a person for whom gasoline prices matter, 70 cents a gallon more this year from last year is affecting your ability to get to work, to get to school or to just simply live because everything you buy costs more money. It has to be transported to the store. And whether it's the milk you drink or the bread you eat, if it costs more to get it to the store, it costs more at the shelf.
And there are a lot of American families that are paying more today, but they're not making a lot more today. And their insurance is costing more, particularly their health insurance. We've got a crisis on our hands in this country. It's not just that 47 million people are uninsured. That's a crisis.
But the greater crisis is that 80 percent of all the health care dollars we spend on this nation are spent on chronic disease because our health care system is completely upside down. We wait until people are catastrophically ill before we even engage them in the system. We need to be putting the money on the prevention side, not the intervention side. Our system is upside down.
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
HUCKABEE: Some people in this country, maybe some of the Democrats say, let's let the government control it. Let the government make more decisions about your health care. To be fair, some of the Republicans say, no, we want the private insurance companies to make all the decisions about your health care.
I'm going to be honest with you, folks. I don't trust the government or the private insurance companies to take care of me. I want to take care of me. I think our health plan ought to empower you as an individual citizen to make your health care choices. So, you decide with your doctor what's best for you because if somebody else is making the decision, they're making the decision on how it affects their own pocket, not how it affects your future, your life, your health.
And the health care system that I dream of in this country is one that's personalized and it's owned by you. And you have a say in it and the healthier you live, the less expensive it is for you because your choices will result in benefits that you can live with. You can live any way you want. Nobody's going to tell you how to live. I'm not going to suggest that.
But there ought to be incentives to you and your employer so that the better choices you make, which are yours to make, result in more affordability in your plan and more portability so that it's not just tied to where you work, but it's tied to you.
I also want to make clear that when Chuck was talking about the tax system, you know, one of the greatest concerns that a lot of folks have, if they have a dream of a small business, dream of going into something for themselves, what they find out is that their toughest competition is not some guy across town or the guy across the state or a guy across the country. Their toughest competition is often from their own government whose system of excessive taxation, regulation and litigation makes it all but impossible for them to fulfill the American dream.
We need to be the party and the people that believes in the strength of the small business owner and the entrepreneur. Eighty percent of all the jobs in this country come from small business and we've got to make it so that a person can sit down at the kitchen table and sketch out his or her idea, even on the back of a dinner napkin and the result can be that that can grow into a business that thrives and hires people and buys things and sells things and creates an economy. That's how an economy is created, when people move products and things and they build them.
We have a system now where a lot of people, they don't fail because their idea isn't good. They don't fail because they don't work hard enough. They fail because they found that they could beat every competitor out there except their own government. And, ladies and gentlemen, one of the reasons we need a total overhaul of our tax system is because the one that we have penalizes productivity and subsidizes irresponsibility.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Mike Huckabee campaigning yesterday there, his first speech in New Hampshire. That is Henniker, New Hampshire, after his dramatic victory in the Iowa caucuses.
Dana, a very different tone from Governor Huckabee there. I know on that very comfortable overnight flight from Des Moines to Manchester, New Hampshire, you had a chance to ask the governor how different it would be here in New Hampshire where he can't count on having a large Evangelical base of support.
BASH: That's right. His immediate reaction was to make a joke. He said, you know, what are we going to do? We're going to go to New Hampshire, we're going to go to the lawn of the capital in Concord and we're going to set up a tent and we're going to have a big revival and we're going to convert as many people to be Evangelicals as possible.
Obviously, that was very sarcastic response to the really fundamental question that we had coming over here which is how are you going to change your position, how are you going to be able to appeal to Republicans in the state of New Hampshire who simply don't have that strong, socially conservative point of view, and that isn't really at the top of their priority list like it is in the state of Iowa.
But you did -- you know, so he didn't answer it there, but he did really answer it and he is really answering it on the stump. Again, by not necessarily what he is saying, but by what he isn't saying. He's not talking about the social issues.
But in that particular clip, that long clip from yesterday, you really heard him hitting the libertarian, live free or die theme over and over again and that really was remarkable the way he is trying to really play into that here.
And I got to tell you, just -- he did have another event this morning in Londonderry, New Hampshire. There were a lot of people there definitely who said, John, that they were coming out to hear what he is all about in New Hampshire, just like in Iowa. They feel very, very strongly, these voters, about the fact that they have a responsibility, they have an opportunity to hear these candidates face-to-face, in person.
So, they're coming out to see what all the buzz is about. A lot of people saying that a lot of Republicans, a lot of Independents saying that -- many of them told me, you know what, they consider themselves pro-choice. They don't agree with him on the social issues, but they said just what we heard in the state of Iowa. They think he is authentic, they think he is sincere, they think he has an optimistic message, so that's why people are still coming out to hear him.
They don't think, in the Huckabee campaign, that he's going to do extraordinarily well here. Mike Huckabee says over and over, he thinks John McCain is going to do well. His next fertile ground is the next presidential contest state, that is the state of South Carolina.
They think he's going to do much better there, but they're here primarily because they have a couple of debates and because, John, we're here. And he is a campaign that doesn't have a lot of money, they really rely on what they call "free media" and that's the main reason why they're here in New Hampshire, staying here through Tuesday's primary -- John?
KING: More from Dana Bash later, doing a remarkable job covering one of the political circles they now call the "Huckaboom" and we will get a sense of just what kind of a bounce, if any, Governor Huckabee received from the Iowa results when later today, we share with you the first CNN/WMUR presidential tracking poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.
That's coming up later this afternoon as our CNN BALLOT BOWL, the candidates in their own words unfiltered as our coverage of the New Hampshire Primary and the candidates continues later in the BALLOT BOWL.
But on the other side of the break, today's other big stories, including the big storm out west. Stay with us.
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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Back to John King and the BALLOT BOWL in a moment.
But let's get you started right now with weather woes out west. In northeastern California, snow and wind are creating a soggy mess. Take a look at these pictures, more than 400,000 people are without power right now. The same storm system dumped heavy rain on Southern California, raising fears about flash flooding and mudslides. Near Reno, Nevada, a 30-foot section of levee on the Truckee Canal broke today, dumping cold water on a number of homes.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking it all for us from the severe weather center. Jacqui, good to see you.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you, too, Tony.
Lot going on still at this hour. A couple of hot spots I just want to point out right now is the heavy rain moving through the San Francisco Bay area and on up towards the north of Sacramento, kind of crossing over the I-5 corridor right now.
But look out here southwest of San Francisco, we have some thunderstorms and some of which have the potential to become strong or severe with hail and even an isolated tornado possible. This'll be ongoing over the next two hours or so for San Francisco.
Now, into southern California, there, you can see the wet weather across San Diego, it's been very heavy into the higher elevations. A flash flood warning which is in effect right now for the burn areas. That's near the Palamar Mountains right here. Seven inches in 24 hours and the rain is still coming down. There's also some urban and small stream flooding all across the county, that includes you (ph) into the coast.
The snow side of things, it's still coming down. Another heavy wave coming in tonight and into tomorrow morning. So, winter storm warnings still in effect across the Sierras with an additional two to four feet between now and Sunday night.
And of course, the storm heading eastward, so watch out into the Wasatch Range, also into the Colorado Rocky Mountains where we're going to be seeing between one to three feet of snow throughout the weekend as well.
Some big changes on the way, though, Tony. Great news for folks out east who have been stuck in the cold.
HARRIS: That's right.
JERAS: We're talking record temperatures for early next week.
HARRIS: Alleluia!
JERAS: So, I'll end with a smile.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. All right, Jacqui, thank you.
We're going to update this story, this weather story for everyone next hour right in the NEWSROOM.
We are back to John King and the BALLOT BOWL in Bedford, New Hampshire in just a moment. Rudy Giuliani is in the "Candidate Cafe," that's next.
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