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On Campaign Trail with the presidential candidates; Speeches from Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney

Aired January 27, 2008 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: For those in North America, special coverage of the candidates, the "BALLOT BOWL," begins right now.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Jim Acosta live in Memphis, Tennessee, where Hillary Clinton is about to speak to supporters here at a church in this town. We'll be hearing from her in a moment.

But over the next couple of hours, you're going to be hearing from the candidates in their own words. Some of the speeches you'll be hearing will be taped, some will be live. But it will be a chance for you, the viewer, to hear and see candidates as we do, unfiltered and unscripted.

Again, I'm Jim Acosta in Memphis.

Dana Bash is in Orlando, Florida, where she's following the Republican race for the nomination down there.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Jim, that's right. The Republican primary here in Florida is just two days away. We have, as you said, a lot for our viewers on tap today so they can hear from these candidates, Republicans and Democrats.

I'll give you the game plan just for this hour alone. We are going to have live John McCain, who is in Polk City, Florida, he's speaking already. Hillary Clinton, she is, again, where you are, Jim, in Memphis, Tennessee. And Mitt Romney will be speaking shortly. He will be speaking in Miami, Florida.

Before we give you all of those events, we want to bring you new information, very important information, about an endorsment, a very important endorsement on the Democratic side.

I want to bring in Suzanne Malveaux who will give us information on something that could rock the Democratic world a bit with regard to the Obama campaign.

Tell us what's going on.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Dana. This is really a big endorsement for Barack Obama. Senator Ted Kennedy is expected to endorse him. Now, this is coming from sources that are close to the Clinton campaign. They have been told to expect that he will be endorsed, Barack Obama, by Senator Kennedy. They're trying to get ahead of this. There's an on-record response from one of the Clinton aides saying they have been friends a long time. Senator Clinton has a lot of respect for Senator Kennedy.

Now, the Kennedy office, we've reached out to them. They're not ready to say this is official yet. But Senator Barack Obama was asked about it earlier this morning in anticipation of this very important endorsement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I let Ted Kennedy speak for himself. Nobody does it better. But obviously, any Democratic candidates would love to have Ted Kennedy's support. And we have certainly actively sought it. I will let him make his announcement and his decision when he decides it's appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, this follows the endorsement of Senator Kennedy's niece, Caroline Kennedy, today in an op-ed in the "New York Times," entitled "A President Like My Father."

Why is this coming from the Clinton campaign? Sources close to the Clinton campaign -- obviously, Kennedy wanted to give her a heads up on what was coming down the line here. It is quite significant news here. This is a Democratic giant, if you will. And the Clintons, as well as Kennedys, very close. You can imagine kind of the ripple effect this may have within the Democratic Party. All of this following Barack Obama's very significant victory in South Carolina -- Jim?

ACOSTA: Thanks very much, Suzanne.

That is big news from the campaign trail. Probably the biggest news of the day so far. Perhaps only after Barack Obama's stunning victory in South Carolina last night.

And I am in Memphis, Tennessee, where Hillary Clinton is right now speaking to supporters and also a congregation of mostly African- American members here at this Baptist church in Memphis, the Monumental Baptist Church. Memphis is also home of the blues. B.B. King's place is not too far here.

But you won't be hearing Hillary sing "The Thrill is Gone." She is looking forward, not back, to Super Tuesday.

Here is Senator Clinton now. Let's hear what she has to say to supporters here in Memphis, Tennessee.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to make college affordable for everyone. And when we see our economic situation deteriorating and the wealthy and the well-connected doing better than ever and the average American family losing $1,000 in income, you have to ask, what is wrong with this picture? This is not how it's supposed to be in America.

We have to end the war in Iraq and not only bring our sons and daughters home, but bring those billions and billions of dollars home, as well.

I saw the mayor earlier today, and we were talking about all of the needs that Memphis has. Those are the needs every city has. The roads, the bridges, the infrastructure, the water systems, everything is in need of repair and renovation. A great nation invests in its great cities like Memphis. And I intend to make sure we do that again.

Now, when we talk about the challenges and opportunities we face, there are those who would have us believe we're not up to it anymore. But you know, we just can't fix our economy so everybody has a job. We can't change our energy policy. We can provide health care. Well I just disagree with that. And I know you do as well. We are called upon to act and that needs to start now.

When Dr. King spoke to the sanitation workers, he urged them to move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. That is still the challenge. It was his very last speech. He was killed the next day. But as many of you remember, in less than a week, his brave widow, Coretta Scott King, returned to Memphis. She had not yet buried her husband but she was determined to finish his work. And with three of her children at her side, she led a march through these streets.

The people here inspired our nation. Tens of thousands joined her in solidarity with those striking workers. Most of the people who joined probably didn't even know a sanitation worker, did they? But they knew an injustice when they saw it that needed to be remedied. Today, that march for justice continues. It is up to us to do the hard work of breaking the barriers and opening the doors and making America what it ought to be.

Here in Memphis, you know a lot about what that takes. Memphis has a special place in American history and American consciousness. The people of this great city, along this mighty river, have shown time and time again what it means to stand for justice and to be people of conscience.

It is such an honor for me to come and replenish my spirit here with you and to remind all of us, there is work for each of us to do. You know, some will do it from the pulpit. Some will do it from the back of a garbage truck. Some will do it by running for president. Some will do it by raising children. But each of us is called. And I think America is, once again, ready to answer that call. Thank you. God bless you.

ACOSTA: There is Senator Hillary Clinton coming off a stunning defeat last night in South Carolina, addressing a pretty enthusiastic crowd of supporters here in Memphis, Tennessee at the Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis.

I want to bring in Dana Bash following the Republicans in Orlando, Florida because Dana has spent a considerable amount of time covering the White House and up on Capitol Hill. She knows Hillary Clinton pretty well.

I have to ask you, Dana, were you surprised or stunned at all everybody else was by the margin of victory in South Carolina? It was something else.

BASH: It was something else, sure. I think everybody, you're right, Jim, was pretty surprised at how much of a rout it was for Senator Obama in the state of South Carolina.

Obviously, as you well know, Senator Clinton tried to downplay it by not being in the state of South Carolina and having her husband campaign there, which could have helped or hurt. We'll see as time goes on what that men for the state of South Carolina for her.

But I think what's really interesting, Jim, is sort of in light of that, what the Clinton campaign is planning as we go forward for the next couple of days. I'm here in state of Florida. There has not been a Democrat for miles in Florida because Democrats have boycotted the state. The reason is because the national party has said that they are very angry at the Florida Democrats because they moved up their primary to this Tuesday. Because of that, Democrats haven't campaigned here at all.

However, Jim, as you know, the Clinton campaign put out a press release announcing Senator Clinton is going to be here on election night on Tuesday. So, it seems kind of interesting in the fact it seems leak she's going to try to come here and get a headline from what could be, on paper, a win for her in Florida though technically it probably won't mean very much.

ACOSTA: Exactly, Dana. We had a media availability with the Senator this morning, before this event at the church, where she talked about that. And it was stunning and surprising to hear her talk about Florida when everybody thought we would be focusing on Super Tuesday. As you mentioned, the Senator's making a pit stop enroute to Super Tuesday and that pit stop is Florida.

As you mentioned, the national Democratic Party has essentially spanked Florida for moving up its primary and validating delegate there's. Hillary Clinton saying no votes should count, not just near Florida but, in Michigan where essentially the same thing happened. What is going on here? That is basically the question of the day.

And if you read between the lines, while the Barack Obama campaign has said, no, the Florida primary's a beauty contest I think what the Hillary Clinton campaign is hoping to do is put a, if you want to call it a symbolic victory in the went column and get P.R. juice, TV juice, out of Tuesday night and say, we're here in Florida, we won Florida, though is it really a win? We don't really know. It sort of blunts that momentum that Barack Obama had coming out of South Carolina.

Do you think, does it blunt that momentum somewhat? BASH: Well, you know, it's going to be interesting to see, Jim, right. What the Clinton campaign is trying to get a headline and capitalize on what will likely be a headline here saying Hillary Clinton perhaps wins the Florida primary even though the reality is that it's not going to mean very much in terms of delegates and because of the fact nobody's campaigning here in Florida. An interesting strategy. But luckily, we understand and we're able to explain it to our viewers, Jim.

We'll have more about the campaign that is going on near Florida, and that is the Republican campaign. John McCain is campaigning, as we speak, in Polk City, Florida. He's speaking live. We're going to bring that to you on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Dana Bash. "BALLOT BOWL," a chance to bring you the candidates as they campaign in a way where voters who are at events on the stump.

We were told you a short while ago that John McCain is campaigning not too far from where I am, in Polk City, Florida. He actually just wrapped up his speech. You see him there, glad handing, as we call it, with the voter there's.

We want to bring you, though, some of what he said on the stump. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, George Washington was right. And what happened at Walter Reid was terrible. It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable.

I've got to give you straight talk, my friends. This is a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars, I'm sorry to tell you. There's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars.

We're going to have a lot of PTSD to treat, a lot of combat wounds that have to do with terrible explosive IEDs that inflict severe wounds. My friends, it's going to be tough. We're going to have a lot to do. We've got to expand the V.A.'s capability to care for those injuries and wounds.

Good news, we are able to transport people from the battlefield to medical care faster than any time in history and we are saving lives, thank god. I want to tell you, I want to tell you this, my friends. We've got a lot of veterans today who have to drive for an hour or two hours and go to the V.A. facility and stand in line to stand in line to get an appointment to get an appointment for a routine health care need.

My friends, I want to look my veterans in the eye and tell you right now if you've got a routine health care need I'm going to give you a plastic card, take it to the doctor or the health care provider of your choice and you'll get treatment. You will never stand in line to stand in line again. I will take care of our veterans. I know what our veterans need, need and deserve.

I need to talk to you for a minute I was very grateful to have the endorsement of both Senator Mel Martinez and Governor Charlie Crist. I thank them both for it. So I want to assure you, I want to assure you, I understand the threat of hurricanes. I understand the threat that people are facing now in this state and across the Gulf of losing everything they ever worked for and sought to have, and that's to own their own home and take care of themselves and their families. And my friends, I know we've got to do it.

But I've got to it'll you straight talk. We can do it. We can have the leadership of people like Charlie Crist and governors across the Gulf. We can reform insurance. We can get the regulators and the governors and the legislators and the federal government together and we can make insurance available. I commit to you that I will lead. I will get these regulators. I'll have great governors like Charlie Crist and your legislators and we'll solve this problem. There's no problem in America can't solve. We have an obligation to make that insurance affordable and available to you. I commit that that will be one of my highest priority and I will do that.

Let me talk to you for a second, if I could, about the economy. We all know the economy's tough. We know there's difficulties. We know about the housing subprime lending crisis. And it's tough. But I have a fundamental belief that the underpinnings of America's economy are good and strong. And growing states like ours, like Florida, Arizona.

By the way, I'm committed to saving the Everglades, too, my friends. We know the importance of water, of the Everglades and we know what a great national asset it is, how important it is. I come from a state of Arizona. California's stolen all of our water. It's terrible. It's terrible! In Arizona, we have so little water the trees chased the dogs. It's terrible there.

By the way, speaking of governors, speaking of governors, I don't know if you heard about the two inmates in the chow line in state prison. One of them turned the other one and said the food was better when you were governor.

Anyway -- so, by the way, I was over in California with Governor Schwarzenegger. He and I have many similar abuts, as you can obviously tell. By his -- this guy carrying a sign, protester, always protesters in California. I walked by the guy, anybody ever tell you, you look like Senator John McCain? I said, yes. He said, doesn't it make you mad as heck? So, so my friends, we can fix this economy. We can fix it.

But the first thing we need to do, my friends, is make the Bush tax cuts permits so the American people do not experience a tax increase in 2010. We need to get rid of the terrible scourge affecting 25 million American families called the alternative minimum tax. I'm sure you've heard of it. It was designed for a few millionaires for multimillionaires. Now it's expanding and expanding and expanding and we've got to stop that. We can't have that attack on middle income -- 25 million middle income American families.

My friends, we've got to reduce corporate taxes. Do you know that the corporate taxation in the United States of America is second highest in the world? The only one country higher is Japan. Why do businesses and jobs flee the country? We've got to make it attractive.

By the way, the way the governor in the state of Florida have made a business-friendly climate Senate of Florida -- Cindy and I would like some of our money back for our kids' visit to Disney World for all of the times that we did. And I still think the price of refreshment is outrageous. Sorry, I won't go into that.

BASH: And that's Republican presidential contender, John McCain speaking in Polk City, Florida. That's where Mary Snow is.

Mary, you're covering John McCain there. It's important to note that John McCain did not repeat his charge against his chief rival near Florida, Mitt Romney that he at one point supported a withdrawal of troops, a timetable, from Iraq. I got an e-mail from a McCain adviser who said, no, we made our point.

He did get some flak, if you will, for making a charge that former governor Romney insist was false, didn't he?

MARY SNOW, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, he did, because we were talking about this so much yesterday afternoon when it was really intensifying. Senator McCain just finished a town hall meeting here in Polk City. We are at a museum where there's vintage aircraft. He did take questions from the crowd. Mitt Romney's name came up by one questioner, but that was pretty much all he said about Mitt Romney just in passing. They were talking about health care plans.

But certainly, Senator McCain is trying to hit Mitt Romney hard on the subject of Iraq, national security. Senator McCain, of course, feels this is his strong point here in Florida. A strong military population in the state. And he is trying to present himself as the candidate who would be best fitted to be commander in chief. He was turning up the heat on Mitt Romney yesterday and this exchange, of course, got headlines.

BASH: Mary, thank you very much. We know that you spoke to governor, the Florida's governor earlier today. He gave McCain a big endorsement. We'll hear more about your view later today.

After the break, hear from the man that Mary Snow was talking about, John McCain's chief rival here in the state of Florida for Tuesday's primary, that is Mitt Romney. He is speaking. You see live in Miami. We'll hear from him just on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida.

We are two days away from the Republican primary here in state of Florida. Before the break, we brought you John McCain, speaking in Polk City, Florida.

Now, we want to bring you live to the man who appears to be his chief rival for the top spot here in Florida, former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney. Let's listen in.

MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... a people that will always be the hope of the earth. I've seen it time and again. I want to tell one brief story from my Olympic experience.

I had a chance to run the games. I met terrific athletes. One was a man named Derek Para, Hispanic-American, born in Los Angeles or moved there. While he was living in Los Angeles he became a roller- bladder. You know, those rollerblade things? Well his friends said to him, try ice skates. They don't have an Olympic event, they said, in rollerblading. He put on ice skates. And he was fast. He was so fast, he beat almost everybody else on the U.S. team and became a member of the U.S. speed skating team. Came to Utah, skated his heart out, got a silver medal and then a gold medal. At the closing ceremonies the vice president asked me to choose one person to represent all of the athletes and I chose Derek to sit with the vice president in the vice president's box.

Derek was coming in. I said, Derek, what was the most memorable experience in your Olympics? And it wasn't the silver. And it wasn't the gold. He said, it was being honored to carry in the American flag that had flown above the World Trade Center September 1, 2001 in opening ceremonies.

Derek said that he was one of eight athletes chosen to carry in that flag. It's 8 x 12, badly torn and burned. He said they expected the crowd to start cheering when it was announced that it was coming in the stadium. But instead, total silence, complete reverence. And they carried the flag and stopped in front of the symphony and choir. They began performing the national anthem, beautifully, as it was performed moment as ago. He said it was hard holding that into flag while singing those words and holding on to his emotion. The choir did something they hadn't expected. they were singing an old version of the national anthem from the 1930s where you repeat the last line. One octave higher for sopranos, greater orchestration, "Oh, say does that star spangled Banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave."

He said this time, as they sang it, a drift of wind came into the flag and lifted it in their hands and he said, for me, it was as if the spirits of all those that had fought and died for American liberty had just blown in that flag. And he said it was hard to hold tonight my tears. Tears ran down his face and tears welled in my eye.

And it's because of that love of liberty, it's that greatness of spirit, that recognition of the sacrifice of brave men and women, from the Bay of Pigs, all the way through the Revolutionary War to our day today in Iraq and Afghanistan, that recognition of great spirit of patriotism and sacrifice that convince me America will always be strong. We will always be good. And we will always be the hope of the earth. Thank you so very much. Great to be with you. Let's win on Tuesday! BASH: That's Mitt Romney speaking live in Miami, Florida. Clearly trying to appeal to the very small, but very important Cuban community, very important to Republican candidates here in the state of Florida, ahead of the primary on Tuesday.

Now, Tuesday is the primary here in Florida, but last night was a very, very important night in the presidential contest for the Democrats. And that is where Hillary Clinton came in second, Barack Obama came in with a strong first. But John Edwards, the man whose home state is Florida -- excuse me, South Carolina, that is, the state where he was born, he came in third place. And after the break, we are going to let you hear what John Edwards last night after that third place finish. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Acosta, back in Memphis, Tennessee, where Hillary Clinton has just wrapped up an address to some supporters here at a Baptist church here in the home of blues, home of Elvis Presley and some pretty good barbecue.

But Hillary Clinton just left this town en route to Florida, where she'll be attending some fund-raisers later on today and paying a little bit of attention to the Sunshine State heading into this Tuesday's primary.

The other major contender in this race is John Edwards. And he is campaigning in Dublin, Georgia, today. Georgia, of course, being one of those important Super Tuesday states coming up on February 5th. John Edwards, who is a native son of South Carolina, he was born there, but finished in third place, a disappointing third place for the senator last night.

And he is now addressing supporters in Dublin, Georgia, trying to put together his campaign and trying to put one in the win column. Let's go to John Edwards now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to join Senator Clinton and President Clinton in congratulating Senator Obama. Now the three of us move on to February 5th...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: ... where millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of this party and help shape the future of America.

Our campaign from the very beginning has been about one central thing. And that is to give voice to millions of American who have absolutely no voice in this democracy, to give voice...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: To give voice to people like the woman I met in Kansas City a couple of years ago, who told me the story of working full time and not being able to pay both her heating bill and her rent, and having to come home every night in the winter and dress her children in all of their clothes, in their coats, put them under blankets and put them in bed together so they could stay warm.

And she told me the story of getting them up every morning out of the bed fully clothed with their coats on, feeding them and sending them off to school and praying, praying that no one would find out what was happening in her home because they would come and take the children away from her. No one should live like that in the United States of America. We are better than that.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: And we are giving voice to that extraordinary woman in Kansas City, admiring her strength and courage. We are giving voice to all those Americans whose voices are not being heard. And their voices were heard today in South Carolina.

And so I say, if you are worried about your health care or you don't have health care in America, your voice will be heard in this campaign. If...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: ... you are worried, worried because you lost your job and you are worried sick about finding a new job, your voice will be heard in this campaign. If you are one...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: ... of 37 million American who is waking up every single day literally worried about feeding and clothing your children and living in poverty, your voice will be heard in America, and it will be heard in this campaign and we will speak for you and we will fight for you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: If you are worried about being able to pay for your child to be able to go to college, being able to pay for tuition and books, your voice will be heard in this campaign and it will be heard in America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: And if you are one of the forgotten middle class, people who are working and struggling just to pay their bills, literally worried about every single day, we will give you voice in this campaign.

And last, if you are one of the extraordinary men and women who have served this country patriotically and worn the uniform of the United States of America and you're not getting the health care that you deserve and you need; or if you are one of 200,000 veterans who live in this country who every night go to sleep under bridges or in shelters or on grates, as long as we are alive and breathing, your voice will be heard in this campaign and it will be heard in America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: And then finally, if you are one of the millions of American who have yet to cast your vote in this Democratic process, beginning on February 5th and moving beyond, your voice will be heard and we will be there with you every single step of the way.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: Join us in this movement. Join in this campaign. Let's make America what it's capable of being. God bless you all and thank you for your support and thank you for being here and thank you for your voice.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And that was former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, addressing supporters in Columbia, South Carolina, last night after another tough loss in this race for the Democratic nomination, perhaps the toughest loss so far for John Edwards because this one happened in the state where he was born.

And it is a state that he really thought was necessary for him to continue in this race. But he's going to press forward here. He is not throwing in the towel at this point at all. And I want to bring in our campaign embed with the Edwards campaign, Dugald McConnell who is with Edwards right now in Dublin, Georgia, which is obviously a key state coming up on Super Tuesday.

And, Dugald, I just wanted to ask you, what is in it for John Edwards right now by staying in this race if he can't seem to pull one off?

DUGALD MCCONNELL, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, if you talk to his advisers, of course, they spin out a scenario of where no one has enough delegate even by convention time, and it's a brokered convention or there is an opportunity for others depending on what happens on the road.

But in the meantime, if you ask the senator himself, he says that his main mission out here is to speak out for those who don't have a voice. You just heard in his speech last night as well, talking about the working class, talking about the uninsured, talking about the unemployed.

For that reason, he's still heading out in these February 5th states. He has got the schedule planned to go to Missouri and Oklahoma and right here in Georgia, where you can be sure that he'll talk about how he grew up here in this region and will speak out for their voice.

And that even though it's the one state that he won in 2004 that he lost last night, you wouldn't know it from looking at him today. He still out for handshakes. Right now he just ducked into the Blue Plate Diner here in Dublin.

ACOSTA: That's right. No shortage of sunny optimism in the Edwards camp, obviously. But you know, one thing that I hear John Edwards saying over and over again in the last few days is that he, you know, sort of considers himself the grown-up in this race.

He talked about this quite a bit in the final days of the South Carolina primary, that sort of this food fight go on between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton he was hoping might help him a little bit. And he did say, I think to a couple of folks, that he thought that there was a slight bump for him because of that.

Do you think he'll continue to talk about that, sort of painting himself as the grown-up in the race?

MCCONNELL: I'm sure he'd like to. And he has often come off certainly in the past as a more optimistic candidate. But it could be up to other conditions as how much Hillary and Barack Obama are at each other and whether that presents a continued opening for Senator Edwards.

He certainly said last night that he thought that he did better at the end of the week than he thought at the beginning of the week in part because of the debate, in part because of that opening. But if he's relying on other candidates for how his campaign does, then he doesn't really have the initiative.

ACOSTA: And it's interesting what you were just saying a few moments ago about the convention, because Hillary Clinton, I was covering her this morning here in Memphis, and she was talking about this being a race for the delegates.

And you know she brought up last night, not only the states on Super Tuesday, but Florida and even mentioned, you know, the contest in American Samoa. So if these candidates -- if there's any indication that candidates are talking and thinking about delegates, referencing American Samoa would be one of those indications.

But John Edwards and his campaign, I guess, Dugald, I guess, is what you were saying, is that they think that this could go the distance? This could all the way to a convention? Are they actually considering that picture?

MCCONNELL: Well, they talk about it. And maybe that's what you have to say if you're asked this kind of question. But in the meantime, they're thinking in the short term, they're thinking about those February 5th states. They say that tomorrow they're planning a modest ad buy for Monday and Tuesday in some of those states.. And they've got some travel planned.

Although, Jim, American Samoa is not on the list.

ACOSTA: That would be a pretty long haul for John Edwards, who has promised to stay in it for the long haul. Dugald, thank you very much. And good luck out there on the trail. Stay safe. And when we come back on Ballot Bowl '08 we'll be hearing from Mitt Romney. If you look at the polls, Mitt Romney hanging tough in Florida for this upcoming primary on Tuesday. So stay with us, this is Ballot Bowl on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN's Ballot Bowl. I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. Ballot Bowl is a chance for us bring you the candidates who are running for president, unscripted, perhaps unfiltered on the stump as they're speaking to voters.

And one of the Republican candidates who is running here in Florida is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. And I want to bring in our Alex Marquardt. He has been our producer on the Romney campaign for quite some time now.

And, Alex, you were there in Miami with Governor Romney. And I think the first question I want to ask you is, given the intense, intense back and forth between Romney and his rival here, John McCain, particularly over the last 24 hours over the Iraq War, how is Mitt Romney dealing with that today or is he at all?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: He hasn't yet, Dana. He has just had one event. It was a fairly standard stump speech. He addressed the economy, which has been the message that he has been -- that has basically been his rallying cry for the last few days since arriving in Florida.

So he hasn't addressed it yet. He does have some comments coming up in a couple of minutes. He may address it then. But it's almost certain that he won't do it on his own. He would only respond to questions from reporters there that the campaign is definitely trying to stay way from this issue as much as possible.

BASH: I can imagine, because obviously a big part of the reason why Senator McCain is trying to talk about the Iraq War is to try to force Mitt Romney not to talk about the economy, which the Romney campaign, as you well know, thinks is his strong suit.

The other thing I was to talk about is a little bit of news today in the Romney campaign, and that is, you well know, Alex, that a big part of Governor Romney's pitch is that he's an outside Washington candidate. But he has a new supporter and even a new adviser on his campaign today with the very familiar name inside Washington, and that is the name of Cheney.

Dick Cheney's daughter, Liz Cheney, has formally signed on to his campaign as a foreign policy adviser. What is Romney's campaign saying about that, about why they think that's a good thing for his campaign?

MARQUARDT: Well, just that she's spent years and years in the State Department, and she'll bring a level of expertise when it comes to foreign policy, particularly Middle Eastern foreign policy. They certainly don't make a big deal out of the fact that she's from Washington. I mean, a lot of his senior aides and staffers have been inside the Beltway for a number of years.

But at every single event, he plays up the fact that he is not the Washington insider. That he spent most of his life in the private sector, he even joked that his four years as governor of Massachusetts weren't enough to infect him. So even though he's adding staffers and advisers from Washington, his message is likely not to change.

BASH: Not likely at all. And Mitt Romney is, of course, campaigning aggressively here in the state of Florida. Alex, you'll be with him every step of the way. Alex, thank you very much, keep up the good work there.

And we want to tell you about something that is coming up next week here on CNN, a very important must-see TV, if you will. We're going to see Governor Romney and the rest of the Republican candidates at a CNN debate in California. They are going to be debating on January 30th, Wednesday, January 30th, at the Reagan library.

And the very next day, we're going to have the Democrats, they are going to be sharing the same stage, no doubt this is going to be a very lively debate on both days. The Democrats are going to be at the Kodak Theatre on January 31st. So that's something very much to look forward to next week.

But before we get there, we have important political events coming up, particularly here in the state of Florida. We, of course, have the Republican Primary here that we are watching very, very carefully. That is on Tuesday. We're going to have much more from the candidates speaking live here in Florida and across the Super Tuesday states just on the other side of the break. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's Ballot Bowl. I'm Dana Bash in Orlando, Florida. And my colleague, Jim Acosta, is reporting from Tennessee. And we want to talk to our viewers a little bit about the state of play right now in the race, both on the Democratic and Republican side.

I'm, of course, in Florida, the next big prize for Republicans, in particular, Republicans are crisscrossing the state today, as they have been over the past several days, focusing in on Tuesday's primary here in Florida.

But, Jim, for the most part, because the Democrats now have the South Carolina primary, which of course was yesterday, behind them, they are now focusing on Super Tuesday -- or Super Duper Tuesday, or whatever we're calling it right now. And it really is an unbelievable thing to think about. Two dozen states, I think 21 states for the Republicans, 22 for the Democrats.

And as you cover the Democrats now, Jim, how are they at least telling you that they are starting to try to tackle this enormous challenge of trying to campaign in all of these states?

ACOSTA: Well, it's amazing, Dana. It's a good thing that we all paid attention in government class in high school, right, because we're actually getting to see the democratic process. This is the real thing that's shaping up here as these candidates pick up these delegates. It's interesting, I talked to a Clinton campaign staffer yesterday about all of this and they had about roughly -- you know, before South Carolina, 236 delegates. Super Tuesday puts into play 1,600 to 1,700 delegates.

And they were feeling pretty comfortable as far as where they stood. And most if not all of these states where they felt that they had a pretty good lead or they were in the middle of a tight race, and you could, you know, foresee how their mind is working in all of this if they could perhaps sweep all of the Super Tuesday states in that fantasy sort of scenario and rack up all of those delegates, they would be very close to that 2000 or so threshold.

But that may not be the case anymore because of what happened last night. It's such a game changer, don't you think, Dana, to see Barack Obama win in a resounding way and that has to have an effect on these polls around the country in places like California and New York, even New Jersey, Connecticut, in Hillary Clinton's backyard. I would have to think that there's some sort of impact.

BASH: It certainly could be. You know, and the same thing goes for the Republican side. It's really fascinating to see how the two races sort of mirror one another in that they're so different from what we've seen in years past. What we've seen in years past is that one candidate just kind of captures momentum, the "big mo," as George H.W. Bush used to call it, from the early contest states. And that just kind of carries them through these big contest states and these big days like Super Tuesday, even though we've never had a day quite like that.

But that isn't happening this year. We have had such a fissure, if you will, of the way these early contest states have broken down. On the Republican side, obviously, we've had John McCain have a couple of big wins, he won New Hampshire, he won South Carolina. We have had Mitt Romney get Michigan. He got a couple of caucus states in Nevada and Wyoming. Mike Huckabee won Iowa.

So that is one of the reasons -- really the main reason why we continue to have such a nail-biter on the Republican side as we go into this state of Florida. Now Florida, it's important to note, as we mentioned, it is on Tuesday. It has been the place where Republicans have been campaigning.

Democrats -- until I guess later today, when Hillary Clinton shows up, Democrats haven't been campaigning here because they have -- the state was sanctioned by the national party, saying that they were angry at Florida for moving up its contest state even though the national party didn't want it to.

But Republicans, they also were -- the Republicans were penalized a bit. They basically have 57 delegates at stake in Tuesday's primary. That's half of what they normally would have. But it's still a very, very big -- large number of delegates, especially compared to what they've had in the past. That's why the Republicans at least are hoping to capture that 57 number. But not only just because they want to add up their delegates, but also because they're still looking for that momentum, that momentum that none of the candidates has gotten so far -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And you could look past Super Tuesday to what's happening in Maryland and Virginia, the candidates will be coming to D.C., I would imagine, to your town, Dana, to campaign for votes, because they have contests coming up on February 12th. Then you have Texas and Ohio. You have Pennsylvania coming up later on in the spring.

The social studies and government classes out there, they need to get out their calendars and start circling some dates because this is going to get interesting. But thanks very much, Dana. We'll be talking to you coming up after the break here, here on Ballot Bowl.

In our next hour, you're going to be hearing from the former Arkansas governor, a different former Arkansas governor that is campaigning hot and heavy in this race, Mike Huckabee looking for a victory in Florida. He needs one under his belt. And we'll hear from Mike Huckabee coming up after the break. This is Ballot Bowl on CNN.

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