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Ballot Bowl '08 - On the Road with the Candidates

Aired February 03, 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 CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to a special edition of CNN BALLOT BOWL '08, our chance to let you see the candidates as they campaign across the country. Instead of just the sound bites, extended portions of their speeches talking about the issues from Iraq, health care, the economy, and so much more. Our chance to let you grow more familiar with the candidates as you make your choice. And if you're in a Super Tuesday state you may be seeing the candidates in your state today. Over two dozen contests, two dozen states, excuse me, voting on Super Tuesday just two days away and helping us direct the BALLOT BOWL this hour, our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley who is in Bridgeton, Missouri. Hi, Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. We are watching sort of a political triptych at this point. We have Barack Obama currently in Wilmington, Delaware. John McCain currently in Fairfield, Connecticut. And here in Bridgeton, Missouri, where I am, we have Hillary Clinton who's been taking questions from the crowd. And we want to go back and listen to a little of that.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kids who are off the charts and you test them, and you're testing on a scale from one to five, five is the so-called proficiency score they want you to get. You test them in the beginning they're at a two. And you work all year, test them again, they're at a four, you're still failing. Well, you've doubled the class progress. Now, what has happened, however, is a lot of the kids who were already doing well to start with are bored. They are just tired of being drilled on tests that they passed months before. They want something different. They're getting turned off by school. So we've got to look at individual children. So what I will do is to work with educators, I'm proud to have the aft endorsement, it means a lot to me, thank you very much. I will work with educators to come up with realistic, practical solutions that will really help our teachers and our students. I do not think it helps to have Washington dictate mandates, fail to fund the mandates, and then basically walk away from that responsibility. And that's what's been happening under George Bush. So we're going to change that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an absolute pleasure to have you in St. Louis. I think I speak for all of us. Thanks for coming. I'm concerned about Social Security whenever I retire. I keep hearing ...

CLINTON: Oh, did somebody pass out? Can we get some water? Is there a doctor or a paramedic or a nurse? Here, just pass that in case that's needed. Yeah, do we have a police officer? OK, bring in people who -- they usually post people who are paramedics at events like this. The paramedics are here, OK. The paramedics have come in. OK.

Well, you know, I think we're all concerned and we want to make sure that we're taking care of the person in distress there. Are we OK? They've got them? They've got it? OK. Now, let me answer your question on Social Security real quick. Because you've all been very patient. Look, I think that Social Security has long-term challenges. And we have to fix them. But the Republicans have been beaten up on Social Security for 60 years. They never liked it. They've tried to undermine it. They have raided the Social Security trust fund whenever they had a chance. George Bush tried to privatize it, which would have meant the end of the guarantee of Social Security.

So I don't buy in to the Republican talking points about it being in crisis because I think that feeds into their desire to basically walk away from Social Security. We got a problem. Let's get together and fix it. Calmly and effectively. Just like the paramedics coming in to take care of somebody. Let's make sure that, you know, we get it up and going. And we got somebody else pass out? OK, I'm going to end here on Social Security. I will fix it ...

CROWLEY: Senator Hillary Clinton here in Bridgeton, Missouri. Obviously, we come to these things, they are hugely crowded, these places get very hot. They're having people that are in some medical distress. But as Senator Clinton pointed out, they always have paramedics around. So as she continues with her town hall meeting, we want to go all the way across the country. We want to go to Wilmington, Delaware, and take a listen to Barack Obama.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) IL: In any worthwhile endeavor, hope's just the opposite. I know how hard it's going to be to provide health care to every American. The insurance and drug companies, they will not give up their profits easily. I know how hard it will be to craft an energy policy that makes sense. ExxonMobil likes those profits.

I know how difficult it will be to put young men and women who are standing on street corners in the inner city back on a pathway to success in life. Some of that poverty is deep-rooted. And there's still some selfishness in this society that says that's not our problem.

I know how difficult it is to lift our schools up. Because we don't like having to pay for somebody else's child. And sometimes all of us shirk responsibility. For our children. But I -- I know how hard these things are because I have fought on the streets of Chicago as a community organizer. I have fought in the courts as a civil rights attorney. I have fought in the legislature and I've passed some good legislation. But I've seen good legislation die because good intentions were not enough. They were not fortified with political will or political power.

I have seen this country's judgment clouded by fear, a politics of fear that uses tragedies like 9/11 to scare up votes instead of bring this country together around a common purpose. I know how hard change is. But I also know this. That nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened, except somebody, somewhere, was willing to hope. That is how this nation was founded. A group of patriots like Mr. Rodney (ph) declaring independence, standing up to the mighty British Empire. Nobody gave them a chance. That's how the slaves and abolitionists resisted a wicked system. And that's how a new president charted a course to ensure this nation would not remain half slave and half free.

That's how the greatest generation, my grandfather fighting in Patton's army, my grandmother staying behind with a baby, working on a bomber assembly line. How that generation defeated fascism and Hitler and lifted itself up out of a Great Depression. That's how pioneers traveled west. That's how immigrants came from distant shores. That's how women won the right to vote. That's how workers won the right to organize. That's how young people traveled south and they marched and they sat in and they suffered fire hoses and attack dogs and some went to jail and some died for freedom's cause. That's what hope is.

CROWLEY: Senator Barack Obama in Wilmington, Delaware. Only 15 delegates there, but as we have told you, this is a delegate by delegate fight. And 15 delegates can come in handy. Now, at the risk of giving you a little video whiplash we want to go all the way across the country because that's where we find our Jessica Yellin right now. And Jessica, I know you have been on a church blitz with Bill Clinton. Tell us about it.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have, Candy. We started this morning and Bill Clinton started out visiting one African American church here in Southern California. As you know, for a very long time now California's been referred to as Clinton country. Bill Clinton in particular is enormously popular here. And that has largely carried over to his wife. But with polls narrowing where they're almost running neck and neck, Obama and Senator Clinton here in California, the Clintons have devoted enormous energy to this state. Senator Clinton, Chelsea and the former president all making stops here this weekend.

But special meaning for the president's stops. He's touring a number of African American churches here in Southern California. And while the campaign says this is just an effort to reach out to every community, some who have organized, helped organize this visit by the president to these churches, say it's also a way for him to reconnect with members of the African American community after there was some hurt feelings or concern after some of the comments he made in South Carolina.

You know some of his comments kicked up quite a bit of controversy. Bill Clinton didn't directly address those comments but the former president did allude to them and sort of ask his audience for understanding. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: (inaudible). I've never been more proud to be a member of my party in my entire life. I get why this is a hard lesson. I get why this is a hard lesson. I waited my whole life to go over vote for an African American for president, I waited my whole life to vote for a woman for president.

And sometimes on Sunday I look up to the sky and I say, God, you're playing with my mind again. It's not supposed to be easy. But it is supposed to be great. Search your heart. Do what you think is right. I love you, she loves you. (inaudible) I think it's time for our country. That's the most important question. God bless you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: And Candy, the former president was greeted by I have to say sort of mild, polite applause, and sort of a respectful standing ovation. But not the normal enthusiastic embrace he usually gets when he walks in front of an audience. By the end of his comments they seemed to warm to him quite considerably, Bill Clinton always has a way with an audience. Candy?

CROWLEY: That he does. Listen, I wanted to ask you, perhaps you've already a little bit answered this question. But when you and I were in South Carolina, when we talked to a lot of African Americans, they were really upset with Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton, about some comments they had made. But it was South Carolina. I wonder if it has traveled that far to California. Do you get a sense that there were or are people there in the African American community that are still upset with the Clintons?

YELLIN: You know, Candy, there's an awareness of what he said, and there's some concern. But there's not that degree of raw emotion and intense anger that we saw in South Carolina. People here are much more concerned about whether they should be supporting Barack Obama or Senator Clinton for some other reasons. And they also are asking about issues. But that sort of raw emotional anger at former president Bill Clinton, I'm just not feeling it here and people aren't expressing it in the same way.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Jessica Yellin in Los Angeles, following the former president. And perhaps a first spouse at some point later this year.

We're going to take you back over to the Republican side soon. John McCain, Mike Huckabee, and of course Mitt Romney, right after this break as CNN BALLOT BOWL continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back to this special edition of CNN BALLOT BOWL '08. Two days to Super Tuesday and we are showing you the candidates, the Democrats and the Republicans, seeking the presidential nominations, campaigning across the country. Candy Crowley was just with the Democratic side. The Republicans are out and busy, too. We want to go quickly to Fairfield, Connecticut. John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, after a rally there, taking questions from reporters.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If there is someone and I doubt if there is, who somehow feels that's a detriment, I proudly wear his support and friendship, and obviously then they would be -- feel free to support another candidate. One of the great honors of my life is the friendship and support of Senator Joe Lieberman. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much.

KING: Al Gore's running mate, the former vice presidential nominee, campaigning aggressively for the man seeking the presidential nomination. Senator McCain says he wears that support proudly and if they don't like that, they can rote for somebody else. Senator McCain campaigning in Connecticut this hour. Out in the Chicago suburbs is the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He is McCain's chief challenger at the moment for the Republican presidential nomination. Mary Snow joins us from the Chicago area.

And Mary, how does Governor Romney answer the question, what do you need to do, sir, to stop the McCain momentum?

SNOW: Well, you know, he questions the momentum. I just was asking him what does he do in these next 48 hours? He's been dismissing the polls and he really believes and has been stressing that he's getting a momentum of support from conservatives. He's pointing to talk show hosts. Also conservative columnists who are rallying behind him. And he believes that he can gain support among the conservative base. That was the big theme of the address here today, saying that it's really a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. And he's been hammering away at Senator McCain on a number of issues, particularly here on immigration, because of the support of the immigration reform bill.

He was likening that to a Democratic plan, naming Senator Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, questioning whether there was any big difference. So he is hoping to contrast himself with Senator McCain in these final days and hoping to get enough support. And in terms of what he expects, he's really been focusing on delegates. That's exactly the word he used today is that he is keying in on delegates from states where he feels that he can do well. He told the crowd here he does believe that he will win and go beyond Super Tuesday.

KING: And Mary, has he laid out any sort of a public threshold if you will of how well he thinks he needs to do on Super Tuesday? There are about 1,020 delegates at stake. We learned Governor Romney is spending more than $35 million of his own money. Has he said, I need to wake up Wednesday morning with X number of delegates to continue to be viable or leaving that an open question?

SNOW: He's leaving that an open question. Yesterday when reporters were asking him about it he said that he does not believe that the Republican nomination will be sealed on Tuesday, and that he believes he will go on. He also did say, though, that he's going to be taking a look at his budget, his staff, on Wednesday morning, and see where they go from there. But he is leaving it an open question in terms of the exact amount of delegates that he needs to win in order to stay in this race.

KING: Mary Snow for us in Chicago. As you can see from the banner there, Governor Romney on his way to St. Louis, Missouri, another one of the Super Tuesday states. Again, 24 states in voting in all these contests from the East Coast in Massachusetts, across to the west coast, California, up to Alaska, even beyond to American Samoa. As we continue to track Super Tuesday candidates, there's another Republican still in the race, the former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the big Iowa winner one month ago, struggling at the moment but hoping his southern appeal will help him on Super Tuesday.

We'll check in with Huckabee when the CNN BALLOT BOWL continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back to in special edition of CNN BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm John King reporting live from Boston, Massachusetts. Thanks for spending time with us with a little BALLOT BOWL on Super Bowl Sunday. We just heard from Governor Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain before the break. Well, there is a third Republican candidate still active in this race. He won the first contest back in Iowa a month ago. He's of course the former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, struggling at the moment, no wins since that Iowa victory a month ago, but still a significant factor in the race, especially in his native South where he's competing for conservative support in the Super Tuesday contest. Also playing hard in Missouri, Minnesota, another state where Governor Huckabee does well.

He'll be live in Macon, Georgia, later today. We hope to bring you that as part of our BALLOT BOWL coverage. We want to share with you now though Governor Huckabee speaking with reporters earlier today in Woodstock, Georgia. The question put to the governor, rate your chances on Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's doubtful that anyone is going to come out of Super Tuesday with enough to secure the nomination. So I want to make sure that people understand that all of this speculation about, it's going to be over Tuesday, I think is a little premature. Until somebody has 1,191 delegates it's not over. And if there's any second thought about whether we have any intentions other than going all the way, I want to make sure that people understand, we intend to be in this thing until one of two things happens. Somebody else gets 1,191 delegates, or we get to the convention and we don't end up with that many.

But we got in this thing for the long haul. I've said all along, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And having run a few of those, I can tell you that you never want to pull up and quit at mile 21, because the people in front of you may not make it to mile 26.2. And as a result of that, you know, we feel very good about where we stand for this Tuesday. Mainly because a lot of southern states are in play. States that we are expecting to do well in. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma.

And so we think that after Tuesday, there's going to be a different sort of field of view. And we're looking forward to it. I'll be happy to take some questions.

QUESTION: Govenror Huckabee, what would be in your mind a victory here Tuesday? (Inaudible)? Do you have a set number of delegates you want to come out to win?

HUCKABEE: No, we're not looking at it so much like a specific number. Obviously we'd like to have all of them. But we're looking at the end of the day to up our delegate count to make sure that we have more and that nobody has the magic number of 1,191. Which it doesn't look like that's necessarily going to happen. Somebody would have to sweep all of them, and even then, wouldn't have enough to take the nomination Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Governor Huckabee talking earlier today there at Woodstock, Georgia, assessing his chances on Super Tuesday, and going through some of the delegate maps saying he believes the Republican race will go on for some time to come. While the Democrat race is likely to as well.

And we will update you on the delegate math a bit later in the BALLOT BOWL. A quick break for now but when we come back, we'll check back in with the McCain campaign. Senator McCain campaigning in Fairfield, Connecticut this hour. Our Dana Bash on the scene there. We'll check in with Senator McCain there and much more to come as the BALLOT BOWL continues.

Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back to this special edition of CNN BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm John King reporting live from Boston, Massachusetts. Thanks for spending some time with us for BALLOT BOWL coverage on this Super Bowl Sunday.

Before the break you heard Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the former governor, making the case that the Republican race will be a long haul and that he is in it, treating it like a marathon.

Dana Bash is in Fairfield, Connecticut with the Republican frontrunner at the moment, John McCain who is campaigning last hour. Dana, Senator McCain meeting with reporters a short time ago. He is on his way here.

This is the home state of the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The Romney campaign believes Governor Romney will win in Massachusetts and win convincingly on Super Tuesday, and yet Senator McCain is coming to Governor Romney's home state, a little bit of in- your-face?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Big-time in your face. You know, I was talking -- I actually asked Senator McCain in that meeting just a few minutes ago with reporters if he thinks if Governor Romney loses his home state of Massachusetts, if that basically means the end of his campaign.

He declined to answer that. He said, you know, Massachusetts is just one of nearly two dozen states that are going to be voting on Tuesday. But the reality when you talk to Senator McCain's campaign, they say what they're about to do right now, he is headed from me to you in Boston, is really try to basically break the back of the Romney campaign on Tuesday by embarrassing him, quite frankly.

They have been trying to lock up some important endorsements from some of the Republicans there in the state of Massachusetts. They've gotten a couple of former governors. That is not by accident. Certainly the point that they are trying to make, I'm sure you remember back in the year 2000, Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee.

That not only because of the number of electoral votes that hurt him, but it was also quite embarrassing. What the McCain campaign is hoping to do is not just to lock up the Northeast, but to lock up the state of Massachusetts and essentially serve Mitt Romney a pretty embarrassing blow, and force him to get out of the race.

Now, that is a big if, because Mitt Romney is fighting very, very hard in Massachusetts. But you talk to Senator McCain's campaign, they say they have seen some polling internally that perhaps shows that they have a really good shot at the state of Massachusetts. That's why he's going there, not only to do an event today, also to stay and do another one tomorrow morning before he heads back to New Jersey and in New York -- John.

KING: Well, wishful thinking, Dana. The Romney campaign says, and I don't know if anybody can see this, but just behind my shoulder here, the Romney campaign headquarters is actually just on the other side of the water here. I'm right on the edge of Boston Harbor. The Romney campaign headquarters just behind me near the historic north church, if you're a history buff.

We're in a great city here in the city of Boston, it happens to be my hometown. And, Dana, just before the break, we were listening to the former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. He says he believes he can pick up some delegates in the South on Super Tuesday. He says no one is anywhere close to clinching this nomination.

Senator McCain obviously thinks he will have a big night and get closer to clinching, not quite. But as the campaign goes on, even as Governor Huckabee says he is competing and still believes he has a chance. Inside the Romney campaign, they think that Governor Huckabee is little more than a spoiler, helping Senator McCain.

BASH: They absolutely do. And that's why you saw yesterday one of -- or a couple of days ago, I should say, one of Governor Romney's top allies in the very important state of Missouri, essentially telling voters about a vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for John McCain.

You know, there was a little bit of back and forth on the morning shows, especially with Mike Huckabee, about whether or not he should get out of the race, whether he is somebody who is going to deliver this to John McCain. Obviously Mike Huckabee is worried about Mike Huckabee's candidacy and that's it. But when you look at the strategy that Mitt Romney has right now, which is to paint himself as the conservative alternative to John McCain, there is no question, even Mitt Romney's campaign privately will admit this, as you know, John, there's no question that Mike Huckabee is going to make that quite difficult for him, because he is likely to do well, at least well enough to take crucial votes away from Mitt Romney in some of these contest states, especially the South where Mitt Romney and John McCain and Mike Huckabee are all competing -- John.

KING: Dana Bash for us in Fairfield, Connecticut. And as we bring you the BALLOT BOWL coverage, you get to see not only the candidates unscripted but you get to see what happens on a campaign trail. (INAUDIBLE) been breaking down that event behind Dana in Fairfield, Connecticut, as the McCain campaign moves on here to Massachusetts.

And when we come back to BALLOT BOWL, we'll show you more live coverage of the man Dana was just mentioning, the former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. He's in Macon, Georgia. And we'll also help you get more on the issues of candidates' campaign in advance of Super Tuesday. The Democrats on health care when CNN's BALLOT BOWL coverage continues. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Welcome back to this special edition of the CNN BALLOT BOWL, Super Bowl Sunday edition of CNN BALLOT BOWL. I'm John King in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly we'll hear from the Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, targeting key southern states as part of his Super Tuesday strategy. He will be in Macon, Georgia, soon and we'll bring you that event live. I want, though, at the moment to bring back in my colleague Candy Crowley, she is out in Missouri, another one of the big Super Tuesday battlegrounds.

And, Candy, as you track the Democratic candidates, Iraq is one debating point and dividing line between the dividing candidates. But health care also another huge issue as senators Clinton and Obama try to appeal to the base of the Democratic Party.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I was standing here thinking, the evolution of this campaign on the Democratic side has been remarkable. Because when we started out about a year ago, the talk was about Iraq. Barack Obama had the advantage there, was seen because as the war continued to sour he spoke out against the war. He was not in the Senate at that time. But he spoke out against the war before it started.

Hillary Clinton, as we all know, voted for the resolution to go to war in Iraq. So that was one of his principal arguments as he got into this race. But over time, as the economy began to worsen, economic issues began to come up in all of these town hall meetings, and in particular, health care.

It is here that the Clinton campaign thinks they have an advantage. She has proposed universal health care insurance. That is, mandating that everybody have health insurance. He kind of goes at it saying, what we need to do is bring down the costs, and then people will buy insurance, because the reason they don't is that it's too expensive.

This debate has gone on and on on the campaign trail. We wanted to give you a little taste of it starting with Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've met people who had insurance policies and when they got sick, the insurance companies canceled their policies. We're going to put together a movement that is going to include business and labor, doctors, nurses, other health care professionals, young people, old people, every American. And we are going to take on the health insurance companies and the drug companies.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: This is a fight worth having. My opponent will not commit to universal health care. I do not believe -- I do not believe we should nominate any Democrat who will not proudly stand here today, tomorrow, and the next day, and say, universal health care is the goal.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to stop talking about the outrage of 47 million people without health insurance and start doing something about it. We have to bring down the costs of health care if we want to end the shame of the uninsured in America and help millions more who have insurance, but are having extraordinary difficulty paying their medical bills.

That's why my universal health care plan does more to bring down premiums than any other plan in this race, up to $2,500 for a typical family. And we will make sure that every single American can get the same kind of health care that I have as a member of Congress, and we are not going to wait 20 years from now to do this or 10 years from now to do this. But we will do this by the end of my first term as president of the United States of America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: Barack Obama yesterday in New Mexico. Also, Hillary Clinton yesterday, she was in California. Again, this health care debate has gone on for quite some time. You heard Barack Obama there say, I want to stop talking about health care, and I want to do something about it. That is sort of directly aimed at Hillary Clinton, John, because as you know, she famously tried to install a health care program in 1994, I think, when she was first lady. And it was a debacle. So that comes up one way or another along the campaign trail -- John. KING: And it's interesting, let's talk first about how they use it within the Democratic Party. He's essentially saying, maybe I don't go all the way but I can get something done. And she is saying, if you don't start by going all the way, the insurance companies and the other lobbying groups will nit-pick you to death and you'll get nothing done.

So they have -- everyone says the Democrats are largely in agreement, but they do disagree largely on this point. Do you get any sense, Candy, of how it divides, is it liberals go one way, more moderate Democrats another, or is it just harder to disassemble, if you will?

CROWLEY: I have to tell you, I'm not sure when we talk to people in your normal town hall meeting. They don't say, well, I really like his health care plan. This tends to be a race on the Democratic side where they are trying to pick between two people they really like. I rarely ever hear someone say, it's the health care plan that really did it for me.

Obviously, the Clinton campaign thinks that the universal health care insurance is a winning issue for them. They have put it up in ads. They have driven it into the mailboxes of America with fliers. The Barack Obama campaign thinks and says, listen, when it all comes out, when it all shakes down, everybody will be insured, they just don't want to mandate it because they think it's unenforceable. They bring up the Massachusetts plan and they say people remain uncovered even though they have mandatory insurance there.

So I don't get the sense that it's playing out per se. I just get the sense that it's one of those things that the two of them use to divide themselves. But mostly what you hear when you go to some of these town halls, we just wrapped up one here with Hillary Clinton, they come out and they say, oh, she's so smart, and she really knows her stuff, and isn't she impressive.

But if you come out of a Barack Obama campaign, again, it's not the issues they go to. They say, he really makes me believe again, he's really hopeful. So it's two entirely different crowds, not necessarily honing in on those issues.

KING: And we are focusing on this at the moment as an intra- party question, if you will, as both senators Clinton and Obama seek their own party's nomination. But let's talk a bit about what a contrast we'll have in the fall. Because you have these two candidates, one who wants universal health care, one who wants near universal health care, but both talk about a dramatic role for the government in making all that happen.

Quite a bit a contrast from what I hear spending my days with the Republican candidates. Mitt Romney, of course, had that Massachusetts plan you talk about, but even he says it should be left up to the states. The Republicans envision a much smaller federal role than the Democrats.

CROWLEY: And you know, that's kind of across the board. I mean, I really do think that this is an election where people will see in stark relief what the two candidates stand for. You know, we go through a lot of campaigns and people say, oh, they all kind of want the same thing, they all seem the same to me.

But what has been interesting as we watch these debates, particularly when they're back to back nights, is the difference between what the Republicans are saying and what the Democrats are saying. And not just that, the subjects that they're talking about.

The Republicans on tax cuts. The Democrats on universal health care. It's just a totally different conversation at this point. And I think come this fall when we have the nominees, we will also have a struggle for the agenda, because obviously, both parties want the agenda's main item to be where they think their strengths.

So it has been ultimately very fascinating to me to watch these two parties as they head towards nominating someone, and how they are just on such divergent paths when it comes to how they would solve things and what things they are actually talking about.

KING: Candy Crowley in Bridgeton, Missouri, discussing a key issue in the Democratic race, health care. When we come back we'll look at Iraq, an issue on which the Republican candidates are largely out of step with public opinion but believe it's a critical issue, not only as a general election sell to the American people, but also as they court their own party's conservative support in the Republican primaries. Stay with us, the Republicans on Iraq when the CNN BALLOT BOWL continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Candy Crowley in Bridgeton, Missouri. What we're trying to do is give you a good look at all of these candidates, Republicans and Democrats, as so many of you begin to think about heading to the polls Super Tuesday, just two days from now.

I was here because Hillary Clinton came to this union hall to talk, Missouri a very important state. But she is now headed out of here and off to Minnesota. But her husband is still on the ground. He's in California, doing a tour, if you will, of African-American churches. California, a very important state, the huge mother lode of delegates on Super Tuesday.

And of course, the African-American community, a very important one. Barack Obama does very well in that community. The Clintons are trying to use their long ties to the African-American community to pull some of the votes onto their side.

You know, John, I want to bring you in now, just because we were talking about the issue that at this point has been splitting Democrats. And that's health care. You have sort of a different problem on that other side, and that's really the question of Iraq is still kind of dominating that conversation, it seems like.

KING: And it's fascinating you mention how the health care debate has evolved and the issue portfolio among the Democrats has evolved, Candy. Well, the Iraq issue, obviously evolving among the Republicans as well.

When you listen to the Democrats campaigning, they say if they are elected president, they will get the troops home as soon as possible. If you listen to the Republicans campaigning, they the Democrats are dead wrong and that the surge is beginning to work in Iraq, that the troops need to stay as long as necessary to guarantee success if not victory in Iraq.

Now of course, Senator John McCain believes he deserves the most credit on the Republican side, saying at every rally it is he who stood up when many Republicans were silent to the Bush administration, and the former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and demanded strategy change.

He also has sparred the with Mitt Romney on the issue, saying Governor Romney was soft or squishy on Iraq, tried to be silent on Iraq at a time when the Republicans should have been standing up and supporting the president and supporting the troops. So it is a point of conflict between John McCain and Mitt Romney.

And also an issue on which the Republicans find themselves out of step of public opinion. They need to support the war as they see conservative Republican votes, could be a very different issue for the Republicans heading into a general election. Let's listen now to John McCain and Mitt Romney on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can't look you in the eye and tell you that we are safe because we have a lot of work to do. But thanks to Tom Ridge, thanks to the president, thanks to so many people, America is a lot safer than it was at 9/11. But that doesn't mean we don't have a lot of work to do.

Well, my friends, this is a transcendent challenge, as I told you. And I'm proud. I'm very proud that when I saw things were bad in Iraq, and that was early on, I criticized Rumsfeld and said that this strategy had to change. And I was criticized by Republicans for that. But I saw this new strategy that could work and thank God America has found a general like General David Petraeus.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: And I want to tell you, I am so proud of his leadership. And my friends, this strategy is succeeding in Iraq. It is succeeding. But if you forget everything I tell you at this gathering, can I just tell you this. And please don't forget this, al Qaeda is on the run but they are not defeated. They're on the run but they're not defeated.

And there is no politician in Washington, particularly those that are seeking another office, that should decide when we withdraw. Only General David Petraeus should be making that decision, not some politician in Washington. I want to tell you right now... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: ... there's a lot at stake. There's a lot at stake here. And Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to surrender. They want to wave the white flag. They want to set a date for withdrawal. My friends, that means surrender. I will never surrender as president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: And I will never, ever surrender. We will succeed.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You strengthen America's families and the American people also by making sure we have a military that can protect us. I want...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: I want at least 100,000 more troops for our military. I want...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: I want better equipment. I want better equipment and better armament for our troops so they can be successful on the battlefield and safe there. And I want better care for our veterans when they come home.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: So, Candy, all the candidates say they want better care for our veterans. But listening to those Republicans talk about how things have turned for the better in Iraq, you spend most of your time with the Democratic candidates, I suspect listening to that is like living in a parallel universe.

CROWLEY: It absolutely is, it's another one of those stark relief items that voters are going to have this September. The fact of the matter is that on the Democratic side, the conversation has been how fast can we get these troops out? How quickly can we end this war?

Then you listen to that and it's pretty amazing. I suspect that the same is true about a number of things on that side. From afar, when you look at the Republican race, it seems to me that there is agreement in general on tax cuts.

But one of the issues that I think has been fascinating that has come up on the Republican side has been the whole idea of climate change. And John McCain kind of stepping outside the normal Republican box on that. KING: It's critical -- one of his ways to prove -- he says even as he courts Republican votes, climate change one of the ways Senator McCain says he can compete with Democrats, especially the independent voters and the younger voters. Barack Obama drawing more and more younger voters. Senator McCain says if Obama wins the nomination, he believes that climate change is one of the issues that would help him against Barack Obama.

Candy, as we look ahead to Super Tuesday, 24 states in all, from coast to coast, and all the way across the Pacific to American Samoa, pick a favorite, which state will you be watching Tuesday night to say, this one will give me a sense perhaps of how this race is turning?

CROWLEY: Boy. You know, not just because I'm here. But I really think Missouri will be critical in a lot of ways, both on the Republican side and on the Democratic side. As we know, it's probably the most reliable bellwether state that you have in general elections. But if you look at it right now, the polling is very close on the Democratic side.

And I think on the Republican side, Huckabee could play a real part here, and probably the same part he has been playing all along, which is sucking votes from Mitt Romney. So I really kind of -- look, it's the middle of the country, it's a state that can go either way, it's a conservative electorate. So I'll be fascinated to see which way they go.

And as you know, what's also interesting in Missouri is that two leading female politicians, Claire McCaskill and the wife of the former -- of the late Governor Carnahan, Jean Carnahan, who was a senator for a while, have both endorsed Barack Obama. So they really hold some sway in this state. So I think I would just pick Missouri, not because I grew up here, not because I'm standing here, but because I think it will be fascinating.

KING: And because you grew up there and you're standing there. But she's right, Missouri is a key bellwether in presidential politics all the time.

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: That's true. Now you. You pick a state.

KING: All actually good reasons -- oh, I think we watch California because it's one of the big states with proportional rules on both Democratic and the Republican side. So if John McCain wants to build big momentum, he needs to build it out in California. We'll be back in just an hour here. "YOUR MONEY" coming up after a quick break. More BALLOT BOWL, though, in one hour. Thanks for watching and we'll see you in 60 minutes.

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