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'Ballot Bowl '08'

Aired February 11, 2008 - 12:00   ET

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

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is another edition of "Ballot Bowl '08," our special Monday edition.
I'm Candy Crowley here in Baltimore, Maryland.

All eyes now to another section of the country. Tomorrow, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. hold primaries.

Over this next hour, we will be bringing you the candidates as they vie for your votes and, of course, their party's nomination. They will be live, sometimes taped, but always unfiltered and unedited.

This afternoon I am joined by my colleague Dana Bash, who is in Annapolis, and Jessica Yellin, who's in Washington, D.C.

First let's go to Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Candy.

And let's check out the game plan that we have for this hour.

First of all, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, he is campaigning incredibly hard in the state of Virginia, especially in the southern part of the state, where he hopes to pick up some support from social conservatives. Today -- in fact, this hour -- he's got a rally in Virginia Beach. And we expect and hope to bring that to you live as it happens.

And speaking of Mike Huckabee, we also want to bring our viewers up to date on what happened over the weekend with the contest event.

Mike Huckabee won. And he didn't just win, he won big in the state of Kansas. He absolutely trounced John McCain in the caucuses there.

In the state of Louisiana, he also won -- beat John McCain, but by a very, very narrow margin. And neither candidate got the 50 percent needed to actually take the state of Louisiana. And John McCain did win the caucuses in Washington State. But that is actually a caucus and a contest that Mike Huckabee is contesting, very angry about it, saying that the state party chairman there decided to call the race even though there were over 1,000 votes left to be counted and Mike Huckabee trailed by just 200 votes. Nevertheless, John McCain was declared the winner in Washington State.

And speaking of John McCain, he was where I am now, in Annapolis, Maryland, campaigning earlier today. Quite an interesting, perhaps telling, event that he had.

Not a rally, no music, nothing that we're used to seeing out on the campaign trail. Instead, he had a very low-key event where he was joined by the governor of Maryland and some other local officials trying to make the case in perception and kind of stagecraft, and also the way he was acting, that he does consider himself to be the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party.

Yet, when he had this press conference with reporters, one of the questions that I and other people were able to ask him was about something that President Bush said over the weekend. And that is that, John McCain, if he is the nominee, that he has some convincing to do to convince people that he's a solid conservative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've said that we have a lot of work to do to unite the party. Our party is dispirited because of spending and corruption, as we all know. And we've got to reenergize our base.

And also, primaries are tough. Look, as I've said before, after the 2000 primary that I had with President Bush, it took some time for my supporters to come over and solidly support President Bush's candidacy, but they certainly did. And I urged them to do so.

So these things take a little time. And I'm sure that we can continue the progress we've been making.

We're getting, as I say, endorsements from all over. I was glad my dear friend Senator Fred Thompson endorsed the other day. And I intend to set up a meeting with Governor Romney, as we've already talked on the phone and hope that we can work together to unite the party, as he pledged to do when he -- as he said he wanted to do when he made his speech at CPAC the other day.

So we'll -- it's a hard process. We've got a lot of work to do. And I understand that.

QUESTION: Senator, President Bush followed up by saying that he'd be happy to help you (INAUDIBLE).

MCCAIN: Sure, I'd be grateful for that.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

MCCAIN: Well, when I say -- I say part of our base is dispirited because of the spending. It's not a totally dispirited party.

Let me -- let me clarify that. Our party needs to be energized, as we all know. And one of the reasons why we lost the 2006 election, which is a fact, is because of out-of-control spending which dispirited our base.

Now, we've got plenty of time, plenty of things to do. There's going to be huge differences. Some elections there's not measurable differences. We're going to have extremely large differences, whether the government's going to take over health care in America, or we're going to let families make choices. Whether there's going to be increased spending or, as the Democrats want to do, as both senators want to do, or whether we're going to restrain spending, as I will do. Whether we will raise taxes, which is basically what they want -- what they want to do by not making the Bush tax cuts permanent, or will we continue to cut taxes and restrain spending.

The whole issue of the war on terror that we have dramatically different positions. In the most bizarre fashion I've ever heard of, they somehow take credit by threatening to withdraw for the success we've had of the surge.

No rational observer believes that. No rational observer.

So that's going to energize our base. That's going to get our base really energized. And I look forward to energizing it.

We've got a lot of work to do. You always do after primaries. And we will energize our base and we will point out the differences between myself and either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. And that will be respectful, but it will be vigorous.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, you heard Republican presidential candidate John McCain trying to pivot, as he has been doing over the past several days, from the primary towards the general election, talking more and more about the Democrats. Really, at least this morning, deflecting questions, many questions, about the problems that he personally has with the conservative base and turning that into sort of a general statement about the fact that he thinks that the Republican base is, in general, not energized because of spending issues and other things.

So that was an interesting thing, Candy. And Candy, the other thing you might have heard there -- that at least all of us sitting in the press conference went, huh? -- was the fact that he said Fred Thompson has endorsed him. Apparently that is true.

Fred Thompson put out a statement apparently late in the day on Friday in a very, very low-key way. We knew that John McCain and Fred Thompson had been talking quite frequently. Obviously, they were good friends. We expected this to happen. But not until John McCain just said that at this press conference here in Annapolis this morning did we really know that he actually did officially endorse John McCain -- Candy.

CROWLEY: Sort of in keeping with that whole low-key Fred Thompson thing, to put out an endorsement that nobody heard until today.

BASH: Exactly.

CROWLEY: So, listen, I want to ask you about another endorsement, Gary Bauer. Obviously a Virginian, a familiar face and voice in the conservative Christian wing of the Republican Party, endorsing John McCain.

What does that bring? What kind of power does that bring, if any?

BASH: It's just another big-name endorsement from the perspective of the John McCain campaign and from the perspective of, they hope, the evangelical Christian conservative community.

This is -- Gary Bauer, as you know, Candy, was not one of those conservatives who were vocally opposed to John McCain. In fact, if you did a search right now for the clips and for the quotes that he gave over the past couple of weeks, he was actually quite complimentary of John McCain. So, in that sense, it's not that much of a surprise. But at this point, when John McCain is trying so hard, and his campaign -- they're trying so hard to churn out as many conservative endorsements as possible to prove that he is in fact uniting the party, just like he says he is, you k now, this is something that they were very, very eager to put out there, the fact that he got this endorsement from somebody, who, as you said, you know, ran for president back in 2007, and, frankly, ran the kind of campaign and as the kind of candidate that Mike Huckabee is running.

So that is sort of an interesting notch in his belt that John McCain got today. Again, very, very eager inside the McCain campaign to put that out there this morning.

CROWLEY: Dana, endorsements are always good, at least for a little publicity. So thanks so much.

We want to turn now to the Republican -- I'm sorry, to the Democratic side of this race.

It is really hard to imagine getting a better weekend than Barack Obama has just wrapped up. He swept the primaries and the caucuses from Washington State to Nebraska, to the Louisiana primary, to the Virgin Islands on Saturday. All wins in the column of Barack Obama.

Then on Sunday came Maine, in the Northeast section of the country, where Barack Obama has not done that well, where Hillary Clinton has done pretty well. But Barack Obama took those Maine caucuses on Sunday.

Add to that the fact that there has been a shake-up at the top of Hillary Clinton's campaign. She now has a new campaign manager. That is always a sign of a campaign trying to right itself. The Clinton campaign always knew that this was going to be a rough part, this February, between now and those March primaries in both Ohio and Texas, where they think is much more fertile ground for Hillary Clinton.

Nonetheless, the weekend belonged to Barack Obama. He is now looking forward, of course, to these Tuesday primaries -- Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. Also looked at as fertile territory for Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign saying, look, we think he'll take these states. Virginia, not quite so sure. She's made a strong play there.

She was there yesterday, speaking in particular to what has been the base of her support -- older women and Latino voters. In northern Virginia yesterday, in Manassas, Hillary Clinton making a strong pitch to those who have always supported her and, in fact, brought her over the finish line in New Hampshire.

But Barack Obama was also pretty much in the same region yesterday, in Alexandria, Virginia. He then moved on to Virginia Beach later in the day. There he, as Hillary Clinton has done, made a strong push that, in fact, these elections are not about him, or her, as the case may be, but about the voters and what's on their minds.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war. Our planet is in peril. And the dream that so many generations fought for feels like it's slowly slipping away.

You see it right here in Virginia. You see it in your own lives -- people are working harder just to get by. They've never paid more for college, never paid more for gas at the pump.

(APPLAUSE)

It's harder to save. It's harder to retire. Our health care system leaves 47 million people without health insurance. And those who have it have seen their copayments and deductibles and premiums going up and up and up.

Our education system, despite the slogans, leaves millions of children behind, unable to compete in a global economy. And in such an environment, we cannot afford to wait.

We can't wait to fix our schools. We can't wait to get our kids off the streets. We cannot wait to fix the broken health care system. We cannot wait to bring good jobs with good wages back to America.

We can't wait to end global warming. We cannot wait to end this war in Iraq that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged. We can't wait.

(APPLAUSE)

We cannot wait. And what I realized a year ago, what I realized was that the size of our challenges had outstripped the capacity of a broken and divide politics to solve.

I believe that the American people were tired of the same old politics. They wanted desperately for something new.

(APPLAUSE)

The people wanted a politics that wasn't about tearing each other down but was about lifting the country up. The people didn't want to hear spin and PR. They wanted straight talk and honesty from their public officials.

But most of all, I was betting on you. I was betting on the American people, because some of you know I used to be a community organizer right out of college. And I worked on the streets of Chicago in poor neighborhoods. I worked with steal workers who had been laid off of their jobs, helping to set up job training programs and bring economic development to communities that had fallen on hard times. And it was the best work I ever had because it taught me that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they're given a chance.

(APPLAUSE)

And I've never forgotten that belief, that change does not happen from the top down. Change happens from the bottom up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: Barack Obama from Virginia Beach last night.

He is moving over across the Potomac today. He will be campaigning here in Maryland, at College Park, a big university town where he always draws very good crowds of young people, being, of course, a part of the base of his vote. He then will move here to Baltimore for an afternoon rally.

We want to give you a look again at the kind of weekend that Barack Obama had.

There were four contests on Saturday. He swept the Washington State caucuses. He swept the Nebraska caucuses. On to the Louisiana primary, which he also won, and the Virgin Islands. On Sunday, the main caucuses in the northeast part of the states, not an entirely friendly area for him, but he also talk the Maine caucuses.

Barack Obama, his campaign looking for a trifecta now tomorrow in the so-called Potomac primaries -- Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

In the meantime, there has been a shake-up in the Clinton campaign. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that and what it means, and where the Clinton campaign is looking for its next win, right after the break.

Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl '08."

I'm Dana Bash in Annapolis, Maryland. And John McCain was here in Annapolis, Maryland, not too long ago. And he was reminding those of us in his Q&A session that he is so well, well ahead in the number of delegates, and the only real competitor he still has in the Republican field -- and that competitor is Mike Huckabee.

Nevertheless, Mike Huckabee says he is staying in this race until somebody gets the requisite 1,191 delegates in order to be the nominee. In fact, Mike Huckabee is campaigning as we speak in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

So let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was just doing a talk show with someone I know is heard by many of you here, and that's Neal Boortz. I was just on his show. And he sends his greetings to his friends in Norfolk out of Atlanta, Georgia.

And he was excited that I was here. He says he's got a lot of fans and friends here. So if he does, I hope they'll be my fans and my friends here tomorrow.

Let me talk to you about why this election is far more important than just which kind of politician gets elected. Our country is, by I think most -- everybody's definition, on the wrong track, in many ways. It's like we've lost our way.

And we're divided. Horribly divided. And the problem is, is that, in Washington, there's such a complete sense of being polarized that the government has become paralyzed. Things aren't getting fixed.

Now, there are three other candidates, Democrat and Republican, running for president. Every one of them had a Washington address. Not one of them had any chief executive experience running the government.

Now, you need to ask yourself, if they were going to be able to get the problems fixed, why didn't they already do it? They've been there.

The basic principle is, if a person has not been faithful in little things, you do not reward them with greater things. But if they have been faithful in what they have done, then you give them the chance to do greater things.

What you need to ask is if somebody says, "I want to be president" -- by the way, I've been in the Senate. What has the Senate done lately other than try to put before you an immigration bill that you hated so much you burned and melted their phone lines until they finally got the message that they work for us, it's not the other way around?

(APPLAUSE) I'm so proud to be standing here with Congressman Hunter, a man who understand something about how to fix this problem. One of the reasons that he has joined with our campaign is that he understands that our nine-point plan of actually reforming immigration is the most thorough of anybody's. It's not mean, but it's tough. And it ought to be.

Look, this country is a gracious, welcoming nation. We all understand that we have had our strength because we have had a sense of honesty and openness and wanted people to feel the freedom to come here for the same opportunities that our ancestors came for.

We are a country that gets on our knees and we thank God that people are trying to break in, not break out. That's a good thing.

If you knock on our front door, we likely will say we'll feed you and help you and get you started, and so you can take care of yourself. But if you break in our window in the middle of the night and don't come through and let us know who you are and why you're coming, it won't be as warm a welcome.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, our government, including the folks who are in Washington, have not been able to deal with the situation. I pledge to you within 18 months we won't just have the border fence that Duncan Hunter built in his own district, which, by the way, has had the effect of eliminating 90 percent of illegals and drug traffic coming through that particular corridor.

(APPLAUSE)

BASH: That's former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee speaking live at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a day ahead of the primary there. That is a state where Mike Huckabee is hoping to do well among some of the social conservatives that have propelled his victories and all of his votes pretty much around the country in all of the early contest states.

Interesting there, not only was Mike Huckabee kind of railing on and dissing anybody who has been in the Senate and the experience that that brings, saying that his experience as a chief executive is maybe more valuable for the presidency, but also really hitting on the issue of illegal immigration. That clearly Mike Huckabee, just like every other one of John McCain's opponents in this Republican race, has known that that is his biggest weak spot.

So, Mike Huckabee might not be going directly personally after John McCain at all, but he is, no question about it, going after the -- going after him because he is talking about the issue that he knows is the one that hurts John McCain the most. So that's Mike Huckabee speaking in Virginia.

And right after the break, we're going to have a lot more of "Ballot Bowl." We're actually going to go back to the Democratic side and talk about a shake-up inside the Clinton campaign that happened yesterday.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROWLEY: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl," the Monday edition.

I'm Candy Crowley in Baltimore, Maryland.

Maryland, of course, one of three places holding primaries tomorrow night, along with Virginia and Washington, D.C. This is your chance to hear these candidates as they campaign through the Potomac primary places.

You have already heard from Mike Huckabee. We hope to hear from Barack Obama a little later on in this hour, if all goes well, but right now we want to turn to the subject of Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

As you may have heard over the weekend, Clinton switched campaign managers. This is never a good sign that things are going well.

We want to bring in our Jessica Yellin, who is with us in Washington and done a lot of reporting on the Clinton changeover.

Jessica, what can you tell us?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Candy, it's what you've heard, I think, that Senator Clinton has replaced one longtime ally with another, basically. Both her previous campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, and her new one, Maggie Williams, both worked for her going all the way back to the Clinton White House days.

When Solis Doyle was at the helm, that's when Clinton had these last stretch of losses. She's been with her from the beginning of this campaign right now. And there was talk of replacing Patti after the Iowa loss, and after Senator Clinton realized, but perhaps later than she would have liked to have been told, that her campaign was running out of money. Solis Doyle, as we understand, was able to sort of stay on because of the New Hampshire win, but there has been a sense since then that the ship hasn't quite been as righted as it should be, that things didn't work quite as smoothly and cleanly as they should inside the organization.

Now there are loyalists to Patti Solis Doyle who will deny all that ardently and insist that they all have fond feelings for her. But there was a clear sense at this point that they needed somebody who can streamline affairs and who can deliver tough news to everyone in the campaign, and also make decisions in sort of a clean hierarchical manner. So, Maggie Williams has a history of being the person who knows how to be firm and tough and clear and decisive, and somebody that Senator Clinton has had enormously successful track record with.

But I can also add, Candy, is it's also a pivot point for Senator Clinton in the broader sense for her campaign. I mean, what does she do next after a string of losses now? She really has to find a way to slow Obama's momentum, and basically to win. She has to find a way to win in Ohio and in Texas. And the question is, is her current method doing the trick or does she need to hone it?

When you listen to her husband, Bill Clinton, on the campaign trail, he has a slightly different message from hers. His message is, don't wait for Washington to tell us we're in a recession. I feel your pain. I know what's going on. You guys are already in a recession, and we're here to fix that.

Basically, "It's the economy, stupid," all over again. It's a very clean message from Bill Clinton.

Senator Clinton's is a little more complicated. She talks about health care, she talks about whether she can overcome the Republicans and her electability factor.

The question is, does she now adopt a more streamlined message like her husband's?

Candy.

CROWLEY: Jessica, I know that there was also some thought within the Clinton campaign about that very fact, that Hillary Clinton's message sort of seems to change. There was the -- at the beginning it was that she was a strong -- she would make a strong commander in chief. Then they sort of moved to "The Hillary I know" campaign in Iowa, kind of trying to soften her up, make her more likable to voters.

Then we moved to change. It wasn't just Hillary Clinton's experience, but change, looking at how Barack Obama had caught on with that particular message.

I wonder as she campaigned last night through Virginia, and then later in Maryland, how she kind of approached her message. What it basically is as we approach the Potomac primaries.

YELLIN: Well, it's a little bit of everything. I mean, some of what you're saying is a reaction to Barack Obama.

She started with this message of inevitability and that she can beat the Republicans. But once it became clear she really had to compete in the primary, that's when she adopted the "change" message.

So why don't we listen to what she had to say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I thing about the next president of the United States being sworn in on January 20, 2009, I know -- I know that the world will breathe a sigh of relief, and so will -- so will most of us in this country. And waiting in that Oval Office will be two wars, an economy in trouble, a home foreclosure crisis that is stealing the dreams of more and more people every month. All of the people who are uninsured, plus the millions more with insurance except the insurance company won't pay for what they need. An education system that has to be reformed but in the right way. Making college, once again, within the grasp of young Americans.

There's so much work to be done. And sometimes people say, well, there's just a huge amount of trouble waiting because we know that after President Bush, we're going to have to clean house. We're going to have to really move quickly to try to put everything back in order.

And yet I am confident we can do this. I am totally confident. I have faith in the American people. And I believe that once we decide that we're going to tackle these problems, there's no stopping us.

Now, we can't get there unless the election is about what really matters. About the hard decisions confronting us. About the difficult choices that await.

You know, it appears that the Republicans are settled on their nominee, Senator McCain, a distinguished American, a friend of mine, but someone with whom I have profound disagreements. You know, he has said that it would be fine with him if we have troops in Iraq for another hundred years. I don't think that's the right policy.

He has said that he doesn't understand much about the economy. We have to manage the economy, get it working again for the vast majority of Americans. So this will be a great election because there will be such differences.

But what really matters is what the American people want from their next president. You see, the way that I think about this is really pretty simple. You know, are you better off when I stop than when I start? Have I helped people? Have I given people the opportunity to live up to their own dreams? Not anybody else's, but yours. Have we given our children a future that is as good as the one that has been given to previous generations of Americans? Have we made the world more peaceful and prosperous and, therefore, safer for the next generation?

If those are the ways we judge, then I think the most important question is, who can be the best president on day one, who can go into that Oval Office, start solving our problems, lifting our sights, setting our goals, giving us back our pride and our country, moving us forward on the path of progress. If you believe, as I do, that all of that is within our reach, then I ask for your help. This Tuesday, Maryland gets to help pick a president. It matters this year more than ever. And everybody will be watching, what is the choice you have made.

If you choose to pick a president who can be ready on day one, if you choose to pick a Democratic nominee who has been tested and vetted and can go the distance against John McCain, then I promise you, I will work my heart out for you every single day. And when we're in the White House, we will, once again, make history for America.

Thank you all and God bless you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Candy, that's Senator Clinton rallying her troops in Maryland. Her campaign is not terribly optimistic that she will win either Maryland or Washington, D.C., but really hoping that she can have a strong showing in the state of Virginia. That's her message, you've heard it, that she's the candidate of substance, of real ideas, who can bore down into the real policy and get things done right away. The question is, is that enough of a big idea to motivate her supporters, to motivate enough supporters to make her the nominee?

Candy.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Jessica. We'll be back with you in a second.

A couple of points about Senator Clinton. There's what appears to be a rocky time with her campaign right now in a dry spell as far as those primaries and caucuses go. Her campaign remains very confident she will get this nomination. They point out that there are some large states coming up in March, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, very delegate rich and where she does very well. They also point out that, in fact, she does, and in our CNN total, she does lead in delegates a combination of both super delegates, who have endorsed her, and pledged delegates that she has won.

Coming up, we want to talk about a third person in this Democratic race. Even though he has suspended his campaign, John Edwards still very much a factor. We're going to talk about that right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to this Monday edition of BALLOT BOWL '08. On BALLOT BOWL we bring you the candidates on the campaign trail as they appeal for voters' vote and as they try to get their party's nomination. And we are monitoring at this hour Mike Huckabee. He's speaking live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. And also we're waiting for Barack Obama to speak. He is going to be in College Park, Maryland.

And as we monitor that and wait for those events, we want to go back to my colleague, Candy Crowley, who is also in Maryland. And Candy has been bringing some reporting on John Edwards, no longer a candidate, but there is a lot of buzz about whether or not he will endorse anybody, Candy, as you know. And, if so, who will it be?

CROWLEY: Absolutely, Dana.

You know, John Edwards had huge appeal to the working class vote, the blue collar vote. Obviously, his roots from South Carolina to North Carolina, the son of a mill worker as he always told people. His anti-poverty program made him a favorite, particularly in rural America. I want to bring in our Jessica Yellin. She's also doing some reporting about Edwards and, in fact, how hard he's being courted.

Jessica.

YELLIN: Yes, he's getting an awful lot of attention from the candidates right now it would seem. Even Senator Clinton's campaign has acknowledged that Senator Clinton went to meet with John Edwards in Chapel Hill to talk with him last week. I'm told by one adviser, one person close to Edwards, that it was a discussion of some of the ideas that Edwards has put forward, his emphasis on poverty and how she could incorporate that both into her campaign and into a presidency if she were to become president.

On the other hand, Barack Obama is planning to go visit with John Edwards as well. And I'm told the expectation is that he will broach many of the same subjects. Folks close to Edwards say his primary concern is really who will address these issues, that poverty issue that's so important to him. Also the question of electability. Which one of these two candidates is the most likely to become the nominee.

And these are some of the considerations we're told he's weighing. Clearly an Edwards' endorsement could swing enormous momentum to one candidate or another at a time when both of them could use that decisive edge, which is why they're competing so aggressively for his support.

The other thing, Candy, if there's a moment to mention, there's been some talk today about Al Gore and whether he would endorse one of those big floating question marks out there. And I'm told by two people who are very close to Al Gore that there are no plans for him to endorse during the primary season. He is sort of an elder statesman in the party. And, for now would like to, I'm told, sit this one out and remain in that position where he can work with both of them and talk to both of them regularly and closely.

Candy.

CROWLEY: Jessica Yellin. Still the endorsement season.

We're going to move on next to the Republican side of this race. Mike Huckabee and John McCain. And little comparison Huckabee did about John McCain and another member of the Republican Party. We'll be back right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Dana Bash in Annapolis, Maryland. And Maryland is holding its primary tomorrow. So is the state of Virginia. And that is where Mike Huckabee is campaigning live now. He's actually at a rally in Virginia Beach.

And while we monitor that, we want to bring you back to something that happened with Mike Huckabee also in Virginia, Lynchburg, Virginia, over the weekend. Now Huckabee has been defending himself in the fact that he has decided to keep his campaign going despite the fact that he is way, way behind in the delegate count. And in doing that, he has been trying to compare himself to Ronald Reagan, going back to 1976. Reminding people that in 1976 Ronald Reagan was still running against Gerald Ford and did not really think that he had much of a chance despite the fact that he kept going. And in making that comparison, Mike Huckabee essentially compared John McCain to Gerald Ford. And that is something that is not sitting well necessarily with the McCain campaign. Listen to what Mike Huckabee said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, here's why they lost. I don't know if you were voting then. I was. Here's why they lost. They elected a person who did not really energize the conservative base of the Republican Party. And Gerald Ford was a great man. And I'm not taking anything from him. And I have great admiration. And I think that he served a very important place in American history.

He brought healing to the country when it needed to be because we all went through the horrors of Watergate and the Nixon resignation. And It was a terrible time in our nation's history. And Democrat or Republican, people can be very grateful to the calm manner and to the humanness that Gerald Ford brought to the White House.

But by anybody's definition, most of all his own, he never championed himself as a conservative, not a pro life person for whom that was important. He was a really nice, moderate Republican. A true general gentleman. But a member of Congress and more a part of the Washington Republican establishment than representing the grassroots of conservativism.

And people can say well, well we lost that year. Yes, we did. And I would argue that if we do not have a candidate who can excite the base of this country, and particularly the base of our party and make them want to be energetic in going out and getting folks to put the yard signs in and making phone calls and traveling all over the country asking people to vote, we can lose again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I congratulate Governor Huckabee on his win in Kansas and in Louisiana. We've always had some problems in some caucuses, as you know. And I'm confident that we have and will continue our path towards getting the prerequisite number of delegates.

I'm glad we have the support that we have, increasing financial, as well as political support from around the country. As I've always said, I respect Governor Huckabee and I've always admired his principles and his campaign. And so -- and we do have differences, but we'll maintain that respectful relationship that we have, I am sure.

QUESTION: Would you support the recount (INAUDIBLE)?

MCCAIN: I think that there has to always be a reason for that in any of these things. And I'm not familiar enough. I think it's pretty clear that we won. And some of these are close. There was a couple of close races we had with Governor Huckabee. But he certainly has the right to challenge if he chooses to. But I honestly don't know enough about details except that I know that state parties declare elections when they have sufficient evidence as to who has won and who's lost. That's not unusual in any way.

I never expected a unanimous vote. Although I'd certain like to have that. But I think we'll continue to win primaries across the country, including tomorrow. I hope that we'll do well here. I have great confidence that we will both here in Maryland and -- both here in Virginia and the District of Columbia. But I understand that.

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BASH: And that was John McCain speaking here in Annapolis earlier this morning, talking about the fact that he hopes and expects to do well in the so-called Potomac Primaries -- Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. In fact one night McCain's campaign adviser said in response to a question that I had about the big loss that McCain had in Kansas over the weekend, he said, if we lose those primaries, meaning tomorrow's primaries, then he can come back to me because then we have a problem.

Now speaking of John McCain and even Mike Huckabee, let's bring you up to date on where they actually are vis-a-vis the delegate count. The number of delegates they need to get the nomination.

John McCain is at 723. He is far, far ahead of Mike Huckabee, who at this point, according to CNN's count, has 217 delegates. And Ron Paul is also very far behind with just 16 delegates. Again, there are 1,191 delegates need to get the nomination. Despite lagging far behind, Mike Huckabee insists over and over again that he's not going to get out of this race, Candy, until somebody, whether it's him or perhaps more likely John McCain, gets that 1,191 magic number.

CROWLEY: You know, Dana, I wanted to ask you about that because we've heard Huckabee over and over again saying, I'm not getting out. How big a headache is this for John McCain in the short run?

BASH: You know, in the short run, it is definitely a headache. You know, they tried to sort of combat that idea. You know, one adviser said to me, you know, we're really nonplussed about the fact that Mike Huckabee is in the race.

They're sort of trying to look on the bright side, if you will, saying well this gives us some time to pivot to the general election, gives us some time to organize, giving us some time to sort of regroup. But the reality is, they could regroup if Mike Huckabee wasn't in the race just as much. You know, despite the fact that he is still in the race.

And, you know, you saw what happened, Candy, and you saw the storyline coming out of the caucuses on Saturday. And the storyline was, wait a minute, John McCain is out there saying that he is the presumptive nominee. His campaign is touting the fact that he's getting all of these endorsements, touting the fact that it's mathematically virtually impossible for anyone to beat him and yet you still basically had a smackdown in the heartland, in the state of Kansas, where he didn't just lose a caucus, he lost big time.

So it's sort of hitting at McCain's weak spot in that he understands and he's been talking about the fact that he needs to reach out to conservatives. It makes it hard for him to do when you have the man who conservatives, many conservatives, really like still out there and still giving them an alternative to vote for.

You know, on the other hand, Candy, they also look towards the general elections. Some people in his campaign say it might not be that bad if we don't get all these conservative votes because if we're trying to pitch ourselves as the candidate who gets independent votes, maybe that could help.

They look for a bright side, as you know, in covering every one of these campaigns for so long in any scenario that they have. But the reality is, they say they're going to get the nomination because mathematically it's just virtually impossible for Mike Huckabee to catch up.

Candy.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Dana.

As always, there's on one hand, and then on the other hand in all these campaigns. Thanks.

Now, coming up, we have a little quiz for you. What did Barack Obama win last night? No delegates are involved. But we'll tell you right after BALLOT BOWL takes a break.

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CROWLEY: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Candy Crowley in Baltimore, Maryland. But right now you are looking at a picture of College Park, Maryland. A big university town. Barack Obama is expected on that stage shortly where he is giving a rally as he campaigns through Maryland today.

What a weekend Barack Obama had. He swept all of the primaries and caucuses over the weekend. From Washington state, to Nebraska, to the Louisiana primaries, followed by the Virgin Islands and then on Sunday, the main caucuses. So a very good weekend for him.

Not only sweeping those contests, but he picked up a Grammy Award. Obama snagged the trophy for the audio recording of his book "The Audacity of Hope." He beat out former President Bill Clinton and some others in that category. But we have to tell you that Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have already won a Grammy.

Again, we are monitoring all these events for you. We want to make a couple of programming notes.

First of all, coming up on "Larry King," both sides of the aisle. You will hear from Mike Huckabee and from Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama. That is tonight on "Larry King Live" 9:00 Eastern.

I want to throw it back to Dana Bash now.

BASH: Thanks, Candy.

And that's it for this edition of BALLOT BOWL. We hope you enjoyed our attempt to give you a bit of what we as political reporters get to see on the campaign trail. Long snippets of these candidates as they appeal to voters, both live and in taped portions as well.

We're going to have more BALLOT BOWL tomorrow at noon. And there's going to be a lot more political coverage as we prepare for the Potomac Primary. That is tomorrow. And we're also going to have "Newsroom." That's coming up right after this.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Sparked by the worst terrorist attack on American soil in years in the making, the government's 9/11 case moves forward.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We start with breaking news. More than six years after the attacks, the Pentagon is filing charges

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