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'Ballot Bowl '08'

Aired February 20, 2008 - 12:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to this Wednesday edition of CNN's "Ballot Bowl '08."
I'm Dana Bash in Columbus, Ohio, where I've been covering John McCain's presidential campaign.

And over the next hour you're going to hear from the candidates on both sides of the aisle as they try to get your vote, and of course as they continue to try to get their party's nomination. And we are going to give you large chunks of the candidates on the campaign trail as they are talking to voters, as they are talking to reporters. Sometimes it will be live, sometimes it will be on tape, but entirely it will be unfiltered for you to really get a sense of what it's like to be on the campaign trail with these candidates.

Now, we're going to have a lot more on the Republican side in a moment, but first I want to go to my co-anchor this hour, who is also in Ohio. Jessica Yellin is in Youngstown, Ohio.

Hi, Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dana.

I have been following most recently Senator Clinton, and also Barack Obama. Senator Clinton, of course, had a very painful loss yesterday in Wisconsin. And while her campaign made it clear they did not feel they needed to win that state, a close finish would have been enormously helpful for her as she tries to prove that her campaign still has the energy and the message that works for her to win in Ohio and Texas, the next big states in which she now has to win by a significant margin. We will talk more about this, but the loss in Wisconsin was exceptionally hard for her because she lost in so many of the key constituencies she had been winning before.

Now, Barack Obama, for his part, of course, is calling this a significant -- or seeing this as a significant victory. His campaign today said that Clinton would have to win landslides in the upcoming states for her to stay viable.

Let's listen to how Barack Obama accepted the victory and talked about how he is pushing on, looking forward, not just now but into the general election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The change we seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help us get there.

(APPLAUSE)

We will need you to fight for every delegate it takes to win this nomination. And if we win the nomination, if we are blessed and honored to win the nomination, then we're going to need your help to win the election in November.

(APPLAUSE)

And if we win that election in November, then we are going to need your help and your time, your energy, your enthusiasm, your mobilization, your organization, and your voices to help us change America over the next four years.

(APPLAUSE)

Because understand this, Houston -- as wonderful as this gathering is, as exciting as these enormous crowds and this enormous energy may be, what we're trying to do here is not easy. And it will not happen overnight. It is going to take more than big rallies. It's going to require more than rousing speeches. It will also require more than policy papers and positions, and Web sites.

It is going to require something more, because the problem that we face in America today is not the lack of good ideas. It's that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die.

(APPLAUSE)

Because lobbyists crush them with their money and their influence. Because politicians spend too much time trying to score political points and not enough time trying to bridge their differences so we can get something done.

(APPLAUSE)

The problem is that we haven't had leaders who can inspire the American people to rally behind a common purpose and a higher purpose. And this is what we need to change today.

This is what's hard. And we know this. We know how difficult it will be. But I also know why we're here tonight. We're here because we still believe that change is possible.

(APPLAUSE)

We're here -- we're here because we know that we've never needed it more than we do right now. We're here because there are workers in Youngstown, Ohio, who have watched job after job after job disappear because of bad trade deals like NAFTA, who have worked in factories -- who have worked in factories for 20 years, and then one day they come in and literally see the equipment unbolted from the floor and sent to China.

They need us to end those tax breaks that go to companies that ship jobs overseas and give them to companies that invest in jobs right here in the United States of America that pay well, provide a pension, provide health care. That's the change they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Barack Obama speaking last night from Texas. And at the very end there you heard him mention Youngstown, Ohio, a bit of a dig, I'd say, at Senator Clinton's effort. She was herself in Youngstown, Ohio, delivering her own speech at the very moment that he was making an appeal to voters in Youngstown, Ohio.

Now, if you talk to the folks who work for Senator Clinton on that campaign, they'll point out that a mere 62 delegates -- by CNN's count -- separate Barack Obama and Clinton. And so, in essence, in their view, this race is still a tie. They argue she absolutely must win Ohio and Texas and she will do everything she can to fight there and win.

In a speech today in New York, she said that she is not dropping out, she is staying in this fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want you to fulfill your dreams. And I want America to fill ours. It will take hard work and resolve and determination, but there isn't anything we can't do once we set our minds to it.

I intend, as your president, to make sure that America does fulfill all of our dreams. You know, I judge the results of my public service on whether people are better off when I stop than when I started, whether our children will be able to live up to their God- given potential, whether America is making progress in moving toward that more perfect union that our founders promised.

So I'm ready to do this work and I'm ready to bring our country together. I know that if we once again start acting like Americans, we will see results, we will believe in ourselves, we will feel that pride that comes at the end of hard work that produces positive change.

So there are big differences in this election between me and Senator Obama, and between me and Senator McCain. Whether we favor speeches or solutions to move our country forward, or more of the same old Republican policies, this is a debate that the voters deserve to have.

We cannot achieve unity that lasts, unity that is real, unless we accept that sometimes people disagree. Not just to be disagreeable, or to play political games, but because they have honest and principled differences. And people are entitled to defend those strong opinions.

But then we've got to come together to reach consensus, to honor our differences and to work through them. We won't achieve unity or fulfill our dreams by running away from honest discussion and debate. You cannot achieve the kind of changes we want by voting present on controversial issues, or by...

(APPLAUSE)

Or by meeting behind closed doors with corporate interests to water down legislation. Or by caving in when the pressure mounts.

The American people deserve better than that. So, yes, let's get real.

Let's get real about this election. Let's get real about our future. Let's get real about what it is we can do together. Let's get real about whether or not our young people learn because teachers can teach and not just test.

(APPLAUSE)

Let's get real about whether our brave veterans are given the care and the respect they deserve. Let's get real about not just talking family values, but valuing families by strengthening the middle class, creating good jobs, providing universal health care, making college affordable, taking care of our senior citizens.

(APPLAUSE)

My campaign is about an America of shared opportunity, share prosperity, and shared responsibility. I do believe we're all in this together, and we're going to demonstrate loudly and clearly that our country is worth fighting for, our country is worth standing up for, and this campaign goes on. And this campaign moves forward! And this campaign, with your help, will take our country back!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Senator Clinton turning the page from her loss in Wisconsin and looking forward aggressively already to the races she faces in Ohio and Texas.

Now, right now the race is at this state: Obama has 1,315 delegates. Senator Clinton has 1,245. Both of them would like to get to that magic number of 2,025 delegates -- that what it will take for either of them to clinch the nomination.

At this point, only 70 delegates separate them, 70 pledged delegates. And if you count it that way, the Clinton camp will say that's essentially a tie, not very far apart, and she could still catch up. But if you look at the number of states Obama has been winning time after time after time, and the fact he's been cutting into her demographics, it's a very clear uphill battle for Senator Clinton to close this gap in the coming weeks -- Dana.

BASH: Well, Jessica, you know, it's interesting. In listening to Senator Clinton just now, she was clearly pretty aggressive against Senator Obama. I know you've been reporting, and that's part of her strategy now, to be a lot more aggressive as she has fallen behind in those delegates. But what are you hearing from Clinton supporters about the timing of this, whether or not maybe it's too late for her to be doing this.

YELLIN: You nailed it, Dana. I mean, for Senator Clinton, she was a in a bit of a box. When she was the front-runner, she was being criticized for attacking Barack Obama. It was seen as going too negative and divisive.

Now that she's more the underdog, her campaign feels the freedom to be able to be more critical. But it might really be too late, many of her supporters are saying.

This is the kind of attack that sometimes, especially her comment about his words, this accusation about plagiarism, it takes a while for that to saturate. Essentially, she's hitting his strength, and it's a message that could sink in, but the danger is, if he becomes the nominee, it might not sink in until the general election. It could be a very effective weapon for John McCain.

The Republican Party has picked up on this already, this plagiarism accusation, sending out e-mails to reporters every time they find another instance in which Barack Obama has used words similar to someone else. So it might be the kind of attack that does not help Senator Clinton win the nomination, but could help John McCain in the general election -- Dana.

BASH: Well, that's fascinating. And it's certainly something that we're going to be talking about in terms of the Republicans coming up.

But first, speaking about the Democrats and the aggressive back- and-forth, even more aggressive back-and-forth that you were just talking about, Jessica, between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, you are going to be able to see the two of them on the same stage tomorrow night at the CNN debate. That is going to be at 8:00 Eastern. This is something that you absolutely do not want to miss.

It is going to be in Austin, Texas, at the University of Austin. So be sure to tune in for that tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.

Meanwhile, we're going to go to the Republican side and talk about John McCain, as well as Mike Huckabee, who is still in this race. That is going to be after the break.

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

I'm Dana Bash in Columbus, Ohio, where John McCain held his victory party last night after last night's elections.

Of course, he had a very decisive win in the state of Wisconsin, doing quite well there in terms of his quest to rack up those delegates to officially mathematically become the Republican nominee. And he waited barely a few minutes before coming on the stage here in Ohio in order to tout that win, and also for the first time declare himself to be the Republican nominee.

And then he waited again not very long at all to turn his attention towards the Democrats. And in a way that was more stark and more sharp than he has been so far, he really laid into the Democrats, but particularly one Democrat, and that is Barack Obama. He didn't use his name, but there was no question who he was talking about when he tried to make the case that he simply lacks the experience to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change.

(APPLAUSE)

It's no more than an eloquent but empty call for change that promises no more than a holiday from history and a return to the false promises and failed policies of a tired philosophy that trusts in government more than the people.

(APPLAUSE)

Our purpose -- our purpose is to keep this blessed country free, safe, prosperous and proud.

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

MCCAIN: And the changes we offer to the institutions and policies of government will reflect and rely upon the strength industry, aspirations and decency of the people we serve.

My friends, we live in a world of change, some of which holds great promise for us and all mankind, and some of which poses great peril. Today -- today, political change in Pakistan is occurring that might affect our relationship with a nuclear-armed nation that is indispensable to our success in combating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and elsewhere. An old enemy of American interests and ideals is leaving the world stage, and we can glimpse the hope that freedom might some day come to the people of Cuba.

(APPLAUSE)

A self-important bully in Venezuela threatens to cut off oil shipments to or country at a time of skyrocketing gas prices. Each event poses a challenge and an opportunity.

Will the next president have the experience, the judgment experience informs (ph), and the strength of purpose to respond to each of these developments in ways that strengthen our security and advance the global progress of our ideals? Or will we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested bombing our ally, Pakistan, and suggested sitting down without preconditions or clear purpose with enemies who support terrorists and are intent on destabilizing the world by acquiring nuclear weapons. I think you know the answer to that question.

(APPLAUSE)

The most important obligation of the next president is to protect Americans from the threat posed by violent extremists who despise us and our values and modernity itself. They are moral monsters, but they are also a disciplined, dedicated movement, driven by an apocalyptic zeal which celebrates murder, has access to science, technology, and mass communications, and is determined to acquire and use weapons against us of mass destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And there you hear John McCain last night here in Columbus, Ohio, really laying down the markers and the themes as he and his campaign try to mold them looking forward to the general election. The biggest applause line of the night came from a line that he used. He said something along the lines of, "I may not be the youngest candidate in the race, but I am the most experienced." That definitely got wild applause from the crowd looking up at the 71-year- old candidate for president.

Meanwhile, he definitely was focused there on the Democrats, but there is still a Republican rival for John McCain in this race, and that is Mike Huckabee. He was in Arkansas last night. He had a very disappointing evening in the state of Wisconsin, a state where he campaigned quite aggressively to try to win that primary yesterday. Yet, he still maintained in a press conference with reporters that he is staying in this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The numbers aren't going to change my mind in terms of the margin, because it's the 1,191 that's the magic number. And sure, I thought we'd run a lot closer than that.

I mean, one thing that we're having to confront is that every single day, every hour, every few minutes of every hour, news reports keep, in essence, saying it's over, and there's no mathematical way. And you know, so we're really going against an incredible headwind every single day.

And what I have to do is to remind individual voters that their voice and their votes still count, and that nobody can take that away from them unless they just simply give it away. So that's why we need to continue on, and especially through Texas. Polls there are showing us very close, and almost in a statistical dead heat. So we're certainly more optimistic about Texas.

QUESTION: Speaking about Texas, sir...

HUCKABEE: OK. Deep in the heart of Texas.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) HUCKABEE: Yes.

QUESTION: Some are saying that's almost symbolic now of your campaign. Is Texas (INAUDIBLE) -- is that the Alamo for your campaign?

HUCKABEE: Well, we'll see. There is a lot of symbolism.

The Alamo is an amazing place. And I've been there on many occasions. I never go to San Antonio when I don't try to go there, and I always read the speech by William Barrett Travis, who perhaps made one of the most courageous stands of any American I can think of.

And people sometimes think of the Alamo as a defeat, but it actually was the springboard to Texas' victory and independence. Had it not been for the Alamo, there would not have been a republic of Texas.

So there is a lot of history there. A lot of history of courage, of valor, and also of people who stood by their convictions no matter what.

And even when Travis and the people of the Alamo knew what might be an inevitable fate, they did not flinch, and they did not waver in their commitment. Because they knew that what they were doing was not about them. They knew that it was about something much larger than themselves.

And that's why I think when we go to Texas, we go with a real sense of resolve and purpose and direction. And, you know, a commitment to see it through.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

HUCKABEE: Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

HUCKABEE: I don't know. We'll see how that works out. This time, you know, the Alamo story may turn out differently. So we're going to hope for the hope.

QUESTION: In terms of hope...

HUCKABEE: Yes?

QUESTION: ... Senator McCain said tonight -- he says with humility that he is going to be the Republican Party nominee. At this point, what is the best that you can hope for going forward in your campaign?

HUCKABEE: I mean, the best to hope for at this point would be that everything turns differently starting tomorrow. The second best thing would be that nobody gets 1,191 and we go to the convention, we have a brokered convention, and I get the nomination by the delegates who attend. So those are two scenarios. QUESTION: Realistically, though.

HUCKABEE: Well, I think the second option is certainly more hopeful than would be the first one, given, you know, the trend. But you know, you're never wrong when you stand for what you believe in.

If I quit standing for the human life amendment, then everything that I've done, not just during my time as a person running for office over the past 17 or 18 years, but everything I've stood for the past 35 years as an adult suddenly becomes a lot less meaningful, because these are not positions that I hold because I think they're going to be politically expedient. I'm going to hold them whether I win or lose. I held them and got into politics because of views that I felt like were very important to help frame the issues for the future of our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee insisting he is going to stay in this race despite yet another defeat yesterday in Wisconsin. Also talking there about the Alamo with reporters.

That's because Mike Huckabee is going to be campaigning in Texas today and tomorrow. Tomorrow he is going to go to the Alamo. So there was an interesting back-and-forth about the symbolism of that. A reporter there making clear that it didn't work out too well for those at the Alamo.

But Huckabee saying maybe not there, but ultimately it led to success. And that is very much telling of the Huckabee strategy here. If you talk to his advisers and listen to what he's really doing and saying in this race, that maybe it might not work out well now, but maybe it will plant the seed for a future victory for Mike Huckabee. But let's look at the reality for Mike Huckabee right now in terms of the numbers, the delegates.

John McCain has a huge lead right now, 918 delegates. Mike Huckabee is very far behind, at 217 delegates. So you see there, John McCain is pretty close to getting the 1,191 he needs to be the Republican nominee.

We shouldn't forget Ron Paul. He is there with 16 delegates.

Now I want to toss it back to my colleague Jessica Yellin, who is covering the Democrats in Youngstown, Ohio.

Hi, Jessica.

YELLIN: Hi, Dana.

No word of any Democrats going to the Alamo yet. You really can't make this stuff up.

I want to ask you one thing that I have seen on both -- that the Democrats are doing that I think the Republicans are doing as well, is a lot of this attacking one another already. Still in primary mode, and yet assaulting the -- looking ahead to the general election.

Why do you see McCain really now taking on Barack Obama?

BASH: Well, he's got to take on somebody, as you know, and he hasn't been taking on Mike Huckabee because, what's the point? Right? And he really is -- his campaign says that they're trying to use this time to kind of test-drive their messages against the Democrats. But he really is going after Barack Obama more than Hillary Clinton, there's no question.

Behind me, he had a press conference earlier where he said, well, I'm really not, I'm really going after both of them. But, you know, there is a conspiracy theory out there that perhaps he is doing this -- you touched on this earlier, Jessica -- he's going after Barack Obama more in order to try to wound him, because the McCain campaign would prefer to have Hillary Clinton as their opponent.

You know, who knows if that's the case. But the other thing is that they say behind the scenes in the McCain campaign is that Barack Obama really does provide a foil for John McCain in terms of the theme that he's trying to create here, the narrative he is trying to create, which is that he is the most experienced candidate in this race. But it's really been interesting, Jessica, to see -- I'm sure you've seen this on our BlackBerrys going back and forth -- there seems to be a shift behind the scenes of the campaigns now, a lot more focus on the general election.

We've had conference calls of John McCain and Barack Obama responding to one another. That's not something that we have seen really up until the past couple of days. So you are definitely seeing a change in the way this campaign has been going, even internally focusing on each other, the intraparty fights, Democrats and Republicans, now turning on one another, Democrats versus Republicans.

It's really been interesting to watch.

YELLIN: And that really has picked up in the last week or so, the last two weeks, I'd say, on the Democratic side as well. Clinton folks an Obama folks honing in on John McCain as their opponent.

And you know, Barack Obama's folks also seem to agree that he would make the best contrast, that the two of them, Obama and McCain, make the best contrast on the war, on this question of change versus experience, et cetera. No doubt Obama would like that to be the strongest contest, because he'd like to be the nominee.

Anyway, we'll get back to discussing more of this after the break. But we'll hear also from Barack Obama on the other side of the break. We'll get to more Clinton later on.

And we will also have an update on that situation in Louisville, Kentucky, where there is two schools on lockdown. That's all coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. More BALLOT BOWL in just a few minutes, but first want to check the day's top stories.

A tense situation in Louisville, Kentucky, this hour where a high school and a nearby elementary school are both under a lockdown. Louisville police say a student reported seeing a person with a gun on the campus of Fern Creek Traditional High earlier this morning. And police are searching each classroom but have yet to find the suspect or a gun.

At least three people are dead, another 25 injured following a major earthquake centered on the Indonesian island of Simeulue. Now this happened this morning. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake registered 7.5. It was roughly 200 miles away from the site of the 2004 earthquake that spawned that deadly tsunami. You might remember that.

President Bush says a new U.S. military command that focuses on Africa will not include a new military base, at least not in the traditional sense. Today in Ghana, the capital of Accra, well, President Bush didn't offer a lot of details, but tried to put down rumors that the U.S. plans a major military expansion in Africa.

Clear skies welcome the return of the space shuttle Atlantis this morning at the Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle's 13-day mission ended successfully a little more than three hours ago with a smooth and uneventful landing. We like that. The shuttle delivered a European science lab to the International Space Station.

And one more space-related note here we have to tell you about. A planned missile launch to destroy a dead U.S. spy satellite, well, it appears unlikely to happen today. Unlikely. The Pentagon says bad weather is to blame for that but the mission is not officially scrapped yet. And if the weather improves in the north Pacific, the planned shoot down would go forward in this case. What is the likelihood of that? We want to check in now with meteorologist Chad Myers.

What is the likelihood of that, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, here is actually the area, the kill zone here, for this satellite. And this red line under it is where the satellite will be tonight, 3:30 Zulu Time, depending on where you are. That's basically Europe time. So that's how they use all of these things. They're going to talk about this in Zulu Time. Greenwich Mean Time, if you will.

And from here to here, that's 800 miles and it's going to fly in that three minutes. It's going to go that fast. So this thing is really hauling. And they're going to have to be very accurate.

Well, with this big storm in the north Pacific, the wave swells now are six feet, going to eight feet tonight. Now that's the bad news. The more bad news is that they don't come down from eight feet until probably Friday night or Saturday. So this window that we have, if we don't get a launch tonight, the weather's not going to be any better for the next few days.

One thing that the weather is good for, for tonight, for a lot of you, a full total lunar eclipse probably around 9:30, 10:00. Going to be the best time for Eastern Standard Time. This is going to be the best one you've seen in a long time.

LEMON: Best on the East Coast, right?

MYERS: Absolutely. Well, in the Midwest, too. But, yes, if you have clouds, you can't see it.

LEMON: All right. Good. All right. Thank you very much, Chad. We'll see you at the top of the hour.

Hidden dangers in your home. Is there a dangerous stove in your kitchen? More than 100 people have been killed -- look at that -- in these tip-overs. Wow. Find out what one company plans to do for millions of customers. That will happen in the 1:00 hour of the CNN "Newsroom." Good information there and advice we have for you there.

Until then, I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you at the top of the hour. More BALLOT BOWL after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Dana Bash in Columbus, Ohio. I've been covering the McCain campaign here ahead of the March 4th primary here in Ohio. And at BALLOT BOWL, what we do is we bring you the candidates on the campaign trail as they are speaking live, sometimes taped, but we try to bring you big chunks of their speeches and their messages and themes as they try to get the voters to back them, and, of course, as they try to get their party's nomination.

And for more of that, I want to go over to my colleague, Jessica Yellin, who is about 200 miles or so northeast of me here in Ohio in Youngstown.

Hi, Jessica.

YELLIN: Hi, Dana.

That's right, this is one of two states where we will see battle royals go down between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama on March 4th. The Clinton campaign has already declared these must-win states for her. And the Obama campaign says she has to win them by landslides.

The truth is, she does need a big, hefty margin of victory to get these states to matter for her, for her to really close that delegate gap with Barack Obama. And now it's looking like an uphill fight.

Barack Obama was in one of those two big states, in Texas yesterday, delivering his rally the night of his Wisconsin win. And he was rallying the troops deep in the heart of Texas really in Clinton territory saying, come along with me, come on the Obama bandwagon and we can win this. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe there was no challenge we could not solve. No destiny we could not fulfill. That was the bet that I made one year ago. And I'm here to report, Houston, that after a year of traveling all across the country, after countless miles and thousands of speeches and talks and shaking hands and chicken dinners, I am here to report that my bet has paid off and my faith in the American people has been vindicated, because all across the country people are standing up and saying, it is time to turn the page, it is time to write a new chapter in American history. We want to move forward into a better tomorrow.

The American people . . .

CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: Yes, we can.

The American people have spoken out and they are saying, we need to move in a new direction. And I would not be running, as aware as I am of my imperfections, as clear as I am that I am not a perfect vessel, I would not be running if I did not believe that I could lead this country in that new direction. That we have a unique moment that we have to seize. But I have to tell you, Houston, I can't do it by myself. No president can. Remember, change doesn't happen from the top. It happens because of you. And so the question I have for you tonight, Houston, is, are you really ready for change?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Barack Obama in Houston, Texas, one of the key districts, one of the key areas in Texas that he really could get a big bump out of winning because of the way the delegates are apportioned in that state.

But Senator Clinton is going to give Texas her all, too, prepping for the big fight for a major showdown there and we will hear more from her and her stand in Texas after this break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Jessica Yellin in Youngstown, Ohio, where Senator Clinton made a clear stand last night, showed she is turning the page and not looking back. She gave a speech to supportive fans without ever mentioning her defeat in Wisconsin. She said she is the candidate who is going to offer not just promises, but solutions. She has real answers to people's problems and she is fighting to win here in Ohio and in Texas. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to talk to you about the choice you have in this election and why that choice matters. It is about picking a president who relies not just on words, but on work, on hard work to get America back to work. That's our goal!

You know, when I think about what we're really comparing in this election, you know, we can't just have speeches. We've got to have solutions. And we need those solutions for America. We've got to get America back in the solutions business. Because while words matter, the best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action.

But this election is not about me or my opponent. It is about you. It is about your lives and your dreams and your future. And I can't do this without all of you here in Youngstown and across Ohio. It is going to take an effort from all of us.

Now you may have heard that I actually loaned my campaign some money. And I was honored and humbled by the support that I have received since from people like the young mom who sent me $10 and wrote that "my two daughters are two and four and I want them to know anything is possible." Or the gentleman who described himself as an independent voter, a veteran, and a generally cranky conservative who decided to support me. If we pull together, I know we can do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Senator Clinton sounding like the underdog. She's come a far way from the days she launched her campaign saying, I'm in it to win it. Now she's saying this is all about you.

And I'll toss it back now to my colleague, Dana Bash, who is not far from me in Ohio.

Dana.

BASH: That's right, Jessica. And, you know, I've been covering a candidate, John McCain, who has had the inverse experience certainly going from the underdog, going from nowhere to it looks like the Republican nominee. And we're going to have more on John McCain and how he is dealing with that status right now and whose attention he is getting right now and how he's focusing on that. In fact, he had a press conference just behind me a couple of hours ago. And we're going to bring you some of that right after a break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Dana Bash in Columbus, Ohio, where this morning John McCain opened up an assault on Barack Obama on the issue of financing for the campaign. And, in particular, what John McCain said today is that Barack Obama needs to stand by what he called a pledge that he made to take public financing for the general election. What that would mean, it would mean that there would be a cap on the amount of spending that Barack Obama, or anybody who takes public funding, that they would be able to spend in the general election. And this was prompted by an article in "USA Today" that Barack Obama wrote saying, well perhaps what should happen is that there should be an agreement between the candidate on the Democratic side and the Republican side to sort of cap that spending level themselves. Well, John McCain made clear he does not want to go for that at all and he called on Barack Obama to stand by his pledge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A year ago I signed a piece of paper and committed that if I were the nominee of my party, that I would take public financing for the general election campaign. At that time, Senator Obama made that same commitment. Now I notice in a column in the "USA Today" today, he is talking about other outside money, about working out a -- that's Washington double speak. I committed to public financing. He committed to public financing. It is not anymore complicated than that. I hope he will keep his commitment to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now here's what that's all about. It's a couple of things. First of all, what the McCain campaign is clearly hoping is that they can get at what is a core quality -- Obama people think is a core quality of Barack Obama, which is his character and his word. John McCain making pretty clear there that if Barack Obama doesn't stick to that pledge to take public funding, that he will be breaking his word. So they're going at a character issue of Barack Obama.

But there's a lot more of a practical reason that John McCain is doing that. And, Jessica -- I want to bring in my colleague, Jessica Yellin.

You know this quite well in watching the fund-raising on the Democratic and Republican side. John McCain, and all Republicans, are at a fund-raising deficit, which is pretty unusual, compared to the Democrats. And the Republicans have watched Barack Obama, in particular, rack up millions and millions of dollars. And they're worried on the Republican side, inside the McCain campaign in particular, that they just won't be able to keep up and that there won't be a level playing field between the two in terms of fund- raising, in terms of the ability to spend. That's why they want to have a commitment for this public funding -- public financing, which would put them on a level playing field. It's quite interesting the tactic that John McCain is taking the day that he's actually having two fund-raisers of his own.

Jessica.

YELLIN: It really is, Dana, because John McCain is worried about the very same problem Senator Clinton is facing right now. In fact this morning, just now, Senator Clinton has sent out a pitch to her supporters saying the reason she lost in Wisconsin is because she was outspent by Barack Obama four to one. Don't let it happen again, she's saying, please donate now.

The problem is, Barack Obama's developed this fund-raising juggernaut. He is bringing in money at a record clip on the Internet and in these small donations. So any time people give, they have their name and they can go back and ask for more. It's not that they're getting money from these millionaires who max out immediately.

All of this might sound like, you know, irrelevant chitchat about money and who cares, but it matters because that means you have the ability to get your message out there. Now the one way Hillary Clinton really connects is with the debate. She has been pushing for debates and she is going to get her way tomorrow night.

CNN is sponsoring a big Democratic debate. It's going to happen at 8:00 p.m. in Austin, Texas. 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You do not want to miss this. This is an opportunity for Senator Clinton and Barack Obama to go head-to-head as this contest gets increasingly tight and down to the wire.

Dana.

BASH: That's right. And we want to remind our viewers why you and I both are in Ohio. It's because this is one of four states that will have the next contest on March 4th. They will be Ohio, Vermont, Rhode Island, and also the big and very, very critical state of Texas. So we are going to be covering the candidates as they campaign in all of those states ahead of that primary.

We're going to give you BALLOT BOWL tomorrow and watch the candidates -- bring you the candidates in their own words once again campaigning for votes. And we're going to remind you that there is going to be more political news coming up all throughout the day, including in "Newsroom" which is right after a break.

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