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Ballot Bowl '08: Candidates Unfiltered

Aired February 24, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to another round of "Ballot Bowl '08."
I'm Jim Acosta in New York, and as always on "Ballot Bowl," it's a chance for you, the viewers, to hear the presidential candidates out on the campaign trail, in their own words. Sometimes the appearances are live, sometimes they're on tape, but they are always unfiltered.

And again, I'm in New York, where I'm covering the Republicans.

Mike Huckabee, speaking of the Republicans, made a guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live." We'll get to that in just a few moments.

But first, my colleague Suzanne Malveaux is in Ohio following the Democrats after a very interesting day yesterday on the campaign trail for the Democrats.

Hello, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jim, absolutely fireworks between these two candidates over free trade agreement, NAFTA, as well as health care, whether or not they are misrepresenting each other's positions over this issues.

We saw it erupt yesterday. There were flyers that are being delivered to voters in Ohio, as well as Texas, some other places. Nothing new necessarily, but certainly a new attack, if you will, from Senator Clinton against Barack Obama.

She's suggesting, quite frankly, that they are misrepresenting her views. One of them, of course, over NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and whether or not she supports it, whether or not she's critical of it. She says that this flyer does not represent her true views.

Another issue is over the health care issue, whether or not it really mandates and forces people who cannot afford health insurance, whether or not they would be penalized.

These are two very, very important issues for those in Texas and here in Ohio they're looking at very closely. You've got union voters, you've got laborers, you've got middle class workers. They've lost their jobs. They're all looking at these two candidates to see which health care plan, which trade policy is going to improve their lives.

So it is no surprise that this weekend the fireworks erupted. Senator Clinton yesterday -- let's take a listen real quickly here from Cincinnati, Ohio. She fired the first shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's have a real campaign. Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook.

This is wrong. And every Democrat should be outraged, because this is the kind of attack that not only undermines core Democratic values, but gives aid and comfort to the very special interests and their allies in the Republican Party who are against doing what we want to do for America.

So shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public.

That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A direct challenge to Senator Barack Obama from Senator Clinton. Now, clearly Barack Obama, yesterday, as well as today, fired back. He did not take this sitting down or laying down.

He said that, first of all, these flyers, there are no inaccuracies in either one of them. He says he does not misrepresent her position when it comes to NAFTA, the free trade agreement, nor when it comes to health care.

We heard him yesterday saying that, quite frankly, that this is something that the Clinton campaign is making up. Today we hear from him once again, asserting that from Lorain, Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't keep passing unfair trade deals like NAFTA that put special interests over workers interests. Now, the last couple of days we've been having a little bit of a debate about NAFTA.

Senator Clinton has been going to great lengths on the campaign trail to distance herself from NAFTA. Yesterday she said NAFTA was negotiated by the first President Bush, not by her husband. But let's be clear. It was her husband who got NAFTA passed.

In her own book, Senator Clinton called NAFTA one of "Bill's successes" and "legislative victories." Yesterday, Senator Clinton also said I'm wrong to point out that she once supported NAFTA, but the fact is she was saying great things about NAFTA until she started running for president.

A couple years after it passed, she said NAFTA was -- and I quote -- "free and fair trade agreement," and that it was "proving its worth." In 2004, she said, "I think on balance NAFTA has been good for New York and America." One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. And yet, 10 years after NAFTA passed, Senator Clinton said it was good for America.

Well, I want to be very clear. I don't think NAFTA has been good for America and I never have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The Clinton campaign has fired back, saying essentially that while those comments may be accurate, she has since criticized parts of NAFTA, saying that it needs to be fixed, it needs to be changed, that that is her current position. So they feel that the Obama campaign essentially is using old information, misrepresenting her views.

This is clearly a very important issue for both of these candidates, who are trying desperately, looking at Ohio and Texas, trying to win over the workers, the laborers, the union voters, those who have lost their jobs, who have had hard, hard times here. We're seeing both of them campaign in places like plants and mills and things of that nature to really point out that they have an economic plan, an agenda that they believe is going to be the best for voters.

Now, we are waiting for hear from Senator Clinton. She is going to be talking about this, obviously, again out of Providence, Rhode Island. It's one of those states, key states on March 4th, they're going to have those contests.

She needs a must-win in Texas and Ohio. Her own campaign admitting that. Obviously Rhode Island is also going to make a difference March 4th.

Now, Jim, this spat has been really erupted over the last 24 hours. It has been amazing to see this kind of back-and-forth. And the tone, this is a tone that we have not seen before.

One of Hillary Clinton's closest friends who I talked to morning I asked him, "Why? Why is this happening?" And he said, you know, when she's down and out, when she is not the incumbent, when she is behind, when she is the fighter, that is when she comes out swinging and that is when she does best.

She does not do well as the front-runner, so this is the strategy going toward. Come out as the underdog and come out very aggressively -- Jim.

ACOSTA: The scrappy underdog in Hillary Clinton. Very interesting how the roles have reversed in this campaign.

But you have to wonder, after she was on that stage the other night, at the debate with Barack Obama, and she said, I am proud to be sitting here next to Barack Obama," and then two days later she says, "Shame on you, Barack Obama," I've got to wonder how the voters in Ohio are reacting to that.

MALVEAUX: Well, absolutely. And it's really kind of unclear.

You talk to voters. How many people are aware of the flyer controversy to begin with?

I think they're really listening very closely to what they're saying, the candidates, the specifics about their economic agendas, the specifics about their health care plans. They're asking questions.

I don't think when you look at voters and you talk to them that they are paying all that much attention to this kind of flyer controversy. It's very popular on blogs. They're talking about it. We're talking about it.

But really what's important to note here is these two candidates are trying very, very hard to draw those distinctions between the two, especially Senator Clinton trying to say that her health care plan is superior to Obama's health care plan because it's mandated, because it would require everyone to sign up. Obama essentially saying that it would punish people by mandating or presenting fees or taking away wages, that type of thing.

So, they're going after the same voters here. And you can see why it is sharpening as we get closer to those critical, critical states of March 4th -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Fascinating stuff. See you in a little bit, Suzanne.

And one thing that also came up this morning between these two candidates was not each other, but actually a different candidate who has all of a sudden jumped into the race, and we're talking about, of course, Ralph Nader, the on again, off again political candidate. He ran several times over the last couple of decades -- as many as five times if you count all of his different bids -- but famously he ran in 2000 and then in 2004.

And many Democrats, of course, consider Ralph Nader to be a spoiler because of what happened down in Florida in the year 2000, when he siphoned off just enough votes from Al Gore, according to many Democrats, to take that state away from Al Gore and hand George W. Bush the White House.

Now, in 2004, Democrats seem to have learned their lesson and basically stayed away from Ralph Nader. He got only about .3 percent of the vote in 2004, and didn't really hurt John Kerry, although served as a distraction. And despite all of that history, despite that back-story, Ralph Nader, undeterred, decided yet once again he's going to toss that hat into the ring, and he said it this morning on "Meet the Press."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One feels an obligation, Tim, to try to open the doorways, to try to get better ballot access, to respect dissent in American in terms of third parties and Independent candidates, to recognize historically the great issues that have come in our history against slavery, and women's rights to vote, and worker and farmer progressives, through little parties that never won any national election. Dissent is the mother of assent. And in that context I have decided to run for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And there he goes again. Ralph Nader jumping in the ring, throwing his hat in the ring to run for president for a third time.

We'll get reaction to all of that from our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, after the break.

This is "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to "Ballot Bowl."

I'm Jim Acosta in New York.

And we are now waiting to hear from Hillary Clinton. She is campaigning in Rhode Island. That event about to get started in earnest very shortly.

Rhode Island being one of those important contests coming up on March the 4th, and obviously Hillary Clinton is looking for a win wherever she can find it. So that's why she is campaigning in Rhode Island, where she should do well.

But as we're waiting for that, we want to get back to this issue of Ralph Nader, as he has been a headache for Democrats in the past, may not be as much of a migraine this time around. But yesterday there was some reaction to this from Barack Obama. The Illinois senator reacted to Ralph Nader jumping into the race with some concern, but at the same time, saying it's up to Democrats to make sure he is not a spoiler this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: My sense is, is that Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats, not the Republicans. So, naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race and hope that maybe a few more will join in.

I think it's a suicide mission. Third party candidates are not going to win the election. At best, they're going to take away from one of the major parties, and I just don't see that happening within the conservative wing at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there is Mike Huckabee as well. And we should have teed him up before going into that sound, but Mike Huckabee obviously speaking on behalf of lots of Republicans out there who definitely like the sound of Ralph Nader jumping into the race because of what he has done in the past to Democrats. If not having a measurable effect, perhaps he's at least a distraction on the left side of the Democratic Party.

And to talk about all of this, our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is here with us. And I also want to bring in our correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, who's covering the Democrats out in Ohio.

I'm wondering -- and Suzanne will perhaps mention this in just a moment, Bill -- but how much of a headache will Ralph Nader be for the Democrats do you think?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think he'll be a big headache, and certainly not what he was in 2000, when he literally cost Al Gore the election by taking 95,000 votes in Florida, a state that Gore lost by a little over 500 votes.

His vote went down in 2004 because, you know, a lot of his supporters figured out that by voting for Ralph Nader, you are helping to elect the candidate you like least. In that case, it was George W. Bush reelection in 2004. They figured out what was going on.

Ralph Nader got almost three million votes in 2000. In 2004, his votes shrank to fewer than half a million. My guess is the people who would still vote for Ralph Nader this year are probably his die-hard supporters, almost all of whom would not vote for anybody else.

MALVEAUX: And Jim, we've actually heard from both of the candidates today, reacting to this Nader news.

Senator Clinton, with reporters when asked about this, she almost sounded incredulous. She said, "Really? What is the rationale for this?" She couldn't believe that he was jumping in, but then she immediately said, well, that's quite unfortunate. This is a candidate from the Green Party who prevented perhaps the most green president -- that being Al Gore -- candidate from becoming president.

We heard from Barack Obama. He said yesterday and he reacted today, simply saying that Ralph Nader was the guy who said there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush. And he said, well, he proved to voters he had no idea what he was talking about.

We expected to hear those kinds of comments from both the candidates. But what was interesting is talking to a senior Democratic official who said, look, they don't think Ralph Nader is going to make all that much difference for two reasons. First, they said the populist message of taking on corporate America, that was John Edwards' issue. He is now back in North Carolina.

And they say secondly, the kind of campaign that Ralph Nader was dreaming of back in 2000 is the kind of campaign that Barack Obama is actually executing. And that is seeing those thousands and thousands of new voters that are coming out that are involved in the process. That is something that he had wanted to do, that he tried to inspire, but just didn't happen for him -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And Bill, on "RELIABLE SOURCES" this morning, Rachel Sklar from The Huffington Post basically said, you know, who is out there clamoring for Ralph Nader to get into the race? You know, where is his constituency?

You know, you have to wonder, Bill, why is he doing this?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I certainly don't know. I mean, he obviously, as Barack Obama said, he must think an awful lot of himself, you know, and his views.

He claims he's doing it because the candidates are not addressing what he considers to be the real issues, which is the dominance of corporate America. He doesn't like the two-party duopoly that controls American politics. He says dissent usually turns into assent.

So what he wants to is introduce ideas that will be picked up by the major parties. He doesn't even argue he's likely to win.

Well, that is historic role of third parties. Whether it's an anti- slavery party or a prohibition party or a civil rights party, they introduce ideas. They show that there's a big body of votes behind those ideas, and the major parties, being opportunistic, go after those votes.

But I'm afraid what Ralph Nader is proving is there aren't very many votes anymore behind the kind of ideas that he's proposing. Or if there are, for the most part the Democrats are picking those votes up already.

ACOSTA: And since this is "Ballot Bowl," we could play a little fantasy football here and talk about and speculate the other potential Independent candidates who could get into the race and make this a four-person or a five-person race. You know, there's been some talk of Mayor Bloomberg here in New York City getting into the race.

You know, every once in a while Lou Dobbs is asked the question, could he get into the race? And so, you know, potentially you could have a four-person or five-person race. And I guess all of a sudden we're what, Bill? We're, Germany, is that it?

SCHNEIDER: I don't think so. We still have a two-party system because our rules punish people who vote for a third party.

If you vote for a third party, a party that cannot win the election, you are helping to elect the candidate that you like the least. So, if you face a choice between a Republican and a Democrat, and a third- party candidate, and the third-party candidate like Nader is someone on the left, you are literally taking votes away from the Democrat and helping to elect a Republican. Most voters end up figuring that out. The votes for a third party really grow big only if there's a lot of anger out there over an issue. So, it could be imagined that, say, an anti-illegal immigration third party candidate emerges because they say correctly that the Democrat, whether it's Clinton or Obama, and John McCain, the Republican, they all support comprehensive immigration reform.

And if you're really mad over that issue, you might want to support a third party candidate, and it's still possible that one can get in. Then it makes sense to do that, hoping that one of the parties sees the light and picks up that issue. But other than that, I don't see any clamor for any kind of new party, whether it's Bloomberg or Nader.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Bill.

Thanks, Suzanne.

And we should mention, Hillary Clinton is coming up after the break. She's in Rhode Island campaigning for votes, looking for a win.

This is "Ballot Bowl" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are waiting for Senator Hillary Clinton to begin speaking out of Providence, Rhode Island. She is going to be introduced fairly shortly.

In the meantime, Jim, let's talk a little bit about what is happening between these two candidates, what we have seen just within the last 24 to 48 hours, a real different kind of tone from Senator Clinton.

We saw the CNN debate on Thursday, with the comments where she wrapped the debate very conciliatory, talking about how it was an honor to be there with Barack Obama. Then we saw just yesterday a visibly angry Senator Clinton, very perturbed at these flyers that have been going out to Ohio voters, calling them misleading here.

I've been talking to a lot of folks, Jim, wondering, you know, what is all of this about? Our own Mike Rizelli (ph), who was covering this yesterday, said he had never seen Hillary Clinton look and sound like that before. And one person I talked to, a very dear friend of Senator Clinton, said when she is the underdog, when she is behind, when she is up for the fight, that is when she does well. That is when she closes well, and that is when voters respond to her.

But it's interesting to see how this whole thing has unfolded -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Suzanne. And there was that -- it reminds me of that article that we saw last week in "The New York Times" in which it was talked about, you know, that there is some debate even within the Clinton camp amongst her senior-most advisers as to which tact she should take. Whether she should go down the road of the scrappy underdog, come out swinging, you know, go hard and negative against Barack Obama, or continue with sort of this congenial tone that we saw the other night where she, you know, said on stage, I'm proud to be with Obama on this stage.

And yet yesterday, we saw this, "Shame on you, Barack Obama." It's almost as if we're seeing both sides of Hillary Clinton, or at least both sides of that debate within the campaign coming out in the flesh as she's out on the campaign trail.

That might be reading too much into it, but speaking of Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, there she is in Providence, Rhode Island, trying to pick up that state coming up on March the 4th. So let's listen to the junior senator from New York.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CLINTON: And I'm especially grateful for the strong support and leadership of Jim Langevin.

You're wonderful, Congressman.

And Sheldon Whitehouse, your senator.

(APPLAUSE)

I also want to thank Bill Lynch, the chairman of the Rhode Island Democratic Party.

And I want to thank the administration, the faculty, the staff, and especially the students of Rhode Island College right here.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, it's a great privilege and delight to be back in Rhode Island. Both Jim and Sheldon said that I love Rhode Island. I've been here many times. This little state has a big voice on March the 4th in helping to choose the next president.

(APPLAUSE)

And it is very special to me to have Jim's support and Sheldon's support, because Congressman Langevin is the most dedicated and passionate supporter of universal health care. And it's going to take all the passion and dedication we can muster to finally right the wrong that has plagued America, our failure to provide quality affordable health care to every single American!

(APPLAUSE)

I look forward to working with Jim in order to get it done. And I have enjoyed greatly working with Sheldon Whitehouse, who got one of the great names in politics.

(LAUGHTER)

And what I'm so impressed about when it comes to Sheldon is the way he has stood up for the Constitution, for our rights, our liberties, and for American values.

(APPLAUSE)

So thank you for sending both of them to the Congress.

Well, nine days from now, the people of Rhode Island will get to be sure that your voices are heard. It's true, your neighbor to the north, Massachusetts, had its chance a little earlier. And I sure like the results there. It was a good outcome!

(APPLAUSE)

But now it's you're turn. And many of you support me, for which I'm very grateful, but I know there are people here today who are trying to make up your minds, what it is you're looking for and want. Not only in our Democratic nominee, but in our next president.

You know, I've been working on behalf of American politics for a very long time, but I don't know that I have seen an election that is so critical in charting our course going forward as this one. The stakes are high. The challenges are big. But so are the opportunities.

And the way I would ask you to think about this is not from this day forward, but from inauguration day, January 20, 2009, backwards. Because ultimately, when the speeches are over and all of the excitement of a campaign, and the cameras are gone ad the lights are down, the next president of the United States will walk into the Oval Office, and waiting there will be a stack of problems.

Now, you know, this is the hardest job in the world we're talking about. I'm asking you to consider hiring me for the hardest job in the world.

(APPLAUSE)

But I want you for a minute to think about the job itself.

You know, it's always tough. A woman down here says, "I wouldn't want it. Well, you know, it is always tough, but it's going to be especially so following George Bush and Dick Cheney, because there is so much we have to undo as well as do.

We've got to take the damage that we will inherit and begin to repair it, because you know waiting in that Oval Office is a war to end in Iraq and a war to win in Afghanistan. Two wars confronting our country.

We haven't had very many wartime elections. And I think it's important that we not lose sight of what it means to be electing a president in the midst of not just one, but two wars.

And we have an economy that is increasingly in trouble. It's not working for the vast majority of Americans. It's worked really well for George Bush's friends and allies, the wealthy and the well- connected.

(BOOING) That's the appropriate response. It does get you going, doesn't it, to think about all of the tax benefits, the no-bid contracts, the cronyism that has done such a disservice to our government.

And then we have the 47 million uninsured; the rising number of home foreclosures; an energy crisis in which oil has hit $100 a barrel; global warming, which has been ignored and derided by this president; an education system that is breaking under the unfunded mandated known as No Child Left Behind that has not worked.

(APPLAUSE)

Plus all of the other relationships that have been undermined and frayed across the globe. So the next president will walk in there, and before the day is out will have to begin tackling these tough challenges. And those are the ones we know about.

Look at what happened last week -- elections in Pakistan that thankfully began to move the country toward democracy, but raise all kind of issues about the stability and the future of that country. Cuba deciding finally to change leaders. Kosovo declaring independence. Our embassy in Belgrade being burned.

That's in one week. And our president has to be able to handle each and every one of those. So, as you think about what your decision will be on March the 4th, think about what waits in that Oval Office, think about the phone calls that come at 3:00 a.m. in the morning for the president from someplace in the world where you've got to respond and respond quickly and effectively.

I'm running for president because I believe I have the strength and experience to make those decisions and changes we need.

(APPLAUSE)

MALVEAUX: And we'll be hearing more from Senator Hillary Clinton out of Providence, Rhode Island, when "Ballot Bowl" continues after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl," where you get a chance to hear all of the candidates unfiltered, in their own words.

Let's go back to Senator Hillary Clinton out of Providence, Rhode Island.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CLINTON: ... let's just get everybody together, let's get unified. The sky will open. The light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing. And everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect!

(APPLAUSE) Maybe I've just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have special interests disappear!

(APPLAUSE)

You know, politics has been called the hard, boring of boards (ph). It's been called the toughest job that you can have because you've got to bring people together to find common ground, and then to move forward. That is what I have done my entire life. And it is what I've done now in the Senate, where I have worked across party lines to solve people's problems.

You know, it's always -- it's always a challenge when you have different philosophies, when you see the world differently. It's not all about special interest influence. You know, people don't see the world the same way.

When I say we've got to have a rise in the minimum wage because people should not work full time and not have a job that takes them out of poverty, some people disagree with that!

(APPLAUSE)

MALVEAUX: Listening to Senator Hillary Clinton really honing her message for the working class that she is going to put in the hard work to improve people's lives.

I want to bring in our own Bill Schneider in Austin, Texas, CNN Election Express bus.

How is this message resonating with voters there, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: Well, it hasn't really resonated all that well. I mean, this race is really neck and neck. And every time Hillary Clinton has sounded negative themes, I think she doesn't do very well, because Barack Obama comes out and says, as he did yesterday in response to her very angry charges against him, he said he thinks that they were a tactical maneuver. He's running to stop all the fighting, he's the candidate of unity.

And you just heard something remarkable from Senator Hillary Clinton a moment ago. She was actually mocking Senator Obama, saying that he has this very unrealistic view that we're all going to be unified and the heavens will open up and the light will shut down, and somehow the world will be perfect. Her argument is the world is not perfect, I've been around for some time, I know how tough and hard it is, and you have to fight for what you believe in.

That's the essence of her message. And now she's taken to calling Senator Obama unrealistic and naive.

MALVEAUX: And Bill, what about this whole idea of experience? She's been hammering this time and time again, that she is the one with more experience, that she's willing to work harder, that she's got more substantive plans and proposals to make people's lives better. Is that something that is -- that voters are grabbing onto? Do they believe her?

SCHNEIDER: They do believe she has more experience. They believe that's one of her strongest suits in this election.

On the other hand, experience is not the highest priority, at least now for Democrats. They say they value change much more than experience. And change, of course, is Mr. Obama's message.

Now, of course, if she -- if Barack Obama becomes the nominee, I think that issue will come back. If it's a race between Obama, who is in his 40s, and John McCain, who is in his 70s, McCain said the other day, "I may not be the youngest candidate, but I have the most experience." So he, if he's running against Obama, he will press the experience issue. Obama's opponents press that all the time, but so far it really hasn't done any damage to Senator Obama.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks.

Our own Bill Schneider in Austin, Texas, getting the pulse of the people there.

We're going to turn it over after the break. "Ballot Bowl" continuing to Jim Acosta, who's going to be handling the Republican side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

I'm Jim Acosta in New York, covering the Republican side of this race for the White House.

And we want to get to John McCain, who was down in Washington, D.C., last night addressing a GOP governors dinner. And it was a chance for John McCain, who pretty much has this nomination all locked down -- he's almost there -- he's not quite there, but he's almost there.

He's had a chance now to sharpen his knives while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama go at each other. And so here is John McCain last night at that GOP governors dinner talking about the issues that he sees coming up in this campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And by the way, could I say a word about our president? Don't you think that maybe it might be nice occasionally we might give the president a little credit for the fact that there's not been another attack on the United States of America since 9/11?

(APPLAUSE)

I think we all know that what would happen -- that he might be getting some response if he didn't. But anyway, I think there are going to be some -- and could I just mention I respect Governor Huckabee. I know that you know that he's a friend. And I respect his desire to remain in the primary.

I hope we can get the required number of delegates. And I understand, and one of the things -- if you forget everything I say to you tonight, I need your help in uniting the party.

I think Rick Perry put his finger on one of the problems. And obviously that is that the spending in Washington got out of control, and it alienated our base. It dispirited them and alienated them.

And the business of earmarks got out of control. And there were some of us that fought against it for a number of years. And unfortunately, it led, in some cases, even to corruption.

I want that money to stay in your hands and not go to Washington. Why don't you decide and the legislature decide what happens to those dollars that people pay when they go to fill up their gas tank and is sent to Washington?

(APPLAUSE)

And these projects -- and these projects are decided not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of seniority and power in Washington.

I think you know best how transportation money could be spent. I think you know best how a whole lot of these monies and taxpayers' dollars could be spent, a lot better, very frankly, than those of us who work here in the nation's capital.

And we've got to cut the taxes. There's so many ways we can cut taxes.

But on the subject of earmarks, if I could just mention to you, the president signed into law two major spending bills in the last two years that total $35 billion in earmarked projects. And I'm not judging them, my friends. I have no way of judging many of these projects.

They may look good on paper. They may be good or bad. All I'm asking is for them to compete, them to compete in the authorization and appropriations process, or you decide. Either way.

But for that $35 billion that was in the form of earmarks, we could have, according to my dear friend Phil Gramm, the smartest economist I know, Phil Gramm said it could mean $1,000 tax credit for every child in America. My friends, we're talking about a lot of money. We're not just talking about a small amount, as some people say.

So, I want to tell you that it's not going to be easy, because it's part of the Washington culture. But the first bill that comes across my desk with an earmarked project on it, if I'm president of the United States, I will veto. I will veto.

(APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And you heard John McCain there talk about Mike Huckabee and his long-shot bid for the White House against all odds. And speaking of Mike Huckabee and his against-all-odds bid, they poked fun at that last night on "Saturday Night Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

SETH MEYERS: So, Governor, you remain in the race despite the fact that it's a mathematical impossibility that you can win. And our question is, why?

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Seth, the media loves to throw around the term "mathematical impossibility." But no one can ever explain exactly what that means to me.

MEYERS: Let me give it a shot. Basically, it takes 1,191 delegates to clinch your party's nomination. And even if you won every remaining unpledged delegate, you would still fall 200 delegates short.

HUCKABEE: Wow. Seth, that was an excellent explanation. But I'm afraid that you overlooked the all-important superdelegates. Don't forget about them.

MEYERS: Well, I won't forget about them, but the superdelegates are only in the Democratic primary.

HUCKABEE: They can't vote in the Republican primary?

MEYERS: They cannot.

HUCKABEE: Uh-oh. That's not good news.

You know, Seth, I was counting on those superdelegates.

MEYERS: Sorry to break that to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

ACOSTA: So there's Mike Huckabee there, and that bit just got better and better as Seth Meyers kept hinting, it's time for you to go, and Huckabee just continued to stay on the set there, on the "SNL" set, a little bit like what he's doing in the campaign right now -- not exactly exiting the stage on cue.

But speaking of Mike Huckabee, our own Alex Marquardt, one of our political producers here at CNN, and has been a campaign embed with the Huckabee campaign over the last several months, had a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like covering Mike Huckabee.

Let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER (voice over): Aside from being a presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee is a pretty decent bowler. Not good enough to beat the press, though, when he and wife Janet took on reporters at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, bowling alley.

That Sunday night, reporters traveling with the campaign, or the "embeds," as we're known, saw a side of the former Arkansas governor that few get to.

HUCKABEE: (INAUDIBLE) me.

MARQUARDT: In general, though, Huckabee enjoys a friendly relationship with the traveling press.

HUCKABEE: Mr. Bowler? (INAUDIBLE) bowled all day?

MARQUARDT: Covering Huckabee these days is an interesting task. John McCain leads in insurmountable delegate count. But Huckabee insists he'll stay in the race until McCain gets the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination.

HUCKABEE: Last night one of the talking heads sitting on one of the networks, when asked, "Why is Huckabee still in this race?" here's what he had to say. He said, "I think he just likes to fly around on airplanes."

MARQUARDT: Huckabee often criticizes the press, especially the television networks for counting him out, though the networks are the only national media still following them. Gone are the wire services and national newspapers.

Nevertheless, Huckabee marches on -- and with gusto. He regularly packs his days with three or four campaign stops. Some are big...

HUCKABEE: But we've got about four times the number of people that we've anticipated, and we've had to open two or three different rooms to get everybody in here.

MARQUARDT: ... others are smaller.

HUCKABEE: Well, you know, anybody that will brave Houston traffic to get here at 8:00 in the morning, you are remarkable people.

MARQUARDT: But wherever Huckabee goes, we follow -- from plane to bus to rally.

(on camera): Huckabee just wrapped up a speech, a speech that those of us traveling with him have come to know well. We always know he's coming to the end because he tells the story of going to meet the governor of Arkansas as a boy, a position he would later hold. And as soon as he's done shaking hands, it's right back out to the bus and on to the next stop.

(voice over): From the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, to the Alamo, the Huckabee campaign keeps us on the move so much we have to work whenever and wherever we can. The rhythm takes its toll. So, in the air, away from phones and Internet, you will often find embeds trying to squeeze in a few wings and get some food that isn't very healthy. And when the day comes to the end...

HUCKABEE: Thank you, folks.

MARQUARDT: ... we get back on the plane and do it all over again the next day.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, on the Huckabee campaign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And so there is Alex Marquardt there bowling with Mike Huckabee. And I think the producer in my ear just mentioned that we can bring in Suzanne Malveaux now?

Is that right, out in Ohio?

Suzanne, I know that you have been covering...

MALVEAUX: Well, that's right, Jim.

ACOSTA: ... Barack Obama. And I'm just curious, have you had any chances to bowl with Barack Obama? Has that chance come up yet?

MALVEAUX: A chance to -- what did you say bowl?

ACOSTA: To bowl with Barack Obama? Our producer in that last segment just was bowling with Mike Huckabee. So I was curious if you had the same opportunity with Barack Obama. I'm just taking a shot in the dark.

MALVEAUX: I haven't had a chance to go bowling with him. I've missed that opportunity. But you know, I'm going to ask him and see if he bowls.

I know he works out. I know he's a runner. I might take him up on one of those offers. I'm not sure he's a big bowler here.

But, you know, Jim, we are expecting to hear from Barack Obama in the 4:00 hour. Obviously, he's going to be weighing in on a lot of those issues we talked about just in the past hour with our "Ballot Bowl." And also, what's really going to be interesting, if viewers haven't caught this already, or if you want to see a repeat, it was a fascinating debate on Thursday out of Austin, Texas. That is going to be replayed on CNN at 8:00 Eastern.

And so we've got a lot ahead.

And Jim, I'll check in on that bowling opportunity and see if I can make that happen.

ACOSTA: I think he's better with the jump shot than he is with the 7- 10 split. But that's just me. I don't know. I want to remind our viewers that "YOUR $$$$" is coming up next. And there will be more bowling -- that is, ballot bowling -- coming up at 4:00, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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