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More Campaign Happenings
Aired March 09, 2008 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barack Obama has taken a bit of a hit this past week with some bad news coming out, working against him and his campaign message. One of the big questions, as he walks away from Wyoming is: How will he hit back against Senator Clinton? Is it possible for him to continue pressing this idea that he is promoting a new kind of politics while also counterpunching some of the attacks he's getting from the Clinton campaign?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN (voice-over): Riding into town sounding confident.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is great to be in the Cowboy State. I intend to win Wyoming.
YELLIN: Barack Obama won this state, but he could emerge wounded by attacks like this -
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he keeps telling people one thing, while his campaign tells people abroad something else, I'm not sure what the American people should believe.
YELLIN: The latest flashpoint: One of Obama's foreign policy advisors told the BBC, a president Obama might not withdraw troops from Iraq as quickly as candidate Obama promises.
SAMANTHA POWER, FORMER OBAMA AIDE: He will of course not rely upon some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or as a U.S. senator. At the height of ideology, you know, to sort of say, well, I said it, therefore I'm going to impose it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the 16 months -
YELLIN: Smelling blood, Senator Clinton pounced.
CLINTON: While Senator Obama campaigns on his plan to end the war, his top advisors tell people abroad that he will not rely on his own plan should he become president.
YELLIN: The same advisor was also quoted, calling Senator Clinton a "monster." She quickly issued an apology for inexcusable remarks and resigned. Now Obama is on the defensive.
OBAMA: It was because of George Bush with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain that we entered into this war, a war that should have never been authorized, a war that should have never been waged, and I will bring this war to an end in 2009, so, don't be confused.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: The senator (ph) can certainly go on offense that could include some questions that he raises about her since they've been throwing things at him.
YELLIN: Obama is now throwing gentle jabs about her management style.
OBAMA: Look whose run the best campaign.
YELLIN: But he's leaving the body blows to his staff. Today, his campaign manager called Clinton "One of the most secretive politicians alive." Obama insists he can give as good as he gets.
OBAMA: I point to people, listen, I may be skinny but I'm tough.
YELLIN: But he has yet to show it on the stump.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: And we heard more from the Obama campaign today and over the weekend, I should say. They have been sending out some newspaper articles questioning just how much foreign policy experience Senator Clinton really has.
Clinton making her experience in the White House one of the cornerstones of her argument that she is best prepared to be commander in chief, the Obama campaign saying, hey, wait a minute, let's really look at what she accomplished during those years, to what extent she was really involved, and also calling her out, saying if you're making the basis of her claim that she's most prepared, if that's fundamentally centered on her years in the White House, then why isn't she releasing her White House papers?
So again, his staff hitting hardest against Senator Clinton but we really have yet to hear Barack Obama personally make any very, very pointed attacks on Clinton himself. And all of his is coming as "Newsweek" magazine releases a new poll that shows in the national big picture Barack Obama 45 percent of support, while 44 percent support Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee. That's about as tight as it gets, Dan.
But, you know, one of the big questions is: Who is best prepared to handle the economy? And that's the top concern for many Democratic voters. It shows that both of them are equally ranked, essentially, when it comes to voters' confidence in handling the economy. I imagine that's a pretty key issue where you are right now, the site of the biggest next primary.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN'S BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: It really is. There has been some element -- some sections of this state hit hard by unemployment and so certainly the economy a big issue here. Although they have not been impacted like Ohio when we're talking about subprime problems. Nonetheless, that is a problem that impacts not only this state but other states but certainly a critical issue here.
But you know, I think one of the things that's so interesting about all of this is that that is the internal struggle, I think, that you hear from voters out on the street. Certainly Democratic voters, when they're trying to look at these two candidates and figure out which one they want to vote for, is that they really feel like both of them are very strong on the economy, and many of the core issues that are important to these Democratic voters, there is sort of this internal struggle as to which candidate to go to, because they like them both.
And we hear that time and time again out there in every state that you go to. They like both of the candidates. So, it's a very difficult decision for many of these Democratic voters.
YELLIN: You know, Dan, you are talking about the issues. A moment ago, I was talking about how nasty the race is getting and the conventional wisdom among the pundits and political reporters is: Barack Obama has to hit back hard on Senator Clinton and make some negative attacks of his own.
It sounds to me like, when you talk to voters, this is not at all on their minds. Do you hear anyone talking about whether he's tough enough?
LOTHIAN: You don't hear from the voters, you certainly hear it from the pundits. And you know, the voters -- I remember I put this question to some voters a few weeks ago, asking them whether or not they thought this kind, you know, of negative campaigning really worked. And the voters will tell you, you know, this is something that we don't like. It's not something that we want to pay attention to. They really want to focus on the issues.
On the other hand, the fact that politicians do this, and certainly presidential candidates do this, means that they do believe it works. And we did see when Senator Clinton sort of ramped up the rhetoric and really started pushing hard in Ohio, that we saw the poll numbers coming back up for her. And certainly, she was able to pull off a victory in Ohio and Texas.
So, on the one hand, the voters say that this is something that they don't like. On the other hand, it does seem to be working with the voters.
Now, you know, Jessica, I want to touch on one other thing. You were talking about how close this race is in terms of the national polls, and I'm wondering, how this momentum factoring into all of this. We saw that when Senator Clinton was sort of viewed as the front-runner, that all the polls showed her ahead, and then Senator Barack Obama had that streak of wins and suddenly he was way ahead in the national polls, then he falters a bit certainly in Ohio and Texas.
And now it's sort of neck-and-neck. Momentum really seems to be at play here.
YELLIN: You know, I'm the odd man out on the momentum issue. I know, it's what we talk about all the time, and it certainly seems to affect the candidates themselves and their organizations. It gives the organization a sense of optimism and, you know, can-do energy. But it hasn't really played out consistently enough to believe that momentum is the key driver in this race. If it were, then Barack Obama should have walked away with Texas and Ohio. And then, as soon as she wins Texas and Ohio, the media says, well, she has momentum.
So, this race, as we said before, breaks all rules and it doesn't seem fair or wise to even pick one outstanding driver that is going to let us determine the outcome, because we seem to be wrong no matter what we try to predict. So, I think we stay away from it, we're best off.
LOTHIAN: That is so true.
YELLIN: Let me just take a pause -- I think we have to go to commercial break. And, Dan, you know, on the other side of the break, we're going to talk both about Mississippi which votes on Tuesday, then that state you're in, Pennsylvania. That vote is in a month, on April 22nd. But we're going to be talking about it nonstop until then.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
YELLIN: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Jessica Yellin in Cheyenne, Wyoming, this state, the site of the latest Democratic caucus.
Barack Obama winning that one and we see this race increasingly tightening up with Senators Obama and Clinton, almost running neck- and-neck now in the national polls. The latest poll out from "Newsweek" showing Obama preferred by 45 percent of Democratic voters, Clinton 44 percent, about as tight as it can get.
So, joining me now to talk about the state of this race are: Liz Chadderdon, a Democratic strategist; and Amy Holmes, a Republican strategist. And great to see you, Amy, I see you in person all the time. Good to see you on TV.
AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Great to see you.
YELLIN: Let me start for a moment with Liz, because I want to ask you, Liz, after Clinton's wins in Ohio and Texas, her campaign put out the message that Obama has a big state problem, that he can win all these red states and small states, but when it comes to the general election, he's not going to be able to carry these key large states. Do you think her successes in Ohio and Texas truly show that, or is it just unfair spin?
LIZ CHADDERDON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I've got to be honest, Jessica. I think it's a little bit of unfair spin. I mean, yes, he has not won one of the big states other than his home state of Illinois and that's a pretty big state. But he ran very close to her in all of those other states. And frankly, the fact that he can win red states is really what we're looking for in a Democratic nominee.
So, I think it's a little unfair spin to say he wouldn't actually be able to win California or New York or Florida in the general election. I just don't think that's true at all.
YELLIN: Well, picking up on that, Amy, looking ahead to the general election, if you want to pair up John McCain with one of these two people, at this stage would you rather he run against Hillary Clinton? Do you think McCain has a better shot?
HOLMES: Well, from the Republican point of view, yes. Hillary Clinton, she has such high negatives, she has such high name I.D., that's very hard for her to increase her positives. So, her only strategy against John McCain is to pull him down and you see that that's her strategy with Barack Obama.
But going back to your previous question to Liz, I totally agree. And Hillary's argument about the big states, red states, et cetera, is her sort of posing as a Republican. But this is a Democratic primary.
So, Barack Obama makes the argument, hey, he was a Democratic nominee running in California, New York, New Jersey, some of these other places, he'd naturally come out the winner. You know, as Republicans, they're going to fight hard for those states, too.
But I think Hillary's argument has some holes in it.
YELLIN: Well, one of the things that the Obama campaign points to is the general disaffection right now with the Republican Party that you see nationwide as a result of Bush's low poll numbers, even Dennis Hastert's seat going to a Democrat last night.
So, I wonder, Liz, is there a danger right now? You know, Senator Clinton has been making these claims that she has foreign policy experience, McCain has foreign policy experience, Barack Obama has a speech. Subtly implying or not so subtly, that Barack Obama is not prepared to be commander in chief whereas John McCain is. Could this hurt Obama if he becomes the general election nominee?
CHADDERDON: It's a very interesting question, Jessica. I don't think it's a good thing, but I don't think it's the end of all being, if you will. I think of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee against John McCain. He's absolutely going to be able to hold his own when it comes to foreign policy.
But, no, it's never good when you have your own potential weaknesses being outed by someone from your own party. It's part of why the Democrats are not really excited about this primary continuing to go on as it is. It's time for us to really settle on a nominee so that we don't keep giving away, you know, if you will, some of our weaknesses to our opponents.
But no, think if Barack Obama is the nominee, he's going to do just fine against John McCain.
HOLMES: And, Jessica, I would build on that by saying that for Hillary Clinton to be making this argument that there is this hierarchy of national security experience, clearly John McCain is at the top. And then, when it comes to the idea of her picking her vice presidential running mate should she get the nomination, she's just made the argument that Barack Obama is not ready to be commander in chief, which one would think would be the number one consideration of who you ask to join the ticket. So, I think this is a dangerous area for Hillary to be getting into, both for herself and for Barack Obama.
YELLIN: And, Liz, following up on what Amy's saying, this whole vice president argument, it really seems to be something that helps Hillary Clinton more than Obama. I mean, the suggestion is: She would sort of let (ph) show him the ropes and he would be her vice president. Don't you think that's what's behind this dream ticket, them mentioning the dream ticket over and over or no?
CHADDERDON: I absolutely think it is, Jessica. You notice, it's Bill Clinton talking about the dream team, nobody else at this point. You know, actually some friends of mine and I were just discussing this. It's really a win-win for the Clintons. Not so sure it's a win-win for Barack Obama.
And I think for the supporters that have been coming out for Barack Obama, I think they would see this as not really what they've been supporting. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It's a potential, you know, a solution to what's happening but we aren't there yet.
He just won Wyoming. He's going to potentially win Mississippi. He's still ahead in the delegate count. I think for people to be saying that it's time for him to become her V.P.? No, we're not there yet. I really don't see it.
YELLIN: Amy, one of the big arguments we hear on the road right now is that Senator Clinton's got this superior experience and the Obama folks are pointing out a series of articles that have come out over the weekend questioning how much experience she really had as first lady in the White House, and so, the Obama campaign is pressing the Clintons to release all their documents from the White House years to open that up to public examination.
Do you think this message that she's secretive and needs to release more documents is hard enough hitting? Do you think that will really work as an attack message from the Obama campaign?
HOLMES: Well, I can tell you, Jessica, that the RNC, when they were doing, you know, internal polling data over Christmas, when they thought Hillary Clinton was going to cinch the nomination on Super Tuesday, they found that the trust issue was still a real sticking point for Hillary Clinton and that's what they were going to hammer on. So, for Barack Obama to be picking that up, I think that that's wise.
And, you know, I've been really enjoying the Obama campaign, the Barack Obama campaign, having a lot of fun with this. They pointed out that Hillary's trip to Bosnia, the dangerous trip that she was sent on, because apparently it was too dangerous for her husband to go, which sort of says weird things about Bill Clinton that he would send his wife instead, but anyway they pointed out that she was on that trip with Sheryl Crow and Sinbad. So, things like that will certainly stick, I think, in the public consciousness, that when Hillary Clinton is talking about her foreign policy experience, she might be inflating her resume a little bit.
YELLIN: Who knows? Sheryl Crow and Sinbad may have been negotiating peace treaties.
HOLMES: Well, actually, to tell you truth, I feel so bad for Sinbad that he's become a punch line in this campaign. He was trying to serve his country.
YELLIN: OK, we have to go take a quick break. But later in the hour, we're going to bring you guys both back. One of the things we'll discuss is: How negative is this campaign really?
But right now, we're going to commercial break. On the other side, we're going to hear from John McCain.
So, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LOTHIAN: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As the Democrats, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama continue to battle it out to see who will become the Democratic nominee, Senator John McCain waits to find out who will be his opponent. In the meantime, he is doing some much needed fundraising and also trying to shore up his conservative base. He has been criticized for not, by some in his party, for not being conservative enough.
He was in New Orleans recently talking to some of the more conservative members of his party, talking about issues that are important to them, such as border security and also talking about unifying the Republican Party. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will stand on my record. That's probably the first place to investigate. And that's my record, 24 years of pro-life voting and advocacy for the rights of the unborn in many, many ways, because I believe the noblest words written are that all of us are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life.
And I believe that's life of unborn -
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: And in due respect, I know what it's like to lose one's rights. So, I will continue to advocate for that. I'm proud to have led an effort in my home state to change our state Constitution to protect the sanctity of marriage between man and woman. So I will be standing on my record. I was asked to speak as briefly as possible, and I apologize for that, but I will stand on my record. I will continue to advocate for those fundamental principles of our party and our faith.
I thank you. Yes, sir. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator McCain, as president, could you outline to us what measures you would take to protect our southern border?
MCCAIN: Yes, sir. We would have to obviously secure our borders first. And I would have the border state governor certify that their borders are secure. I come from a state where the borders are not secure, as you know, and we've paid a very heavy price for that.
Americans want the border secured first so that we don't have a repetition of what we did in 1986. We didn't secure the borders, we took care of the issue, and now there's more. I was disappointed in the failure of this last contract of the "virtual fence." I think you have to build walls in certain areas. I think you have to have UAV sensors, cameras, vehicle barriers, depending on where it is.
In populated areas, you have to have walls. They have to be manned and we have to have a lot more border patrol, as you know. And then we have to have, after we have secured the borders, then, we can move forward with tamper-proof biometric I.D. cards for temporary workers. And, anyone who hires someone who doesn't have that, including an Electronic Employment Verification System, would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Well, I'll also tell you, these are God's children and we're going to handle it in a humane fashion but with the principle that no one who came here illegally would have any precedence over someone who either came legally or waited legally for a chance to become a citizen of this country.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Yes, sir. I hope that response to your question -- if it doesn't, I'll be glad to have a follow-up. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, Americans on the left, the center and the right, to a large extent, have lost confidence in what politicians say, their promises. What comfort level can you give conservatives that if you are fortunate enough to move into the White House next January, that to a large extent, conservatives would come into the White House with you, we as conservatives believe personnel is policy.
MCCAIN: Well, I can say it again and I don't mean to be repetitious, but one is my record. Second is the vision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: That's Senator John McCain speaking in New Orleans earlier in the week -- or last week, rather, as he continues to try to unify the Republican Party, the base in the Republican Party, touching on some of those key issues such as immigration and border security.
I want to shift now back to the Democrats and in particular Senator Barack Obama. He has really been focusing on how he is the candidate of change. And he talks a lot about having this candidacy of bold change in particular. But we decided to take a look at his track record.
What has Barack Obama done in the past? He's only been a senator for a short period, a U.S. senator, rather, for a short period of time, but he did spend eight years in the State Senate in Illinois.
So, we went to Chicago to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): New and untested: Barack Obama started early trying to carve out a reputation as an eager, hard-working Illinois state senator when he was elected in 1996.
OBAMA: I'm sympathetic to that.
LOTHIAN: Telling powerful Democrat Emil Jones, the man Obama considers his political godfather, to throw him into the fire.
EMIL JONES, ILLINOIS SENATE PRESIDENT: He said feel free to, you know, give me any type of assignment, as you know, I like to work hard.
LOTHIAN: That works say his critics resulted in one of the most liberal voting records during his eight years, from pushing for abortion rights to raising taxes. But what troubles former Republican colleague Dan Cronin, who says he respects Obama and his political skills, is that considering the presidential hopeful's campaign of bold change, his past, he says, doesn't quite add up.
DAN CRONIN, (R) ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: There were no bold solutions. There were no creative approaches. There were no efforts to stand up to the establishment.
LOTHIAN (on camera): But, Barack Obama supporters say that happened, in part, because, for the majority of the time that he was a state senator, Republicans were in control, making it difficult, they say, for him to pass any bold legislation.
(voice-over): And what about criticism that as a state senator he voted "present" instead of "yes" or "no" nearly 130 times. It is essentially a vote without taking a side. It's an oddity of Illinois politics that his now-Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton says, illustrates a refusal to take responsibility, like hitting the easy button on controversial issues.
But Obama's mentor, who says the senator cast thousands of votes, disagrees.
JONES: She's totally wrong on that. LOTHIAN: Chicago political analyst Paul Green says other lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, routinely vote "present," a way, he says, to force the majority party to negotiate or protest parts of a bill.
So, it's strategy.
PAUL GREEN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Of course, it's strategy.
LOTHIAN: Obama did sponsor more than 800 bills. One resulted in the highly-touted ethics reform that bans fundraisers at the state capitol in Springfield, and really all gifts (ph) from lobbyist. Another of his bills now requires police in Illinois to video interrogations of criminal suspects.
One thing everyone seems to agree on, that Senator Obama appeared comfortable, reaching reaches across party lines to get what he wanted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: And of course, that is one of the issues that Barack Obama has talked about in his presidential campaign, that he is the candidate who really can reach across the aisle, break down those partisan barriers and get a lot of these complicated legislations, or whatever it may be, that may come up, he can get the job done.
The Obama campaign also points out that while some of the critics may be talking about some of these issues that his Senate time in the State Senate, that it's not bold, and they said, you know, these critics, they voted for a lot of those legislations that they're now criticizing. So, the Obama campaign there going after the critics who are saying he didn't have any bold legislation while he was a State Senator.
When we come back after this break, we'll take a look at some other news, including winter storm that's moving towards the northeast. That's after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN, ANCHOR: I'm Stephanie Elam live at CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. More "Ballot Bowl" in a moment, but first let's take a look at what's happening.
Snowplows out in force in Ohio today. The state is trying to dig out from a massive winter storm. More than 20 inches of snow fell in Columbus this weekend. That shatters a 100-year-old record. The conditions shut down roads and closed the Cleveland Airport stranding thousands of travelers.
And that same system hit the northeast and several southern states. Fierce winds took down trees and power lines. That left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity.
And then there was ice. How scary is that footage there? Nine accidents happened on this one bridge that was taken in Charleston, West Virginia. One person had to go to the hospital. In other states, ten deaths are being blamed on the storm.
Of course, keeping an eye on all the trouble spots across the country, CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She is live in the CNN weather center. Is that ice system still going to be a problem?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Not as much. You know, really today is kind of a recovery day for the most part. So, as long as the crews have been out there working overtime, by the way, I might add, cleaning off the streets. You know, the main ones cleared out very well but still some of the side streets, the secondary roads, you need to use a lot of caution. But the weather maker itself is out of there. So much dryer weather into the northeast, but in its wake we still have some very windy conditions. Take a look at the current wind speeds. These are sustained winds. So, that's a steady wind that you'll see but gusts are going beyond this. We're seeing teens and 20s throughout the northeast. You know, there's nothing worse than shoveling your driveway, just to have the wind put another half- inch on top of that. Isn't, don't you love that?
Moving on, airport delays as a result of those strong winds. La Guardia looking at delays around 1 hour 15 minutes. And 1 hour 25 minutes at Newark and JFK, only 45 minutes. So, the airports for the most part are holding up today. the heaviest snow still into upstate New York, off of Lake Ontario. We got a very heavy band of snow right along i-81 here in Oswego, Jefferson and Lewis counties. You could see an additional three to six inches on top of what you already have. So, that's a big snow travel hazard yet still ongoing.
As for the rain, it came down really heavy. We had one to three inches commonly widespread across the northeast. So, many of the smaller rivers and streams are still outside of their banks. Now the snowfall, that is going to be a big concern because it is going to take a while to clean up some of this. We're talking two feet in Richfield, Ohio. And then you can see Columbus, more than 20 inches. Temperatures are going to be warming up here over the next couple of days. Some of the snow is going to be melting off. And we'll be worried about significant river flooding by the middle to latter part of the week. Just a little weak system, I wanted to mention, moving east of Chicago, now heading towards Detroit. Stephanie.
ELAM: All right. Jacqui, thanks for getting us up to date on the weather.
New details in the murder of Auburn University student Lauren Burk. The mother of the accused killer says her son just isn't the same since his return from the war in Iraq. Katherine Williams is apologizing on behalf of her son, Courtney Lockhart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE WILLIAMS, MURDER SUSPECT'S MOTHER: I'm sorry for that family. I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. I just have nothing else to say. I'm just sorry for the loss of that family.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ELAM: A funeral service for the 18-year-old victim Lauren Burk is under way this hour in suburban Atlanta. A campus-wide memorial service will be held tomorrow at Auburn.
And funeral services were held today for 22-year-old Eve Carson in Athens, Georgia. She was a student body president at the University of North Carolina. She was found Wednesday on a Chapel Hill Street apparently shot to death. Police are searching for a suspect who may be using Carson's bank card.
Moving to Latin America now, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is sharing an embrace with new Cuban President Raul Castro. Chavez made an unannounced stop to the island yesterday to visit Fidel Castro who recently ceded power to his younger brother Raul. Chavez reportedly telling Cuban television that he found Fidel "happy, splendid and full of ideas."
Anger and rage collide on the streets of Jalalabad today. This is the latest religious protest of a soon to be released Dutch movie that many Muslims consider anti-Islamic. Thousands have been demonstrating across Afghanistan this week. They're protesting the Netherlands and Danish newspapers that have republished cartoons that critics say insult the prophet Mohammed.
Here you have some sports fans out of control in Cali, Colombia. Take a look at this. A brawl broke out at a soccer game between two Colombian teams. It started with a controversial call by a referee. Players and coaches traded blows. And then the fans followed suit. 78 people were hurt. Emergency officials say more than a dozen of the injuries were stab wounds.
All right. Moving on to the Olympics, the summer Olympics. They kick off in just five months from now in Beijing, China. And travel expert Mark Orwoll is on the go to find out how the communist country is getting ready for the big event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL-LEISURE: The Olympics are coming and Beijing is getting busy. Thousands of people from around the world are expected to visit the city and the Chinese are trying to put their best face forward. Ritzy new hotels are rushing to finish construction in time. Major highways are getting a facelift. Beijing residents are even being discouraged from spitting in public.
The Chinese are also putting final touches on one of the world's largest airport expansions. A Feng Shui expert helped design a state of the art arrivals area, featuring natural light and ventilation. More than 100 gates were added to accommodate a growth in passengers beyond the Olympics from the current 27 million a year to nearly 60 million by 2015.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: I'm Stephanie Elam. More "Ballot Bowl" after a quick time-out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JESSIC YELLIN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN's "Ballot Bowl." I'm Jessica Yellin in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We are going to pick up again where we left off in our conversation with both Amy Holmes, republican strategist, and Liz Chadderdon, a democratic strategist, talking about the state of the presidential race.
Amy, let me start with you because we've heard in recent weeks in the last two weeks, this race take a different kind of tone. Barack Obama accusing Senator Clinton of going negative, some name calling, one candidate's aide saying another is a monster and mentions that Obama's like Ken Starr. Is this really as negative as past campaigns?
AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, I don't think that it is reaching a historical lows here with this name calling. And it was a staffer on Barack Obama's campaign who was actually on a book tour and was asked questions by the Scotsman about you know, working for Barack Obama. She should have been ready for those questions, knowing that was - I hate to say it to the author, but the bigger story than her book. But I do think that there has been nastiness. There is no doubt about that.
And I find it interesting as a conservative that when the Clintons are in trouble, when in doubt, blame republicans. Attacking Barack Obama, Ken Starr, if he goes tough and starts questioning her record, and he's using Rovian tactics. I don't know if this is going to work with democrats. I think Barack Obama is, you know, held with such affection among the democratic voters that this probably is probably not gaining traction. But the kitchen sink strategy, when she really got into policies, the NAFTA question, what did he tell Canada versus what did he say on the campaign trail. Again with that staffer who spoke with the Scotsman and said, you know, that his position on pulling out troops is one thing he's saying on the campaign trail, another thing that he's going to do in truth should he become president. Now, that did get traction and I think it is legitimate.
YELLIN: Liz, do you agree these are legitimate questions? Barack Obama, Clinton suggesting Barack Obama saying one thing in public and another behind closed doors, but in both instances NAFTA and Iraq, based on sort of very unclear messages from aides, not from anybody who is a key member -- or not from Obama or his spokes people?
LIZ CHADDERDON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I do think this is legitimate. They're running for president of the United States. They aren't running for student body president. I mean, these are tough times, these are tough issues. I do think it is necessary that our presidential candidates both on the democratic and republican side answer those tough questions. The question though is has she gone too negative. I have to agree with Amy, I don't think she's gone too negative. I actually think she had nowhere to go but for the kitchen sink approach and it worked.
It worked big in Ohio and Texas. Because at the end of the day, voters are consumers and they are comparison shopping. And it was necessary for her to give them some, you know, alternative information on Barack Obama, and they listened. Was it fair? You know, that's a whole different question. But did it work? Yes. And Hillary Clinton wants to be president of the United States and she's got to clear Barack Obama out of the way first before she moves on to John McCain. So, this is the right tactic for her to take.
YELLIN: Go ahead.
HOLMES: And I would say for both candidates, that the presidency is worth fighting for. So I'm not saying get it nasty and in the mud, but what if Barack Obama's real vulnerability all along is his unwillingness to really go tough on Hillary, to point out those distinctions between their policies, to really look closely at her resume, to raise those questions about her tax returns, those White House documents that she's not releasing. You know what? As Liz said, this is the president of the United States, not dog catcher.
YELLIN: Well, let's listen to some sound. Because one of the kitchen sink strategies, components, is the suggestion that Clinton and Obama could form a joint dream ticket. Barack Obama is rejecting that outright. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: He would win the urban areas and upscale voters and she wins the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president. If you put those two things together, you'd have an almost unstoppable force.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's premature. You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate. I'm running for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: All right. So Amy, Barack Obama, I should make clear, is saying he will not be the vice presidential candidate on a Clinton- Obama ticket. Is this a winning message from the Clinton campaign?
HOLMES: Well, Bill Clinton, let's hand it to him, he is so shameless that he is not even looking at the results in this primary. Barack Obama won up and down the demographic scale in Virginia, Wisconsin. Let's look at what just happened in Wyoming yesterday. That is, you know, pure speculation, but it's an overwhelmingly Caucasian state. You've got ranchers, you've got those sort of salt of the earth types of voters and Barack Obama won those voters. So, Bill Clinton I think is setting up a false dichotomy that again, and it kind of goes back to that January strategy when Bill Clinton was comparing him to Jesse Jackson. He gets those urban areas. We know what that is code for. This is really to help Hillary Clinton so that voters don't have to decide between their head and their heart which seems to be sort of the big dichotomy in this primary.
YELLIN: Liz, Bill Bradley, who is a delegate -- or supporter, I should say, of Barack Obama, was quoted in a British newspaper today saying that "the Clintons -- the Clintons -- she's going to lose a whole generation of people who got involved in politics believing it could be something different by her current strategy. He says the Clintons do not do long-term planning. Their tacticians, right now their focus is Obama and not McCain. He is suggesting that she is on the verge of tearing apart the democratic party by her attacks on Obama. Do you think she's really at that point yet?
CHADDERDON: I have to say I actually had a lot of respect for former Senator Bill Bradley but I think that's a little overly dramatic. I don't think what she's doing is tearing apart the party. I don't think if she is the nominee that it means that all of the young voters and the new voters who have come out and who gone more for Obama than for Hillary, but I don't think it means they won't come out in November and vote for Hillary if she's the nominee. However, I do think she has to be a little more careful about how striking she is. His message of hope is resonating. And for her to just shoot it down and watch it blow and up die, I think would be a huge mistake for her in the long-term. I agree with you right now, we're in a kind of a short-term strategy. Let's just win this thing and deal with John McCain in November, but we do sort of to be looking a little beyond that.
I will also say just quickly about the VP thing, I find it fascinating that no one is talking about her becoming his VP. Why is it that it's only Barack Obama becoming Hillary Clinton's VP? I think we should be having the conversation going both ways at this point.
YELLIN: Amy, picking up on some of this discussion of you're saying he's not running for dog catcher, Barack Obama has to show that he's tough. How does he do that without getting drawn into a really negative campaign and sort of sinking into the quicksand of going so negative that he's no longer promoting a message of hope?
HOLMES: Well, you know, it is one of those things of having to walk and chew gum at the same time. And we saw with Hillary Clinton leading into last week's primaries, Ohio and Texas, that she did both. She played both the bully and the victim. She both positioned herself -- excuse me -- personalizing herself, with going on "Saturday Night Live," showing the public, you know, who she was. She has a sense of humor. She is a good sport and at the same time during that kitchen sink at Barack Obama, he's going to have to find sort of a similar strategy where he both, you know, is that candidate of hope that he's been talking about consistently throughout his campaign, but it also willing to draw tough and accurate distinctions between himself and Hillary Clinton, you know, goading the press to raise questions about the things that she takes credit for in the Clinton administration.
Pointing out that she is cherry-picking those things that succeeded, and then trying to distance herself from the things that didn't. And something that he cannot raise -- and I would like to see the media raise it - as I think the crisis that we're most familiar with Hillary handling was not a foreign policy crisis. It was right there in the White House and she was very much a part of that. Unfortunately -- well, from my perspective, unfortunately the Barack Obama can't bring that up without really alienating democratic voters but he needs to find that fine line.
YELLIN: I guess that's a preview of the general election you just gave us. A little snapshot at Amy. I wish we could continue this discussion. There is so much more to talk about, including that "Saturday Night Live" sketch last night which took a knock on Senator Clinton's 3:00 a.m. phone call. Maybe that will come out later in "Ballot Bowl," but for now, I have to thank Amy Holmes, republican strategist, and Liz Chadderdon, democratic strategist, for coming in and having this chat.
HOLMES: Thank you.
YELLIN: Thanks, guys.
Stay tuned. We will have more "Ballot Bowl" after the break with a look at an interesting phenomenon -- all those people who keep fainting at all these rallies. What's going on? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN "Ballot Bowl '08." I'm Dan Lothian in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as we wind down this hour of "Ballot Bowl." The lighter side of politics. You know, these speeches that the candidates make, it really takes a toll on them, the large audiences and they stand up there for extended periods of time. Takes a toll on the candidates, but it also takes a toll on their supporters. Take a look in this report from Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is there a doctor in the race?
OBAMA: There's somebody who fainted.
CLINTON: Did somebody faint?
OBAMA: It looks like we have somebody who may have fainted.
CLINTON: We need a doctor right here.
OBAMA: That's OK. This happens all the time.
MOOS: It happens so often, a conspiracy theorist speculated the fainters were fake, planted by the Obama campaign to make it seem like his supporters were swooning. But, hey, Hillary and Bill's fans swoon, too. It's become so common the candidates are starting to sound like doctors.
OBAMA: They probably just need some water, and then some juice. Get a little -- little blood sugar.
MOOS: Good call, say medical experts. So how do candidates compare in terms of bedside manner? We decided to award stethoscopes on a 0 to 5 scale. For instance, the first thing the candidates always do is reach for water.
CLINTON: Here comes a little bit of water.
OBAMA: Got some water?
CLINTON: Sir, Mr. Secret Service man, would you hand that water?
MOOS: We award four stethoscopes.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What you probably really need to do is get them fluids. The reason they fainted, they simply don't have enough fluids in their body.
CLINTON: Can somebody take one of those posters and simply fan? OK, good.
MOOS: More good advice, more stethoscopes. And guess which politician tends to physically come to the rescue? For actually picking up the student. We award Governor Schwarzenegger five stethoscopes. Just listen to Dr. Arnold's subsequent advice.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Loosen up your knees. Don't stand with stiff knees. OK. That's how you faint.
GUPTA: Yes. Governor Schwarzenegger has a good point there. You wanted to make sure that you're getting some of the blood flow from the legs back into the torso.
MOOS: And watch this 12-year-old's eyes roll back as he keels over. Again, Arnold to the rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure that deep down, one side of me was thinking, cool! The governor's helping me up. And I fainted. Wait a minute. I fainted in front of the governor. Oh, no.
MOOS: How about fainting behind Bill Clinton?
BILL CLINTON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: And by a proven cost savings in the health system that everybody agrees was there. It will work. And it is very important.
MOOS: That's Chelsea in the background winning five stethoscopes for coming to her aid. Maybe all the fainting is a hint.
OBAMA: That's a sign of I might be speaking too long.
reporter: Politics, not the faint of heart. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Jessica, leave it to Jeanne to really find a way to turn fainting into a story on the campaign trail.
YELLIN: It's so great. I've been to so many of these rallies where it happens. What you don't realize is many of these people have been waiting in line for four hours to get in, then they wait another two hours. They've invested eight hours by the time the candidate gets there. They're exhausted and they do, they drop like flies. But Jeanne... LOTHIAN: Sometimes not a lot of cool air in there. So, it makes it very easy to faint.
YELLIN: OK. I think we've got to wrap it up for this hour but we are going to have more "Ballot Bowl" coming up at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and CNN NEWSROOM is after this. For Dan Lothian and myself, thank you, and stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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