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Ballot Bowl 2008

More Campaign Coverage

Aired March 30, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But now to kick off this third and final hour of BALLOT BOWL on this Sunday, I'll turn it back to my colleague Dana Bash who is going to be looking at the candidates on what we here at CNN refer to as issue number one, the economy.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. You know, as we've been listening to the candidates, particularly the Democratic candidates, and I always feel this way because I cover the Republicans. But listening to the Democratic candidates, you're reminded how on issues, on the big policy issues like the economy, there isn't that much of a difference between them.

And how different it is going to be for those of us who cover politics, and much more importantly for the voters, when we really get to the heart and soul of the fall campaign between whomever wins the Democratic race and John McCain, because there's such huge philosophical differences between them, on a host of issues, even and especially on the economy.

We really heard that this past week, as all three of these candidates went out on the campaign trail and tried to give their sense and give their view and vision for what they would and wouldn't do to try to fix the economy, in particular, when it comes to John McCain on the housing crisis.

He talks about the fact that he does not believe it's the government's role to get involved in a very aggressive way, to try to help what he called irresponsible lenders and irresponsible homeowners. Very, very different what from what we heard for example, from Hillary Clinton who talked about the need for the government to step in and propose a big amount of money in order to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The past decade witnessed the largest increase in homeownership in the past 50 years. Homeownership is part of the American dream as we all know. And we want as many Americans as possible to be able to afford their own home.

But in the process of a huge and largely positive up turn in home construction and ownership, housing bubble was created. A bubble occurs and prices are driven up too quickly, speculators move into markets, and these players begin to suspend the normal rules of risk and assume the prices can only move up, but never down.

My friends, let's start with some straight talk. I will not play election year politics with the housing crisis. I will evaluate everything, in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now.

I've always been committed to the principle that it's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers. Government assistance to the banking system should be based on solely preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was John McCain speaking last week in Santa Ana, California, speaking there you heard about the fact that he really only believed that the government should step in when it means saving big financial systems if they were about to crumble, that that would be the only reason why the government should step in. For example, he said he does approve of the government stepping in to try to help Bear Stearns, the big bank in New York, and that of course happened last week.

And Jim, it's very interesting, the fallout from that speech, the Democrats really jumped and they were gleeful, I'm sure you know, about the fact that they believe that John McCain gave this big speech on the economy specifically on the housing crisis, and didn't give a very many if any details on how he would fix it.

The McCain campaign they say, you know, that's because he is a Republican, he believes in limited government. But you heard the Democrats and I'm sure we'll hear from them right now. They said you know what, that's not the way it should be. They believe that there is a role for government. It really does show the divide.

ACOSTA: That's right, Dana. The Democrats were given the opportunity this week to toss aside their well worn refrain that John McCain would stay in Iraq for 100 years and they jumped right on this economic issue when they heard John McCain take what is essentially a hands-off approach to dealing with the foreclosure crisis. You heard him there say, he's not going to play politics with this mortgage meltdown in this country and that is going to look at the facts as he sees them once he takes the Oval Office.

But the Democrats have a far different approach. They want to see a much more activist role on part of the federal government in dealing with this foreclosure crisis. They want to see and they criticized the Bush administration, they say, for not doing this but they like to see more assistance to homeowners who are struggling with these very high interest rate mortgages -- these mortgages that are exploding right under the feet of homeowners across this country.

And Barack Obama was in Pennsylvania earlier today, he was at University Park, Pennsylvania at Penn State, talking about this very issue. And this is in a state that is dealing with a very bleak economic picture. It's lost about 1/5 of its manufacturing jobs over the last seven or eight years, high gas prices, and foreclosures are hitting the state just like other states. And so, Barack Obama jumped right in on the economy, and talked about the approach he would take should he become the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This past week, Wall Street was shaken up, teetering on the brink of nobody's sure or what. But even before Wall Street got the news, all across Main Street, all across America, people understood that they're going through a tough economic time.

People are working harder and harder just to get by. They never paid more for college, never paid more for health care, never paid more for gas at the pump. It's harder to save, it's harder to retire.

Yet, 47 million people without health insurance. And those who have health insurance have seen their co-payments and deductibles, and their premiums going up. They can barely afford to go to a doctor.

All across America despite the slogan, we have millions of children who are being left behind. Unable to compete in an international economy because their schools are underfunded and their teachers are underpaid and the curriculums are under-inspired.

In such circumstances we can't afford to wait. We can't wait to fix our schools. We cannot wait to fix our health care system. We cannot wait to end global warming. We cannot wait to bring back good jobs and good wages to Pennsylvania. We can't wait to bring this war in Iraq to a close. We cannot wait, and that's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

When I announced, I realized that the size of our challenges had outstripped the capacity of a broken and divided politics to solve. And I was certain that the American people wanted something different. They were tired of the politics of tearing each other down. They wanted the politics of lifting the country up.

They were tired of spin, and P.R., and double-talk. They wanted straight talk and truth and honesty from their elected officials. And most of all, I believe in the American people's capacity to change. You know, some of you know I now live in Chicago but I'm not originally from Chicago. I moved to Chicago when I wasn't much older than most of the students here today.

I moved there because I had been inspired by the civil rights movement and I loved the idea of working at a grassroots level to bring about change. And so, there were a group of churches out in the far south side of Chicago, in the shadow of steel mills that had closed down. And these churches decided they wanted to figure out how can we help those in need, how can we help those who have been laid off.

And for 3 1/2 years I worked with these churches, as a community organizer. And we set up job training programs for the unemployed and we set up after-school programs for youth and tried to bring economic development to communities that had fallen on hard times. And it was hard work. I got paid $12,000 per year along with car expenses. And sometimes it was hard making progress. And you didn't see change happening in the neighborhoods. But it was the best education I ever had because it taught me that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they work together. It taught me that change doesn't happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there is the senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, talking about issue number one: the economy here in the Keystone State. Barack Obama by the way, also appearing in a new campaign spot playing in the state of Pennsylvania, talking about high gas prices where you see him standing at a gas station talking about that very important economic issue to voters here in Pennsylvania.

We want to switch gears to Hillary Clinton because she also is talking about the foreclosure crisis. It's a crisis that is not only hitting the state of Pennsylvania, it's also hitting the state of Indiana. Hillary Clinton indicating she plans to stay in this race for the presidency well past Pennsylvania as she was campaigning in the horseshoe (ph) state.

And as she was explaining to a crowd yesterday in New Albany, Indiana, which is just across the river from Kentucky, she has a far different plan for the economy and for the mortgage meltdown in the United States versus what is being presented by the Bush administration and the Republicans.

So, here is Hillary Clinton on the foreclosure crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the housing market has fallen in value, and a lot of it is it due to the failure of our government to deal with the subprime mortgage crisis and it's continuing refusal to really step in and vigorously try to prevent more homes from slipping into foreclosure. Because what happens, as we've now seen is that, when one family can't keep their mortgage payments up, they may get foreclosed on, but that affects the whole neighborhood.

I mean, you have a vacant home that decreases home values, that undermines confidence, people start getting a little shaky. Twenty- six thousands homes in Indiana alone went into foreclosure last year. And they're looking at around the country about 2.2 million more this year.

And I don't think we can get our way out of the economic slowdown without addressing the home foreclosure crisis. You know, maybe we can if we're willing to sort of muddle through for four or five years but I sure don't think that's a smart strategy because the economy is moving too quickly and we're in a competitive global economy. So, we've got to figure out how to get the housing market going again.

And I believe that we would be better served by trying to put a moratorium on home foreclosures, working with the lenders and the homeowners so they can stay in their homes, and I've been proposing this for quite some time, obviously we have to crack down on the unscrupulous lenders who kind of have gotten people into a lot of these problems to start with.

And I think we have to put some money into supporting the home market again. You know, the Federal Reserve Bank found $30 billion to bail out one investment bank, Bear Stearns. And yet, they're not putting money into trying to keep people in their homes and keep your business going so that people feel like they can buy again. So, I think that we've got to do much more to try to fix the home market crisis and that means we've got to deal with foreclosures.

You also really brought up the subject that I think is increasingly critical, and that's the cost of energy. The cost of energy of all kinds has gone up. And utility bills plus gas prices have exploded. And is your rule cooperative on coal-based power?

And of course, we get about 52 percent of our energy, our electricity from coal. And we have a reserve of coal but we've got to figure out how to clean up the coal. And it's going to be difficult to do that without having some kind of government backup because then, it will be too expensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, there you have Hillary Clinton pinpointing there where this issue of the foreclosure crisis will turn in the upcoming general election, talking about how she feels this federal government should be aiding homeowners to make sure that they are not foreclosed on, saying right there, she would like to see aid to homeowners struggling to pay those mortgages in this economy. So, Hillary Clinton there in New Albany, Indiana.

Coming up after the break here on BALLOT BOWL on CNN, we will go back to talking about the Hillary Clinton campaign and a recent controversy, a controversy from last week, ducking for cover in Bosnia or on the subject of Bosnia.

That's coming up after break.

This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to this Sunday edition of BALLOT BOWL 08. I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi where John McCain as we speak is attending an air show at the Meridian air station, this a day ahead of the speech that he will give to kick off a week of what his campaign hopes will be a series of speeches and events to re-introduce him to the American public, specifically trying to tout his experience on the military front and his experience in terms of national security.

Meridian is a place he spent several years in his youth in the '60s as a pilot and really trying to get his pilot experience up to snuff before he went off to Vietnam. And that is the kind of storyline that we're going to hear from the McCain campaign this week, again, as he tries to make the case that he is steeped in the best experience to be commander in chief.

Experience is a word that we have heard bandied about over the past many, many months, on both sides of the aisle, the Republican and the Democratic side. Of course, it has been a big issue on the Democratic side, a couple months ago or last month I should say with Hillary Clinton's 3:00 a.m. phone call, saying that she, not Barack Obama, should be the one to get that phone call in the middle of the night.

But actually, Hillary Clinton ran into a little bit of trouble with another anecdote that she had told many times on the campaign trail, tried to tout her experience on the world stage, talking about an incident in Tuzla when during the Bosnia crisis, she as first lady landed in 1996, she said many times to sniper fire.

Well, it turns out because of some reports from other people who were traveling with her, including the comedian Sinbad, that it wasn't as dire as she perhaps led on during those speeches and recollections of that particular trip.

So, this past week, Hillary Clinton had a press conference and a mea culpa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I made a mistake in describing it. I have said many times I have talked about this many times, that we were, you know, very much told by the Secret Service and the military that we were going into a war zone and that we had to be conscious of that. I was the first first lady taken into a war zone since Eleanor Roosevelt.

And, you know, I think that the military and the Secret Service did a terrific job. But we certainly did take precautions, there is no doubt about that and I remember that very clearly but I did make a mistake in talking about it, you know, the last time and recently.

But look, this is really about what policy experience we have. And who's ready to be commander in chief. And I'm happy to put my experience up against Senator Obama's any day.

I made a mistake and you know, I had a different memory and my -- you know, my staff and others have, you know, all kind of come together trying to sort out. So, I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I'm human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I'm human which for some people is a revelation. That is a perfect segue into the next bit of material that we're going to bring you from the campaign trail, and that is, from the person who is working tirelessly to make voters understand that Hillary Clinton is human. And that's her daughter, Chelsea Clinton.

She has been really working hard talking to voters, particularly young voters, to try to add another dimension to the story of Hillary Clinton, that of a mother, that of somebody who, from her perspective, obviously, is a caring and nurturing person but also somebody in terms of policy and effective (ph) politics, who could do the best job as commander in chief. And that is what Chelsea Clinton as a surrogate talks about.

Yesterday, she was speaking in Durham, North Carolina though and she got a question from a voter. In fact, she's gotten several questions lately that are really interesting. And this particular question was, whether or not she as the daughter of the first woman with a real chance of being president, sees any sexism in the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA CLINTON, SEN. HILLARY CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: I didn't really get, you know, how much sexism there still was in our country until I was at a rally with my mom in New Hampshire, and then someone came up to me and said, you know, I just can't see a woman being commander in chief. A woman or another woman who came up and said to me, she's just a little too smart. You know, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Or, at a rally I wasn't at in New Hampshire where a couple of young men stood up and said with all seriousness, iron my shirt. Or that some people think it's funny that there is a nutcracker doll made out of my mother where it's not exactly in anything that I would think would be respectful posture.

So, I didn't get that. I just didn't. I've been so blessed in my life to have a mother who has supported me, a father who has supported me, uncles who have supported me.

You know, my grandfather who was born to coal mine workers and was going to have to work in the lace factory until World War II came along and gave him an opportunity to serve our country, and then through the G.I. Bill, he was able to borrow money to start a small business, borrow money to help buy a home and put his family into the middle class.

He always supported my mother. You know, he always supported me when I was younger. All of my friends are either now married to men who support them, fathers who supported them, my boyfriend, who's sitting in the back, who wouldn't want to be acknowledged has always supported me.

I didn't realize that that wasn't expected yet universally (ph) in our country. And I have been so profoundly more grateful than I have ever been over the last few months for my parents because of that. And, you know, I'm standing here talking to all of you today because I really believe in my mom. My mom never asked me to do this. My father never asked me to do this.

You know, I took my vacation days around Iowa and New Hampshire because I wanted to be with my parents. It's sort of what I've always done. I always sort of -- be with my parents on the weekends or maybe in the summer or when my father was running or when my mother running for Senate.

And then, I just couldn't imagine going back to work and not trying to talk to as many people as I could about why I do so passionately believe in my mom. Why she not only is my role model but why she is the person that I hope to be my president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: A fascinating moment from Chelsea Clinton, one of the reasons why we like to bring you large portions of the candidates and their surrogates from the campaign trail so you can really listen when they get interesting and perhaps off-beat questions like she got yesterday in North Carolina, the way that they answer it and the answer in their entirety.

And certainly, that answer was quite fascinating, explaining why she as the daughter of the first woman to really have a real shot at becoming the president, that (ph) really tells you that there is sexism from her point of view with regard to her mother and the race based on things that she says she has heard on the campaign trail from some voters. So, an interesting moment from Chelsea Clinton there.

And we're going to take a quick break and we're going to go back to the other side of the Democratic race and to Barack Obama, he's not just taking shots at Hillary Clinton. He is focusing more and more on the man he hopes would be a Republican opponent if he gets the Democratic nomination, John McCain.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL 08. I'm Jim Acosta in Philadelphia. And not all of the campaigning is happening here in Pennsylvania.

Barack Obama, for example, was in North Carolina earlier this week, so we have a BALLOT BOWL deep track for you. He was campaigning in North Carolina where he took some time away from campaigning against his chief rival here, his only rival left for the Democratic domination, Hillary Clinton. He took some time out to talk about Republican John McCain.

And we want to have some sound for you now on that. He was essentially accusing John McCain of putting forward an agenda that would essentially mean a third Bush term for the country. Here is Barack Obama in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I honor John McCain's service to our country but when he starts talking about staying in Iraq for 100 years, then, that tells me all he wants to do is to continue on the George Bush failed policies of the past. And we don't need more Bush. We don't need a third Bush term.

And that's what John McCain is promising. He's promising a continuation of Bush foreign policies, and he's promising a continuation of Bush domestic economic policies. Now, I have to say John McCain has admitted that he doesn't understand the economy as well as he should.

And yesterday, he proved it in a speech he gave on the housing crisis. Understand, our economy is grinding to a halt. I mean, our financial system is locked down, millions of people are at risk of losing their homes. If people foreclose in your neighborhood, that reduces your home values.

People who had taken out home equity loans, they can't do it any more. That means some of that that is going on credit cards. People are stopping - they're putting off purchases that they were going to make. And that means the businesses then have less -- fewer customers.

And this could be a big, big problem. It's already a big problem for those who have "for sale" signs in their front yard. It's already a problem for those who've seen their homes foreclosed on.

But according to John McCain, he said that the best way for us to address the fact that millions of Americans are losing their homes is to just sit back and watch it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: So that was Barack Obama criticizing John McCain, accusing him of taking too much after hands off approach when it comes to the foreclosure crisis in this country. We'll have much more coming up.

Coming up after a break here on "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN, we'll get to other news including the latest on that plane crash in London. That's coming up after a break.

This is "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Katrina nearly leveled the New Orleans tourism industry. Now the Big Easy is working hard to get the tourists back again.

(on camera): They are trying to elicit NBA game, looking at Mardi Gras as an opportunity to get more people in. Everything they can do that will make people realize that New Orleans is back.

(voice-over): And the city wants to keep the people coming with a little musical sound track this spring.

It will be all that jazz and more beginning April 25th when Jazz Fest comes to town. Running a full seven days, the first time since Katrina. The city is expecting a big turnout.

(on camera): The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest as people in the know call it, is going to be a really great time for people to see the fantastic shops, the amazing restaurants, and really see that New Orleans has put its mind and spirit into making it a fantastic destination it once was.

(voice-over): And hopefully visitors will fall in love with New Orleans once again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. We'll get back to the "BALLOT BOWL" after a look at the headlines.

Scotland Yard says all five people on a plane were killed when it crashed into a neighborhood near London. Several homes were hit, actually. There are no reports of anyone on the ground, however, being seriously injured.

A call for calm from a powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq. Muqtada al Sadr told his followers to stop fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces at least for now.

Reporting from the capital, CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With the first indication is that this is a positive step by Muqtada al Sadr. The Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has said it's a step in the right direction. But Muqtada al Sadr's call for his fighters to put down their weapons appears to have caveats built into it as well.

(voice-over): He called for an end to what he calls the illegal raids by the government. And he said that amnesty should be honored, that amnesty to release fighters, militia fighters that have been arrested by the government forces over the past six day, any that haven't been involved in killing people should be released. So does there does appear to be caveats.

(on camera): And even as Muqtada al Sadr was announcing that his fighters should put down weapons fighting was continuing in Basra. His militias control several neighborhoods in that city still. The government forces appear to have run into an impasse over the -- now after six days of fighting.

(voice-over): There are areas in the city of Basra, areas in the Shia suburb of Baghdad Sadr city that the government doesn't control and there does seem to be this -- this cease-fire does seem to be a good political option for both sides to step back from the brink what if could be a very, very costly battle for them.

This is a new development here in the fighting in Iraq, that the Shia parties are fighting among themselves for power. We haven't seen this before. What happens now really is too early to call. But this is an opportunity, the call to put down weapons, is an opportunity for the sides to step back from the brink.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A look at the work week forecast. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the CNN Weather Center.

Hello, Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Fredricka.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MAGINNIS: Fredricka, it looks like winter wants to hang on just a little bit longer.

WHITFIELD: All right. And it will. Thanks so much, Karen.

Well, something to look forward to. Consider the 2008 Olympic hoopla officially under way. Greece handed the Olympic flame over to China at a ceremony in Athens. Now it's headed to Beijing where it will begin an 85,000-mile relay through 20 countries. Several people were arrested at the ceremony after they protested China's crackdown on Tibet.

The Cambodian journalist whose life inspired the movie "The Killing Fields" has died. Dith Pran was working when the Khmer Rouge seized control of the country back in 1975. Nearly two million people died at the hands of the regime. Dith escaped from Cambodia in 1979 and later work for the "New York Times." He passed away this morning in a New Jersey hospital where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. Dith Pran was 65.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More "BALLOT BOWL '08 after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash in Meridian, Mississippi where John McCain is here right now. He's not officially on the campaign trail. What he is doing is attending an air show. He's attending Wings Over Meridian, an air show with the Blue Angels. That is a chance for him to go back to his old stomping grounds at McCain Air Field. That's right. It's named for John McCain's grandfather who was a four-star admiral.

He is here for a walk down memory lane. But much more importantly, from the campaign's point of view, the kickoff off a biography tour of sorts starting tomorrow here, where he will talk about his own time as a flight instructor here in Meridian, at the air station there, right before he went to Vietnam. It is a chance, the McCain campaign hopes, to reintroduce him to the voters and tout some parts of his biography some may not know, whether it's his history of his family in the military, whether it's his own experience in the military, or his own experience in other parts of his life around the country. He's going to take this tour around the country to talk about that. Again, with any campaign -- any campaign -- no matter the candidate is, the goal is not just to talk about policy, not just politics, but to get the voters to connect on a personal, on a gut level with the candidate. That is very much what the McCain campaign is trying to do with this week of events that starts tomorrow.

Meanwhile, while he's enjoying the air show, we want to bring you back to a moment that perhaps not long ago nobody would have imagined -- would have believed what they saw. That is a moment where John McCain was actually out on the campaign trail with his old rival, with Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race almost two months ago. They did travel this week in the mountain West, to Salt Lake City and Denver. Then they appeared before the press corps and McCain got a boost from Romney, frankly, in a big way because he had been trying to argue all along that he not only is a conservative, arguing that to conservatives, but who didn't believe it, but that he is something who can unite the party. What Romney did is at the press conference is try to show that he can.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It goes without saying that we had a very hard fought contest, but I believe and I know that it was respectful one, and one that I believe showed the American people the quality and caliber of a very fine man. And I'm proud to have his support. I'm proud to have his friendship.

We have united our party. We are now going to have to re- energize our party and energize them for a very tough race this November.

So I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to spend time with Governor Romney. And I might say that shortly after Governor Romney suspended his campaign, he was kind enough to receive me in Boston. He was very gracious and incredibly generous in his expression of support and he has been so ever since.

So I'd like to ask Governor Romney to say a few words and then he and I will be glad to answer any questions.

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Senator. It's an honor to be introduced by Senator McCain and also to be here with you and to see so many friends as I've come back to Colorado today, people who helped me during my campaign and helped me over the last several years and actually going back to the Olympics. The people of Colorado were helpful to our Olympic games in Salt Lake City. And it's an honor to be back in Colorado and to see so many friends and have your kindnesses here.

This is an important time for our country. And while Barack Obama and Senator Clinton are battling it out among themselves, there are bigger issues that are before the nation. And those issues relate to what's going to happen with regard to our economy, how are families going to make ends meet, what's going to happen with these radical violent jihadists trying to attack us. Major challenges face our nation. It's for that reason it's important for us to elect an individual who has been tested and proven to be up to the task, an individual who time and again has been able to understand not just the short-term, the today, but rather the implications of actions on tomorrow.

This is a man who understands why it's important for us to be successful in Afghanistan and Iraq, a man who understands how important our economy is to fuel a better future for our children. An individual, who does not shrink from cutting back on wasteful spending, does not shrink from tough issues like entitlement reform. That's why it's critical for us not to talk about politics, as we're watching the Democrats do, and process, but instead to be focusing on the direction of this great land.

I am proud to be able to support Senator McCain who this country needs as its next president. And it's important, I think, for all of us who care about the future of America, not to sit back and see how this election turns out but instead to become actively involved. To call their friends and neighbors to make contributions, whether it's 1 or 200 or $1,000, to make contributions to the Senator's campaign to make sure that this man, who cares for America, understands it's potential, is the next president of the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: That's former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney trying to get out the vote for his former rival John McCain, making sure that he does want people to get out there. That is after he helped raise some very much need campaign cash for McCain last week.

I'm in Meridian, Mississippi. And I want to bring in my colleague Jim Acosta with the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia.

And, Jim, right behind me is a place where Senator McCain is going to give his speech tomorrow. Meridian, Mississippi, I know you're dying to know. First one is that this...

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BASH: OK, here you go. The first city in the state of Mississippi to go green. The mayor here announced not long ago they were going to do whatever it takes to make this a green city. A little trivia in advance of Earth Day.

Here's something you'll be a lot more interested in maybe, you personally, Jim. Maybe a little jealous of. We found out that one of the -- the most well known hometown girl from Meridian, Mississippi, is actress Celia Ward, she is going to host a fund-raiser for John McCain tonight at her home. She's going to come home and, again, raise some money for John McCain. But I don't think that's going to be coverable for those in the press so you're not missing out too much.

ACOSTA: Not missing much. Missing an encounter with Celia Ward. That's something I'm quite bummed about. If I had my drothers, I'd race off to the airport now. But I want to ask you, since you're in Mississippi, do you think John McCain -- and perhaps you heard this -- do you think he's going to hear about Hurricane Katrina? He is, after all, you know, not perhaps on the Gulf Coast but in Mississippi, which was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. That was a difficult hour for the Bush administration. Do you think that question will come up? If so, how do you think he'll answer it?

BASH: That's a great question. To be honest with you, I don't think that Senator McCain is going to be around voters enough where he's going to be taking questions where he might even have the opportunity to get that question. I might be wrong. Also, doing some local interviews so it might come up then.

But clearly, he is somebody who has been critical, much like the Democrats have, of the way that the administration responded or didn't respond, frankly, to what happened in Hurricane Katrina. So, that would be very interesting to hear him talk about that, as he did during the primary season.

I think tomorrow we're going to hear maybe not him find his inner Belushi in terms of the toga party were talking about a couple of hours ago that he engaged in, in the '60s, when he was stationed here as a pilot right before he went to Vietnam. But he is going to be talking about himself, about his biography, the reason why they are bringing him down to start off what they call his service tour tomorrow.

ACOSTA: John McCain in a toga. I don't know if we want that on the 6:00 news.

(LAUGHER)

And speaking of rock 'n roll John Belushi behavior, coming up after the break here on "BALLOT BOWL on CNN, is there such a thing as a rock 'n roll vote? Which rock artists are supporting which candidates? Josh Levs will have the answers after a break. This is "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL." It's time to rock -- rack the votes here, excuse me. It's time to bring in Josh Levs who has a special segment for us on which rock 'n roll stars support which candidates.

Josh, I'm assuming you had to go into the CNN archives, to the bowels of the CNN archive system to dig out this information.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS ANALYST: You'll see a little bit of archival stuff along the way. How did you know? He knows my system. He's on to me, folks.

Hillary Clinton is now talking how excited she is to see the new Rolling Stones documentary. As far as I know, they have not endorsed her.

But here's a look at some music stars who have.

He's been an icon for decades. His classic "I'm Still Standing" could be Hillary Clinton's theme song and he'll likely sing it at his concert for her at Radio City Music Hall.

Add him to the list of Clinton-supporting music stars, like Madonna, Elvis Costello, and Barbra Streisand. She supports Clinton. So does her virtual doble ganger Timberland, the hip-hop producer who threw a fund-raiser for Clinton a year ago. She then faced criticism from people who consider some of his lyrics offensive.

Rolling Stone magazine's Will Dana told CNN Clinton may have the biggest names, but...

WILL DANA (ph), ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: Obama has a longer and much cooler list.

Will I Am is in Obama's corner along with John Legend. The Grateful Dead recently played their first show in four years for Obama.

Some Indy rock groups are behind him, like Arekate Fire that played at rallies for him in Ohio. Front man, Will Butler, had used his blog to slam Clinton after her New Hampshire victory.

MCCAIN: My friends...

LEVS: We looked for John McCain's friends in the major stars. So did Rolling Stone.

UNIDENTIFIED ROLLING STONE EMPLOYEE: We could only find one rocker, and that was D. Schneider.

LEVS: McCain has something the two Democrats don't -- the McCain girl. Real people attracting tons of viewers as they croon for their candidates. Now that's change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS: I love that new video. The Obama girl video, that was a model lip sync. It was supposed to be funny. These are the actual people who are getting on there. And even though they can't carry a tune, they are out there singing for the candidate. Loved the McCain girls.

Jim, there you go. We've got some archival stuff, we've got some fresh stuff just like you wanted, right?

ACOSTA: Josh, you rock. Thank you very much. We appreciate that.

That's all the time we have for "BALLOT BOWL." I'll bring back in my colleague Dana Bash now.

Dana, I'm signing off for Philadelphia. I understand you have a toga party to get to so I'll let you say good-bye.

BASH: That was back in the '60s. It's totally different here now.

ACOSTA: Did I get that wrong? That was back in the '60s. Sorry.

BASH: We'll have a lot more "BALLOT BOWL" next weekend. That's it for this edition. Stay tuned for "Newsroom." That's coming up right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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