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Preview of the Democratic Convention; More Discussion of Joe Biden
Aired August 23, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And welcome to the Democratic National Convention. We're at the Pepsi Center in Denver. They're putting the finishing touches on what's going to be an intense four days here in Denver, Colorado, as we get ready for the nomination, the formal nomination of Barack as the Democratic presidential nominee. And now Joe Biden as the vice presidential nominee. Right now, one hour from now, both of these candidates are scheduled to appear for the first time together as the presidential and vice presidential candidates in Springfield, Illinois.
We'll be hearing from both of them. The announcement coming over the past 12 hours or so. Dramatic announcement, text messaging. Although you probably know by now, CNN broke the story first. Our John King managed to get that and he's here together with the best political team on television. Gloria Borger is here. Hilary Rosen is here. John, of course is, is here. We've got Leslie Sanchez, we've got reporters in Springfield, Candy Crowley and Jessica Yellin. We've got our analysts at the CNN election center in New York. This is going to be an intense several days. In fact, it's going to be a sprint to November 4th. The Democratic and Republican candidates will learn then who will be the next president of the United States. How much does Joe Biden, Gloria, help or hurt Barack Obama?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN ANALYST: Well, I think so far you would have to say that the reviews are that this was a very smart pick. That he had a choice. He had a choice between reinforcing his message of change or reassuring those voters who believe that he's a little too risky, didn't have enough experience and he went the reassure route. They believe inside the Obama campaign that this is really going to help Obama. And that it shows, not that change is bad, but that he has the self-confidence as a candidate to pick someone with 36 years of experience in the Senate to help guide him on foreign policy questions.
BLITZER: Some saying already, Hillary Rosen, sort of like when George W. Bush back in 2000 went to an older, more experienced individual namely Dick Cheney to try to reassure a lot of the folks that they would have the gravitas to get the job done.
HILARY ROSEN, HUFFINGTONPOST.COM: It's really important to think back to those days when he picked Cheney, rather than the Cheney experience over the last couple of years because of the public approval ratings because at the time people really praised George Bush for making that move saying that was a smart decision. The other thing I think this says is that Barack Obama wants to win, not just make a point. I think people are really excited about that. Democrats are going to be excited about that this week. He was strategic, he balanced his strengths out and that's going to matter a lot for Democrats.
BLITZER: There was some notion he would reinforce the whole concept of change. Change you can believe in by bringing an outsider, outside of Washington we're talking about, into the ticket as opposed to an insider, someone who's been in Washington, been in the Senate for more than 30 years. This is going to be a little sensitive issue for them.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will be, Wolf, but maybe in Barack Obama were coming to Denver 10 points ahead, he could have taken that risk on somebody like a Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. But Barack Obama, remember, he's in his first term in the United States Senate he comes here in a dead heat nationally, many Democrats are very worried about that so what the big questions? Voters don't him, he's pretty new. So they don't know enough about his judgment. That doesn't mean that they're critical of it. They just don't know enough about him.
So how does he make a big decision? That's the reassuring message they try to send with Joe Biden. The other question is, if you look at the polling on Iraq, the Americans want the war over, a clear majority. Yet who do you trust more? Put that question to them, John McCain beats Barack Obama. What does that tell you, Americans still have doubts and even most Democrats concede legitimate doubts because they don't know this guy very well is Barack Obama up to the job? He needs to address those weaknesses. How does he make big decisions? Does he have the experience to be commander in chief? In picking Joe Biden that's directly what they're going at. Saying, I get it, you have some questions about me, here's one decision, it's only one, Barack Obama has to carry the ball here, Joe Biden can only help, but here's one way of saying, look, I get it.
BLITZER: You know, Gloria, the whole challenge for both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, it will be underscored to a certain degree an hour from now when they're scheduled to give their big speeches in Springfield, Illinois. We're to be focusing very carefully on their message, the first time we'll be hearing from Joe Biden as a vice presidential candidate right now, but they have a huge challenge where we are. We're on the floor of this convention. We're. Only network that's going to be anchoring from the floor of the convention here in Denver. They have a huge challenge uniting this party and bringing those Hillary Clinton supports on board.
BORGER: Well, I think in fact that the Biden pick is the best pick to bring in those Hillary Clinton supporters. If Obama had gone with somebody like a Tim Kaine.
BLITZER: The governor of Virginia.
BORGER: The governor of have Virginia who had very little experience, few years ago was the mayor of Richmond. The Hillary Clinton supporters could have said, wait a minute, I've got the experience here, I've got the gravitas, why are they going with a Tim Kaine. Instead, they went with a peer of Hillary Clinton's, they went with a colleague that she respects, they went with somebody who stayed neutral after he came out of this presidential race, and I think from the point of the view of the Hillary Clinton supporters, Hillary would know better than I would, that this is a pick that they could think OK, this is a serious choice.
BLITZER: Take us into the mind of those ardent, passionate Hillary Clinton supporters. Hilary Rosen, you were one of them a few months ago, a few weeks ago, why are they still, at least some of them and in the polls we see perhaps as many as 30, 40, even 50 percent have not yet made that decision to commit to Barack Obama, why are they still resisting even though she says that they should support Barack Obama? And Bill Clinton says they should support Barack Obama?
ROSEN: I think probably two reasons. One they don't want to win badly enough yet. And the more that they see John McCain out there, the more integrate the policies that John McCain has in mind for the American people, the more they're going to come around. I think the second reason is that we shouldn't underestimate for a lot of women how emotional and significant this was. Not all women, but the women who felt that way, feel that way still. I think Hillary Clinton's body language is incredibly important. She's going to deliver that on Tuesday night. She will do everything she can to bring those folks together. But then the job is really Barack Obama's and Joe Biden's.
And I think these two guys can do it. Joe Biden, for instance, has a fantastic record on women's issues. He was a pioneer on crimes against women legislation, on pay equity legislation, this is really a candidate women can get behind.
BLITZER: And you're going to show us a moment, John, you've got your magic wall right behind you, you're going to show us where he might help, we're talking about Joe Biden, potentially where he might hurt. Stand by for that. The crowds are gathering right now in Springfield, Illinois.
They're getting ready to hear these two candidates. There see it, the state capitol, the old state capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, where these two candidates will be appearing jointly for the first time, we'll have extensive live coverage, you'll hear every word of both of what they're saying and we're going to go there live.
Stay with us. Much more of our coverage on this important day in the race for the White House. We're here at the Democratic National Convention. In Denver. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're back at the Pepsi Center, the home of the Democratic National Convention here in Denver, Colorado, but we're waiting for the action in Springfield, Illinois, within an hour, the two Democratic candidates, the presidential Barack Obama will be speaking for the first time and only time before they come here to Denver with his vice presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden was tapped only a few hours ago. We're here on the floor of the convention with the best political team on television, our own Gloria Borger is here, Hilary Rosen is here. John King, who will be going to the magic wall momentarily.
We've got reporters all over the place. We have our analysts at the election center in New York, including Ed Rollins and Amy Holmes and Carl Bernstein. Jessica Yellin, already in Springfield. You're getting the sense that the crowd there in Springfield, Jessica, correct me if I'm wrong, is turning out to be a lot bigger than earlier anticipated, is that right?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a lot bigger than they originally said they thought they were going to get. Right now, an official who runs this site says they estimate 15,000 to 20,000 people have turned out here. The crowd you see right behind me they say is about 5,000 but stretches back for three full city blocks. I've been wandering around talking to some people, many of them are from Springfield, but some came from as far away as two or three hours' drive, and they say they came out because they wanted to see history made or they were here when Barack Obama announced in 17 degree weather, and they said thye thought why not come out on a nice warm day. Of course, these are Obama supporters, so they were incredibly enthusiastic about Biden. Some describing him as an honest guy saying his tendency to make gaffes is a good sign because he's a real person.
Others saying they think it's a politically smart move because he'll help with blue collar voters. Others just like this experience. One thing I will tell you, wolf, fully half of the people I talked to who signed up for text messages, say they never got their text message, one woman says she stayed up all night almost continuously check her phone and it never came in. So a little bit of frustration, but the good news is she said she learned about it by watching CNN. Wolf?
BLITZER: If she was watching CNN, she learned about it about three hours or so before those text messages actually went out, which is good. That's fine. That's the way it's supposed to be.
Walk us through the program for a moment, very quickly, Jessica. Who speaks first, who speaks second? What's going to happen?
YELLIN: Both Biden and Obama will be here. They will be appearing with their wives. We understand that they are going touring the building and taking photographs inside with some of the people who run this facility. And then making their first sort of joint appearance where we can get a sense of the chemistry between the two of them, see what they're like and then we understand they're going their separate ways, Obama will hit the campaign trail where he'll be for the couple of days until he speaks at the convention. Biden will go home to get organized because he just found out he's going to be hitting the campaign trail hard, he's got a lot of dealing to do and then they'll meet up in Denver. Wolf?
BLITZER: And do we know yet which one of these men will speak first? Who will speak second? Do we know that?
YELLIN: I don't have that information. But I will get it to you as soon as I do. It's possible it's gone out to the folks who are arriving with Obama right now and that press corps is just getting here. So I will let you know as soon as I have it from them. BLITZER: All right. Well, we know right now because David Borman (ph) our producer just told us, our Washington bureau chief told us that Obama will be introducing Biden. So that's the answer right there. The miracle of modern television. John King has got a miracle with us here as well, you've got your magic board, sort of slimmed down version of it, but before you walk over there and show us how Biden might help or hurt this Democratic ticket, you were going to make a point.
KING: This is the one day every four years, this is the one day where the number two gets to speak last.
The number two usually does the introductions. This is the one day he gets to have his chance. This is a fascinating point, Wolf, the point we didn't make earlier, we found out this morning, Barack Obama told Joe Biden on Thursday. They're going to build a monument to this. United States senator kept a secret for going on 30 hours.
I'm not sure it's ever happened before.
BORGER: Joe Biden. Not just any United States senator. Joe Biden.
KING: Another interesting footnote is John McCain called his friend Joe Biden this morning. This is part of the fun of this choice. They're very good friends, they differ on at lot of things, I'm told it was a short, but a very humorous call. They both is a great sense of humor. In the McCain campaign they're essentially saying it's about the last nice thing he's going to say about Joe Biden for nine weeks.
BORGER: Joe Biden probably knows John McCain better than he knows Barack Obama. They've served in the Senate for a really long time.
BLITZER: Twenty five years they've been pals in the Senate. It's a small club. A hundred people in that Senate, they're all pretty chummy, at least they used to be.
BORGER: So he kind of knows where to jab McCain.
ROSEN: The person that benefits the most, of course, is Barack Obama, though.
BLITZER: Walk over there, John, and give us a flavor of what's happening right now. And what Biden might be able to contribute?
KING: Let's walk over and throw the notebook down here. This is our electoral map as we have it right now. I want to set the stakes by just showing it this way, the way CNN is talking about the polling and the states, other party intelligence we have this is how we say right now essentially. Barack Obama with the edge, about 221 electoral votes, leaning toward Barack Obama. We can't get that to work at the moment, 189 electoral votes heading in John McCain's way. So Obama is favored right now.
Wolf, I may are to ask you for time-out, the board is not firing up at the moment. Here we go, let's try to get it to work. She's not working right now. So we'll talk about something else for a moment here's the biggest issue in this race.
You say Joe Biden, how does he help? You could have had the Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, I'm going to keep playing with this. It's being fussy at the moment. This is exactly what we wanted to do. We look at the democratic nomination battle and where is Joe Biden from? He's a senator from Delaware but also born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There's Delaware for you. This is going to fight me today. I think it's best to warm it up a little bit. But he was born 65 years ago, where, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. That is the place of course where Barack Obama did so poorly. Communities like that, Scranton, Allentown, Bethlehem, carry that over into the hills of West Virginia, carry that into Southeast Ohio, white, blue collar lunch bucket Democrats is where Hillary Clinton frankly crushed Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries. They are hoping that Joe Biden's story can help sell in those communities.
Again we need to make clear presidential nominees win elections. Vice presidential candidates rarely make all that much of a difference in November. But if he can help a little bit with Barack Obama's biggest weakness, the Democrats will be happy with this pick. That is the challenge heading forward.
BLITZER: All right, John. Stand by, because we want to make sure we get all the latest information. We want to go to our analysts at the CNN Election Center as well. Much more of our coverage, we're waiting to hear from Senator Barack Obama and from Senator Joe Biden. They're getting ready in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of have already gathered on a beautiful day in Springfield to hear these two candidates. Barack Obama will speak first. He will introduce Joe Biden as his running mate. And then we'll move forward. We're getting ready for the Democratic Convention that formally opens here in Denver on Monday. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Looking at a live picture of a huge crowd that has gathered in Springfield, Illinois. They're waiting to hear from Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden. That's the new ticket, the Democratic presidential and vice presidential ticket. They're getting ready to speak there. This will be the first time the two candidates will be speaking jointly. It's also the only time they'll be speaking jointly before they both come here to Denver to participate in the Democratic National Convention.
We have analysts who are a assessing what's going on. They're all part of the best political team on television including Ed Rollins and Amy Holmes and Carl Bernstein. Ed, look at this from your perspective as an excellent Republican strategist who's worked on several campaigns, the selection of Joe Biden, what do you think?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I think it quiets the ripple effect, obviously if he wasn't going to go to Hillary, he had to pick someone else. And he's as good a choice as anybody. At the end of the day he's as liberal as Biden. He's the fourth most liberal member of the Senate and has a historic record. It's not like they've become a centrist party all of a sudden. I think from our side, we're more than happy to have him, he's a good speaker, he'll make a knew mistakes along the way I'm sure, but at the end of the day he'll get them to the convention and he's not going to bring any voters that Obama wouldn't get come November.
BLITZER: There's no doubt, Amy, that Joe Biden is an excellent speaker and an excellent debater who will do -- did very well in all the earlier Democratic primary debates although it didn't translate into many votes for him. But he can go one on one with Mitt Romney or any of the respective vice presidential candidates.
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He most certainly could. We saw in the debates he had great one liners. He can be self-deprecating. I think there's hope he can be like Lloyd Bentsen who famously told Dan Quayle that he knew John Kennedy and Dan Quayle was no John Kennedy. I think they're hoping Joe Biden can bring that same scrappy directness to the ticket. I think if that can run off on the Obama without the arrogance and flippancy we can sometimes see with Joe Biden that would help Barack Obama who tends to work in the abstract.
BLITZER: Carl, assuming it's not going to be Hillary Clinton, you're a biographer of Hillary Clinton, was this the best choice that Barack Obama was going to make?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Unless he was going to go way outside the box, perhaps and bring in anti-war general, I think it was. But you've got to look at the atmosphere and how he's really improved his position. A week ago we were talking about what trouble he was in. We're now looking at him, taking command, making monkeys out of those us in the media who have been following this around.
It's a terrific choice strategically. Ideally, you can talk about him being, Biden and him Obama being such liberals but the fact is they both reflect a kind of post partisanship ability, they're looking for independence, they're looking for working class votes.
And they're also looking to shut down and end the Clintonian psychodrama of this campaign. This is a big step toward doing it. I think we're going to see Hillary Clinton get up and enthusiastically support this ticket because she knows that the Clinton's legacy is partly going to be about how well she and her husband can back this ticket and appear to be magnanimous at this point. So I think Obama has started off terrifically. It's only a week, it's only five days, we're going into the convention but he's positioned himself much better than we were talking about a few days ago.
BLITZER: Let's bring in Roland Martin. He is joining us from Chicago right now. Roland, what's the most important thing? What are you going to be looking for and listening for when Barack Obama introduces Joe Biden today in Springfield?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I expect Obama to lay out strength of Joe Biden and then once joe biden gets up there, I expect him to say, I know my good friend John McCain very well, we served for quite some time but frankly he should not be president of the United States. Wolf, I've listened to a lot of the analysis of the last 48 hours and Joe Biden. A lot of people are talking about the short- term, what does it mean for Obama when it comes to November? You have to win before you can govern. But I think the Obama was looking at the short-term and the long-term. Joe Biden also gives the fact that he's 65 years old, that means that he's not going to be a vice president you're concerned about trying to run for the presidency later on. They have the same advantage -- if Obama bin wins, they have the same advantage that George W. Bush has, that is a vice president who is not focused on his running for the White House, but he can make decisions that are devoid of that and so I think Biden gives him that it's a solid pick for him. And also, I think with Joe Biden knowing John McCain so well, he can say who better to lay out an argument against John McCain than the guy who's known him for 25 years?
BLITZER: Leslie Sanchez, what do you think? Is this a brilliant selection by Senator Barack Obama?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I could tell you that for Republicans, I don't think could you have a better choice. I mean it's a very awkward relationship, you picked the one candidate who is most brutal towards your candidacy. I mean there's a political minefield of baggage and ashes on the attacks he lauded against Barack Obama, saying he had poor judgment, he was not ready to be commander in chief. And it clearly shows how desperate the Barack Obama campaign was that they knew they had to get this working class, union white voter, pretty much in the Midwest and the Northeast that is something, no doubt about it, Joe Biden can be very strong in aggressively pursuing. But I think we can run ads over the next 60 days just on what Joe Biden has said about Obama.
MARTIN: Wolf, what's going to be very interesting the way it shapes up, what if Senator McCain picks Mitt Romney, you're going to have the same thing going on.
The reality is here, there's no person Obama could have picked that the republican would not have been afraid of. They would go after anybody. Democrats are going to go after anybody as well. You pick up the vice president to shore up your areas. I think Senator McCain will do the exact same thing when he chooses his V.P. It will be based upon that as opposed to well, let me find somebody the opposite side may not be that concerned about. They're going to go after each one regardless of who they pick.
BLITZER: I think that's a fair point. Hold on, Leslie, it's a fair point that Roland makes that if fact John McCain were to pick Mitt Romney, the Democrats would have a field day with all those stuff statement statements, blistering statements that Mitt Romney leveled against John McCain, arguably a lot tougher than anything Joe Biden necessarily said about Barack Obama. I want everyone to think about that, think about what's happening a half an hour or so from now. We'll finally be hearing from these two candidates in Springfield, Illinois. We're going to go there live. We have reporters there, our analysts are standing by. We're here on the floor at the Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Much more of our coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: You're looking at live pictures. We're inside the Pepsi Center in Denver within, starting Monday, about 20,000 people will be filling this place. Right now, there's some scattered individuals including us. We're CNN and we're on the floor. We're anchoring our coverage from the floor of this convention. We want to be right in the middle of everything and make sure you feel as best as you can what we feel when the excitement begins.
We're going to be doing exactly the same thing next week at the Republican Convention in Minnesota as well. Our Bill Schneider has been going through a lot of the poll numbers. He's here in Denver with the Election Express just outside the Pepsi Center here in Denver right now. You're looking at the polls and you're looking at the decision by Senator Barack Obama to pick Joe Biden as his running mate. What are you concluding as a result of that, Bill?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Let's take a look at the polls. It will explain why Biden was a good choice. First of all, the race has gotten excruciatingly tight. Our latest CNN poll of polls shows Obama leading McCain by just two point s and it's been closing up for the last couple of weeks. Now, one reason it's been closing up, the agenda has been dominated for the last couple of weeks by foreign policy, the crisis in Russia, the looming threat from Russia and who do people say would do better in handling foreign policy? Well two-thirds say they're confident about McCain's ability to handle foreign policy, Obama, 55 percent, that's confident but not as much as McCain. Forty-four percent of voters say they have some doubts about Obama's ability to handle foreign policy. While that is precisely Joe Biden's strong suit. Here's another reason. Hillary Clinton supporters, a poll taken just last week, shows that almost half of Hillary Clinton supporters are not yet ready to support Barack Obama. Fifty two percent say they support Obama. Twenty one percent say they're going to vote right now for John McCain and 27 percent are still undecided about what it do.
I think the choice of Biden was partly motivated by his working class roots, his strong appeal in states like Pennsylvania where he has a lot of connections, a state that Hillary Clinton won over Obama decisively in the primaries and the belief is that Biden could help Obama in some of those Clinton constituencies that Obama really has to claim in order to win this election. Wolf?
BLITZER: Pennsylvania and Michigan and Ohio, those are critical states right next to one another. All right, Bill, thanks very much. Stand by, I want to go to Springfield right now. Our reporters are on the scene like all of us, we're anxious to hear already what Barack Obama has to say and what Joe Biden has to say, Candy Crowley is already there, Jessica Yellin is there.
Candy, it's an interesting phenomenon, this whole notion, all this attention on the vice presidential running mate. Historically, it really, I don't think it necessarily means a whole lot to voters between now and November, but we pay a lot of attention because what it says about the presidential candidate.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. It's what it says about the candidate's judgment, it is the first big decision once a candidate becomes the presumptive nominee. So what he got here if he gets nothing else out of the Biden selection, is two days of heavy media presence, much of it uncritical about the Biden choice because they know that these things have a rhythm to them.
What they wanted was big excitement, a big push as they went into Monday, the first day of that convention. Now there were obviously many reasons that they selected Joe Biden. Bill Schneider just went through that. But you're right, the last time, we were talking this over earlier with some of our pollsters, the last time we can see that a vice presidential selection made a difference was Lyndon Johnson and JFK where Lyndon Johnson was widely thought to have brought home Texas for JFK. So at the moment what we know is this is good for two days worth of head lines rolling into that convention but in the end, Wolf, people vote for the top of the ticket.
BLITZER: Good point, Candy. You flew to Springfield on Obama's plane from Chicago. We didn't experience that. So share some of that experience with our viewers.
CROWLEY: Well, I wish I could tell you that it was terribly exciting. And all of that but Barack Obama sits three cabins away from where the press sits. So we did see him get on the plane and we saw him get off the plane. His wife Michelle is with him. He has a number of aides here, but any talking that he's going to do today will be right here from this podium.
In fact, this is the only event of the day and the only time we're going to see Barack Obama and Joe Biden together before the convention and that night when they do come out together. So this is carefully choreographed to have this be the center of attention. And we didn't see Barack Obama. But I can vouch for the fact that he was on the plane and he got off the plane and he's here.
BLITZER: All right. As a good reporter you did your job, Candy. Thanks. I've been on a lot of those flights myself and I know exactly what the experience was. Stand by, Candy. Jessica, stand by as well. Our analysts here have been on the phone checking into, getting some advanced word on what we might be hearing from Joe Biden. Hillary Rosen, you've got an indication of what we might be hearing, one little nugget.
ROSEN: For instance, Leslie Sanchez said before that the Republicans are going to have a field day with this attack that Joe Biden had once made about Barack Obama and whether or not he was ready to be president. This is not something the Obama campaign is not prepared for. In fact, I'm told by sources inside the campaign they looked at the roll-out of several of these potential candidates and anticipated the attacks and strategized about how they would respond to them and Joe Biden actually fit the bill best on many of those. So what we're going to hear today, I'm told, is Joe Biden explaining why he said what he said about Barack Obama.
BLITZER: Will he now say the words "I believe that Barack Obama is ready to be commander in chief"? ROSEN: He's going to have to say that, but he's also going to say he's seen him operate over the last year, he's seen him evolve and work with world leaders and be on the world stage and he has the confidence in him now that he wasn't sure he had before.
BLITZER: You've been on the phone, too, Gloria, what are you hearing?
BORGER: I'm getting this from those who were close to Joe Biden, who are helping him write his speech for today. I was told that he is going to say specifically that he believes that Barack Obama is the guy to deliver for this country and he's going to explain why his friend, and John McCain is his friend, why his friend John McCain is not the guy who's ready to deliver. Don't forget, Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama is a junior member of that committee. So they have worked together and Biden has been Obama's boss on that committee and they've got ton know each other pretty well through that particularly in terms of their world view on foreign policy.
BLITZER: And Senator Obama makes no bones about it, he respects a lot of those members of the Foreign Relations Committee including some Republicans like Richard Lugar and Chuck Hagel. He's very close with both of them.
BORGER: It's one of the most bipartisan committees in the Senate, in fact, Wolf. SO they do work across party lines regularly on that committee.
BLITZER: I think that's in large part because of Biden and Lugar, the two of them.
ROSEN: Both Senator Lugar and Senator Hagel came out with statements today praising the choice, which is very unusual when you have members of the opposite party do that.
BLITZER: Jessica Yellin is there on the scene for us as well. Jessica you've been covering this campaign for a long time, it was 19 months or so ago when Barack Obama launched his race for the White House from Springfield. Today it's a lot different from then, but it's an important day pour his bid to become the president.
YELLIN: It is and it's a very different campaign today. When he originally showed up here to announce, he was a long shot contender, fighting against a very well-funded candidate. And the folks that I spoke to who were here then thought he was just an interesting person to come see, a native son, but they didn't really know if he could get this far, they didn't really think so. And they are so happy to see that he has.
These are, of course, his most a ardent supporters. Something interesting, I'll tell you, when I've been talking to folks in the crowd, those who know who Joe Biden is were positive about him. But overwhelmingly they praised him for was not what we're focusing on, not the national security credentials but rather on what they say is his history fighting for the working guy. They say they think of him as a guy, a blue collar champion and that he'll defend those folks who need it most.
BLITZER: All right, the preliminary festivities are beginning right now. And we're going to be standing by. We expect both of these candidates to be behind Jessica in about 15 minutes or so. And we will be hearing from Barack Obama first. He'll introduce his vice presidential running mate. We'll take another quick break. More of our special coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Only moments away from Barack Obama and Joe Biden speak, but you're looking live now at the Pepsi Center, this is the home of the Democratic National Convention here in Denver where we'll be spending the next several days. The four-day convention begins Monday, goes through Thursday night. That's when Barack Obama will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination. They're putting the finishing touches on the Pepsi Center right now.
John King is here together with the best political team on television. John, earlier, you were taking us through the wall, the magic wall, our miniature version right now. I want you to show us, if you can, what Barack Obama hopes to get by selecting Joe Biden as his running mate.
KING: To do so, Wolf, I want to take you back in time a little bit. This is the general election 2004. George bush won 51 percent, 48 percent. Barack Obama thinks he can turn one or two of these red states out here. If he can do that, even if the map didn't move at all, he would be the next president. But here is a state the Democrts have to defend. This is the State of Pennsylvania, we want to come forward to the '08 presidential primaries, I'm going to mark this swipe for you. Watch this piece of property right here. Go back to 2004 and I'll back and explain the significance of that we'll go back in time to the 2004 race. This is 2004. John Kerry wins the state 51-48. Look at these blue counties, these are where the Democrats win, where the people are out here. Philadelphia, the blue collar communities, right up in here. George Bush wins the vast majority of the state. The Democrats win right in here, 51-48. How do you get a margin like that? Let's take a look right here. That's Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County, 56 percent to 42 percent John Kerry wins. That right there is his margin of victory in the State of Pennsylvania. Inside Lackawanna county, the City of Scranton. Scranton happens to be the hometown of one Senator Joe Biden. Let's fast forward to the '08 democratic primaries. First I'm going to go to the big screen for you. That same strip of area, the light blue is Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama was trounced in Scranton, in Allentown, Bethlehem, let's go back to Lackawanna County again, specifically to the Scranton area. Seventy four percent of the vote for Hillary Clinton, only 26 percent for Barack Obama. This is where John Kerry had the margin of victory in Pennsylvania four years ago, Wolf, Barack Obama struggled enormously among the blue collar lunch bucket Democrats. Joe Biden happens to have been born right here. If there's one place the campaign goes in and say like this guy, trust this guy, you don't have to worry about this guy, it is right here in Lackawanna County and places like it in Pennsylvania, in Ohio and in West Virginia. That's the main targets of this pick. The enthusiasm for this pick will play out right out here on the convention floor. Let's show our viewers of the great fortune we have anchoring from the platform right down on the floor. We were just talking about Pennsylvania, the importance of its delegation. Bang right here, this is prime real estate. The podium is right up here and this is the State of Pennsylvania right behind the CNN platform down on the floor. If you walk up across the floor, this is set up essentially as a general election battleground. Right over here, is the State of Iowa, that's where Barack Obama began, of course, won the caucuses there, put himself on the map as a serious contender. A very big state there. Right there is the host state of Colorado, the Democrats are out here in the Mountain West for a reason, Wolf. These states tend to go red meaning Republican, Obama and the Democrats believe they can turn one or two and change the electoral map.
But again, to make our point, we'll show you the podium as we finish up down here. This is a little bit Las Vegas down here, a little bit "Star Wars", a little bit Las Vegas, it's a very flashy, high-tech platform, this is where we'll hear Joe Biden when he accepts the Democratic vice presidential nomination. Barack Obama of course will accept the presidential nomination down the street in Invesco Field. But all down here on the floor, if you go, Barack Obama's home state, if you wander around a little bit. As I finish up, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, if you walk down here, you are in the presidential battlegrounds' prime seats for the prime presidential target states in the nine weeks, only nine weeks left until the general election, Wolf.
BLITZER: Pretty Democratic state, Delaware. Did I miss that? Did you point it out. Right now the home state of Joe Biden?
KING: If there's any changes to be made that moot be the one. Delaware might say, hey, do we have any more sway now, because Delaware, Wolf, is way up there. It would take me too long to get there. That event in Springfield will be under way by the time I get there. They are in the nosebleed seats.
We'll see how that one works out over the next couple of days. Maybe Joe Biden has a little sway now.
BLITZER: We'll see how much clout he has with the convention organizers. All right, John, stand by, we have a lot more to talk about. This is day when we will focus in on these two presidential candidates. On this day, it's Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Next Friday, by the way, there will be a similar scene we're told in Dayton, Ohio, that's when John McCain will tell us who his Republican vice president al candidate will be. We'll have extensive coverage of that as well. Stay with us. We're standing by to hear from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
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BLITZER: Thousands have already gathered in Springfield, Illinois. We're only moments away from hearing from Senator Barack Obama, he'll introduce his Democratic running mate, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. This is the first time they'll be appearing together as the new Democratic ticket. It's the only time, we're told, they'll be appearing together before they both come separately to Denver to participate in the Democratic National Convention.
We're already here in Denver awaiting their arrival. Ed Rollins is one of our analysts, he's a long-time Republican strategist. Ed, when you're going to be looking and seeing and hearing what's going to be going on in Springfield, what is the message you think that Senator Joe Biden needs to deliver on this day? In other words how tough should he be in going after McCain?
ROLLINS: I think he can make the case against McCain, but I would do it not in a personal way, I would do this, it bothers me to do this, he's been my friend for a long time, but here's where he's out of touch. Biden is a superb and a very articulate debater. He's very experienced on the floor. McCain is not a great debater. Fortunately they're not going to debate each other in the course of this campaign, but I think this is an impression that Biden has an opportunity to buy out and show that this team is stronger than Obama individually and particularly the foreign policy is the issue today. And if he can articulate their vision for a different foreign policy, far more better than Obama has been able to do it to date, I think it's a great service.
BLITZER: It's the first time we're seeing these new Obama-Biden signs out there en masse. Go ahead and study it, you see the type size for Obama just a little bit bigger than the type size for Biden. That comes with the territory as all of us know. You've been helping prepare those posters for some time over the years.
ROLLINS: I think it looks pretty good for something that came out in the last several hours. You know, it's going to be an interesting ticket to watch. I think the key thing here is Joe Biden has been such an extraordinary leader in the Senate. He's never had to basically take a secondary role and certainly has never taken a secondary role. Are they going to be a team or is Obama going to be the leader? You never want to have a vice presidential candidate that overshadows in which people in the course of the campaign say I wish the thing was switched. That's the potential danger that's there.
BLITZER: Amy, as you watch this and you've been covering politics, understanding what's going on for some time. You worked on the hill for a Republican senator, that would be Bill Frist, the former Senate majority leader. You know these two senators and what they're capable of doing. Obama and Biden. But give us a sense of how effective you believe Biden will be.
HOLMES: I think Biden can be very effective and we've seen him be able to make those very pointed remarks, but following on Ed's point, I've had up close personal view of Senator Biden. I had occasion to organize a luncheon for Senator Frist, it was a senators only lunch with six or seven senators on Eastern European politics and of course Joe Biden then was included as was Joe Lieberman. I can tell you, I got to watch him lecture his fellow senators as if they were junior staffers on the Foreign Relations Committee. This is money is very self-assured in his knowledge and his expertise. To be fair, he's earned it honestly for all of his years working in the Senate. But this isn't someone who takes a back seat very easily.
BLITZER: You've watched Joe Biden, Carl Bernstein, over these many years, he's a very talented politician and he'll bring a lot ticket, but we've been saying, he also has some flaws.
BERNSTEIN: Look, everybody has got flaws. I had dinner with him in Iowa, interestingly enough I think in Iowa his hope was that if he didn't win that Hillary Clinton would win. That's the impression I got. And at the same time, he talked in private about Obama's enormous talent and how far he could go and what an impressive figure he was.
BLITZER: Let me just interrupt for a second. We see Michelle Obama has just walked out there. She's there and she's getting ready. She's getting ready, soon she is going to be with Mrs. Biden. They're going to be participating in all of this as well. That's Mrs. Biden, right, Hillary where yeah, the blonde woman next to Michelle Obama. And the crowd, once they see all of these people walk up on that stage, there's going to be a lot of excitement. Go ahead, Carl, I'm sorry.
BERNSTEIN: Quickly, I want to go against the conventional wisdom of who the vice president is doesn't make a difference. I think the fact that Al Gore and Bill Clinton ran together was a huge asset for Bill Clinton. There was a comfort level between the two. And what you're going to be able to see with Biden, I believe, is that he can be a great witness for Obama in a way that Hillary Clinton could not be. He brings some credentials to the argument that Hillary Clinton does not. And on top of what, nobody has used the word "race" today.
That is an underlying factor in this election campaign and I think that Biden's presence and his testimony to how good a senator and how good a politician and you're going to watch the two of them talk about specifics that need to be done. A kind of state of the union and what needs to be done about the state of the union at least this is what I've been told.
And I think they need to do it because until now Obama has been vague, Biden knows how to bring specificity into this. He can do it with Obama. We've got a new dynamic now and I think all the excitement that we're seeing in the press probably translates, but remember, we've got a long way to go. But now we enter a new phase and so far in five days, Obama has taken this and we'll see better in half an hour, to a different place.
HOLMES: Wolf, could I add a point there though to what Carl is saying about the issue of race. CNN, today was replaying some of Biden's more provincial remarks which I found very interesting where Barack has does a have weakness with blue collar older white voters he's choosing a candidate who has said some rather eyebrow raising thing where he talked about Obama being clean and articulate, and he talked about how you have to have a slight Indian accent to go into a 7/11. And you know, part of me wonders if that is not, you know, a little bit part of why Biden is there is that because he reflects in a certain way some of those attitudes and Obama is putting him on the ticket saying I get it, he gets me, we can work together as a team.
