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Campbell Brown
Democratic National Convention Preview; Further Biden Discussion
Aired August 23, 2008 - 19:00 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 ANCHOR: This has been an exciting day in the race for the White House, a very important day. The Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, made arguably the most important decision he has to make -- who will be his running mate -- and that decision was made today.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. We're here at the Pepsi Center in Denver, covering the Democratic National Convention. Anderson Cooper is here as well, along with the best political team on television. Joining us here on the floor of the convention -- our own Gloria Borger, Hilary Rosen, John King.
We have analysts at the CNN Election Center in New York, including Ed Rollins, and Amy Holmes, Carl Bernstein, our own Erica Hill is there as well. Leslie Sanchez is here in Denver a long with -- David Gergen is joining us from Boston. Roland Martin is in Chicago.
Anderson, as we look...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll (INAUDIBLE) to thousands.
BLITZER: As we look at this day, we have a lot of news to cover.
COOPER: Yes.
BLITZER: And this is only the beginning because the convention actually doesn't start until Monday, but we're getting ready big time.
COOPER: And today, we saw the first glimpse of what the face of the Democratic ticket is going to look like, with Joe Biden appearing with Barack Obama in Springfield, Illinois. Clearly, a day that a lot of people have been waiting to see how they would look together, obviously the news broke late last night. It was a pretty exciting day.
BLITZER: It was exciting and they made their joint presentation. It's the only joint appearance that they will make before both of them eventually show up here in Denver on Wednesday night. Joe Biden will formally get the Democratic vice presidential nomination on Thursday night, over at the Invesco Field at Mile High stadium, not very far away from the Pepsi Center where we are. The Democratic presidential nominee will formally get that privilege. Candy Crowley, our senior political correspondent is joining us now from Springfield, Illinois. That's where these two men spent most of their day today, delivering their respective speeches.
Candy, it was an historic day and both of them had some pretty specific messages.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. After giving one another's resumes, they both kind of gathered around the same message, Wolf, and that is the working-class patina that they want to put on this particular ticket. What the Obama people understand is where Obama is having trouble, and that is in working- class areas, the so-called Hillary Clinton voters, and that is one of the very specific reasons that Joe Biden was selected for this ticket, because he does have those working-class roots, but more than that, he has a way of connecting with working-class voters. And he certainly tried to do that today.
It was very interesting to me that there was so much talk about Joe Biden's foreign policy credentials, how he has spent more than three decades in the Senate, honing those skills. He knows the world scene. He was called, for heaven sakes, by the president of Georgia and said, "Come over here and help us with this."
So, there were any number of discussions about Joe Biden, and his foreign policy credentials but when Joe Biden talked today, he started out talking about the economy. He started out talking about how many people are suffering. He took a hit at John McCain, basically saying John McCain doesn't understand what you're going through.
It was the same thing for Barack Obama, as he introduced Joe Biden, saying this is a man whose roots are working-class. What they're trying do here is sort of combine under one umbrella the commonality of the "American Dream," if you will. Joe Biden said, "Listen, we grew up very differently, but we are all kind of the product of what is best about America, and we want to restore that for you."
So, there was a very definite drive for a very specific voter here, and one which they really hoped that Joe Biden can help them with, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and West Virginia. I think you will see Joe Biden in a lot of those battleground states, Wolf. For now, he has headed back to Delaware to get things together, as they say. Obviously, he has an important speech to give to the convention.
We will not see them campaigning again until after the convention. We won't see them share the stage until that Thursday night, when, after Barack Obama gives his speech, obviously then the vice president and his family comes out. So, that's the next time we'll see them.
Barack Obama, I will say, is going to go through some battleground states as he moves into the convention, and his speech. Now, one of the things that I also thought was very interesting about this particular appearance by the two of them is it's not just about what they said. It's also about where they were.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CROWLEY (voice-over): The Democratic ticket came together for the first time in Springfield, Illinois, the symbolic epicenter of Barack Obama's explosive career.
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE: On the steps of the old state house, in the land of Lincoln. President Lincoln once instructed us to be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. Today in Springfield, I know my feet are in the right place.
CROWLEY: Just five years ago, Obama worked in Springfield, the state capitol, as a little known state senator, and 19 months ago, in the frigid climate of an Illinois winter, Obama launched his improbable campaign for president, an electric but untested U.S. senator selling something new. From improbable to incredible, Obama returned today in the high heat of August, selling the familiar, his number two, Joe Biden, one of the most seasoned senior senators -- the man the Obama team hopes can reach a bloc of voters resistant to the newcomer from Springfield.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This working-class kid from Scranton and Wilmington has always been a friend to the underdog and all who seek a safer and more prosperous America to live their dreams and raise their families.
CROWLEY: Introducing his running mate, Obama never John McCain but Biden was all over it, slipping easily into the traditional number two role as attack dog, ala Biden, slice him up with a smile or a tinge of regret.
BIDEN: I've been disappointed in my friend, John McCain, who gave into the right-wing of his party and yielded to the very swiftboat politics that he once so deplored.
CROWLEY: One is the half black, half white son of a single mom, raised mostly in Hawaii; the other, the oldest of four in a white working-class family, raised in Pennsylvania. They will campaign on their commonality. Both are the products of the "American Dream" that brought them together in Springfield, Illinois.
BIDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, that's your story. That's America's story. It's about, if you get up, you can make it.
OBAMA: We will restore that fair shot at your dream that is at the core of who Joe Biden is, and I am, and what America is as a nation.
CROWLEY: And out of Springfield, the journey continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: For now, they are separate journeys. They came together here in Springfield, but they have taken off on separate paths. Joe Biden is back to the east coast. Tomorrow, Barack Obama is off to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, one of the first battleground states he will visit as he approaches the convention and that famous Thursday night speech -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Candy will be with Senator Obama every step of the way. Candy, thanks very much.
Gloria, did Senator Obama and Senator McCain achieve today in Springfield what they needed to do?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think Senator Obama and Senator Biden did achieve what they wanted to do. I mean, it's very clear that Obama wanted to reassure voters that maybe thinking that he's a bit of a risk in the election by having a guy like Joe Biden at his side, and Joe Biden became, like most vice presidential candidates, he became kind of a character witness for the boss. And...
COOPER: The critics of Obama, though, say that that is a sign or an acknowledgment of a weakness or a perceived weakness.
BORGER: Yes. And the Obama campaign understood that, as did Senator Obama who thought about this a lot. But in the end, he knew that he had to shore up those the independent voters, those Hillary Clinton supporters, and so he found someone who not only has experienced on foreign policy but helps them in those battleground states that Candy was just talking about.
We heard a lot about how he was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, important state and how he is Catholic and Catholic voters have not been very favorable about Barack Obama, and they are critical swing voters in this election.
COOPER: What does he do for Barack Obama on the campaign trail? I mean, Candy talked about his role perhaps as an attack dog on one level. He also seemed to give energy to Barack Obama today.
HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: That happens every time, when you've got a vice presidential candidate, you know, it's kind of lonely running for president. You've got really isolated. It's a really grueling thing to do. All of the sudden you've got a buddy.
So, in addition to all of the substantive and policy compliments that Joe Biden brings to Barack Obama, he had now has a buddy so that they go out in tag team, one's talking about substance and policy, the other is attacking John McCain. It's a lot more comforting thing for a candidate to do, to know that they don't have to do everything. They can have somebody that cleanup.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The most striking thing about this picture today was this was not Bill Clinton standing next to Al Gore; this was George W. Bush standing next to Dick Cheney. The Democrats don't like that analogy because of how much they have come to dislike Dick Cheney.
But remember back in 2000, George W. Bush was a young governor, sure he had the Bush name but people asked (ph), "Is this guy really ready to be president? Is he ready to come to Washington? Can he manage the corridors and the leverage of government?" And there, he had this elder statesman, Dick Cheney, gravitas. People said, "OK, he's got his guy. When he has a problem, he has somebody to turn to." That is the message of Biden. But, I think, you're dead right, Democrats don't like the term weakness but Barack Obama has needs and the fact that he has needs coming into his convention and what should be, by fundamentals, an overwhelmingly Democratic year, has many of the people who will be here in this hall, more than a little anxious. This is a dead heat race in what should be a big Democratic year.
BORGER: But, you know, one cautionary note, it could be Lloyd Bentsen standing next to Michael Dukakis. Everybody thought Lloyd Bentsen was a brilliant choice, if you recall. Michael Dukakis needed a little cover inside Washington and guess what?
COOPER: They're going to get kicked out of the hall, Gloria, if you keep saying that.
BORGER: I'm sorry. I'm saying, you know, it may be a very smart pick but it doesn't mean you're going to win -- it doesn't mean you're going to win the election.
COOPER: Not too many Democrats are here yet, so you can say that.
BLITZER: It doesn't mean that the vice presidential pick necessarily is going to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: He's got a lot of work ahead of him including right here. Here are some of the questions we're going to be looking at tonight. What about Hillary Clinton and her supporters? How disappointed are they? And what does this say about Barack Obama, the decision to go with Joe Biden? What about being an agent of change?
Joe Biden has been in the Senate for six terms, 35 years or so. He's a Washington politician. Whatever happened to going outside the Washington Beltway?
We have our analyst, the best political team on television, they're standing by. We have a lot more coverage of the Democratic National Convention, here in Denver, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back.
Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper here at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Our beginning coverage of the Democratic National Convention, which, of course, actually begins on Monday. Dramatic day, though, full of developments. Joe Biden, of course, prime among them. We saw him and Barack Obama appearing in Springfield, Illinois earlier today.
We want to bring David Gergen, our CNN senior political analyst who is joining from us Boston tonight.
David, what was -- as you saw Joe Biden on that stage with Barack Obama, what did you think? DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I thought that Barack Obama instead of going for excitement went for comfort. And, I think, he wanted to raise the comfort of the American people with this ticket and with the prospect of him being in Washington.
You know, he could have defied expectations and gone with an outsider. But given the state of the campaign, I think it was very important for him to send a signal that even though he'll be an agent for change, he'll be bringing with him people who have experience, that the country will be in good, safe hands, that he is a safe choice.
If he can get that message across, he can bring not only the working- class white voters (ph) -- more of them along -- but he can bring older voters along. Now, Joe Biden presents a certain feel to that. And very importantly, the Catholic vote, which was such a critical part of the vote. It's striking, Anderson, that in the end, he only had four people apparently on his shortlist, Tim Kaine, Kathleen Sebelius and Bayh out of Indiana, and Joe Biden. Three out of the four are Catholics.
COOPER: John King, you broke the story that Joe Biden was going to be the vice presidential nominee. What do we know about the decision- making process of Barack Obama?
KING: One of the stunning things we know about the process is that he actually told Joe Biden on Thursday, Thursday. A United States senator particularly known for talking, Joe Biden, kept a secret for 24, going on 30-something hours. So, they're going to build a monument to that in Washington, D.C., somewhere in the museum.
BORGER: That's why some people thought it couldn't be Biden.
KING: We know, inside the Obama campaign, they looked at the calculations. Look, every year, this is -- every four years this is a very tough political calculation. What do we need versus what do we want? And this was a "what do we need."
To the points David made, Hilary and Gloria had made about the Catholic vote, the blue-collar vote, we just - and we look at it later on the map, his weaknesses in the primaries, this is an attempt to address and what the holdup right now in the polling. Twenty-seven percent, I think, in the most recent poll of Hillary Clinton voters say they're still undecided, 21 percent say they're going to vote for John McCain. Those are stunning numbers a few days before the Democratic convention.
COOPER: Actually, John, if you can, let's go to the magic wall and see how Joe Biden helps.
KING: Well, let's take, I just want to show one example. We're going to talk about this a lot tonight. So let's focus in on one example. Here the state of Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton carried it by 10 points. I want to take you right in here.
This is Lackawanna County -- guess what is in Lackawanna County, Scranton, the hometown of Joe Biden. Look what happened in the primary in Lackawanna County -- 74 percent for Hillary Clinton, only 26 percent for Barack Obama, even though Senator Bob Casey was a Barack Obama supporter and he's from Scranton as well. Remember that. Remember that now -- this Lackawanna County and how important it is.
Let's go back in time to 2004, John Kerry carries the state. I want to pull out to the state first. John Kerry wins Pennsylvania by three points, a narrow margin in the state the Republicans targeted heavily in 2004 and want again in 2008. Let's look again in Lackawanna County, 56 percent to 42 percent. John Kerry's margin of victory in the state of Pennsylvania was in that one county.
Barack Obama did miserably there in the primaries and he needs to improve himself. There are Lackawanna counties in Ohio, in West Virginia. We could find a county like this, a swing county all across those key battleground states that the Democrats need.
Now, if the Democrats are fighting for Pennsylvania, if we are talking about Lackawanna County in October, the Democrats are in deep trouble. They need to lock this state up and they need to lock it up early. But that is one of the places they're targeting with Joe Biden.
They want him to go into these communities, say, "I am one of you. You can trust this guy. It's OK. He's safe, he's right, he's smart. He will fight for you and if I doubt him, I will kick him and make him fight for you." That is the message of Joe Biden when he goes here and he will go here very soon.
COOPER: It's going to be very hard for Joe Biden to, you know, after being off of the campaign trail now for many months to suddenly go from zero to 60 in the space of 24 hours.
BORGER: Joe Biden, are you kidding me? He will absolutely love it. He is -- they call him the "happy warrior." He'd love to be out there campaigning. He's done it almost his entire life and I think he really, you know, sees this is as an opportunity, and by the way, one of the other things that we're looking at in Joe Biden is not only winning, which, of course, they want to do, as John points out, but also the governing part of the choice, which is that he knows how to navigate the Senate.
Don't forget, he was Senator Obama's boss on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the chairman of that committee. He knows how to navigate the foreign policy bureaucracy as well. So when it comes to governing, he could be a partner with Barack Obama.
ROSEN: Well, let's look also where John's map ties into the next couple of weeks, though, because if Democrat, if Barack Obama has to spend all of his time campaigning in Michigan and in Pennsylvania, and in places, in New Jersey, and he's not going to hit the states that the campaign has long targeted as being the ones to put him over the top, if he misses Florida and Ohio. He's got to spend his time with those swing states like Virginia and Colorado, and Nevada and New Mexico. Now, he's got a guy who can spend the next nine weeks in those other states, allowing him to branch out and turn some of those formerly red states blue. COOPER: We're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we're going to talk about Hillary Clinton -- was she ever on that shortlist? We'll talk about that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Certainly, an important day in the race for the White House. We're here at the Pepsi Center for the Democratic National Convention. I'm Wolf Blitzer along with Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television.
One of the key questions involves Hillary Clinton and her very passionate supporters. How do they feel about this decision to pick Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate? Was Hillary Clinton ever on the so-called shortlist?
Our own Roland Martin has been speaking to sources inside the Barack Obama camp and he's got some answers for those very, very sensitive questions.
Roland, tell our viewers what you're picking up, what you're hearing.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Wolf, I talked to folks who are very familiar with this process, they said indeed that she was under serious consideration. There were substantive conversations among the Obama camp as to putting her on the ticket. They also said that look, Hillary Clinton, in the primaries, she released lots of information. She's lived a very public life for the past 16 or so years.
They already knew so much about her, so much about Bill Clinton and she didn't have to go through the normal process with any other candidate. But also, they said look, Eric Holder, deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, you have Caroline Kennedy -- those two individuals who ran the Obama search committee, they know her very well as well. And so, they said she was in a different category than some of the other candidates, based upon her already running and already the long history on the stage.
BLITZER: When did the presidential candidate actually inform Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton for that matter that Hillary Clinton was not going to be the vice presidential nominee?
MARTIN: I was told that Obama personally called President Clinton on Thursday to notify him, and I am trying to double-check to make sure when Senator Clinton was notified. Some reports had said that she was notified through back channels but then I was also told that Senator Obama personally called her. But again, we're trying to double-check that but they said clearly that President Clinton was notified personally by Senator Barack Obama on Thursday.
COOPER: Roland, I want to bring in John King.
John, you know, Roland said from the Obama camp, they're saying, "Well, look, we didn't need to vet her, it was no insult to her." Is that the way the Clinton supporters see it? KING: It is not the way people close to Hillary Clinton perceived it and some Clinton supporters. That will be the big question we're hearing (ph) on the floor throughout the week. Number one, if they were going to seriously consider her for vice president, they would have asked for records. Her husband in particular, Bill Clinton has given a whole lot of speeches all around the world, in foreign countries, would it become an issue in the campaign, they would have wanted to see those records, trust me. They would have wanted to see other financial records. Yes, a lot of her life is public. It's not as you don't need to do as much or ask for as much but there would have been more. Around...
COOPER: Sure. But, they would have had to have seen records of who donated to the Clinton Presidential Library?
KING: That is something they might have asked for. That is certainly, that would be a legitimate question because of potential controversy down the road. Barack Obama -- remember -- says he's going to change Washington's. It's going to be new and different, not the old rules, no shady fundraising. So, that would be a very legitimate, thorough part of any vetting in such a situation. That didn't happen.
Around Hillary Clinton are still people who say, "We'll accept the fact that Barack Obama won and was not comfortable with her on the ticket. That's fine. Maybe that's hard to deal with, but we can accept that. But where was the respect? Why was there not a phone call saying you're a leader in the party, you've got so many votes, you have so many delegates, what's your advice? I'm not comfortable with you. But what should I do?
And why not call Bill Clinton who most Democrats would say made a good pick back in 1992, when the Democrats have been shutout of the White House for a long time and Al Gore? What was the best part of your process, what did you learn what, mistakes did you make, how did you do the vetting?"
It's just simple respect from the view of the Clintons. And they did not get what from what they consider the new upstarts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Anderson...
ROSEN: Well, for the most part, they end up doing was talking about her and not to her and I think that's what people are focusing on. You know, I don't think there's shady fundraising going on for the Clinton Foundation but it's unlikely that President Clinton would have given over all of his records anyway because she's not -- he never thought that she's going to be picked. So, at the point of going through the process wouldn't have made much sense for them.
COOPER: Gloria.
BORGER: Well, and Anderson, the Obama people are saying that the Clinton people said to them, unless you're going to take us seriously as a vice presidential candidate, and we are on your serious shortlist, don't make us go through the whole rigmarole if you're not really serious about it.
ROSEN: Yes.
BORGER: They didn't want to do that. So the Obama people are saying, "OK, then we didn't." Now, why they talked about not doing it is really a P.R. question that they have to think about.
ROSEN: And that's different than consulting on advice. OK...
BORGER: Right.
ROSEN: You -- we probably won't pick you, then who do we pick. You know, they might have had some ideas. Having said that, you know, both Clintons have said very nice things about Joe Biden today. That shouldn't be lost in this discussion.
COOPER: All right. I want to bring in CNN contributor Carl Bernstein in New York, obviously, the author of "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Clinton."
Carl, the issue of respect is hugely important to those close to Hillary Clinton and to her supporters.
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: First of all, you can't look at the Clinton people as a monolith. And you can't even look at Bill and Hillary Clinton as a monolith. They have their own disagreements. She has moved on a lot farther than Bill Clinton has from everything I've been told and, I think, we're going to see her get up at the convention and give a really heartfelt speech in which she says that this man needs to be the president of the United States, Barack Obama.
I'm not sure Bill Clinton is there yet. I think, we got to really look at the accomplishment of Barack Obama today, and what he's done with Biden, because part of it is to have this witness, this advocate who can say with a kind of credibility that Hillary Clinton never could. Look, this guy has been in the Senate, I've watched him, he's great. I've never said a bad word about his character.
Hillary Clinton went off the shortlist, as it were, when "The Atlantic Monthly" memos were revealed in which it was shown that Mark Penn, her principal adviser, who was really an extension of Bill and Hillary Clinton, had said, let's really essentially say that Barack Obama is un-American. And I think at that point, the whole tenor changed of how the Obama campaign was looking at the question of her being a vice presidential pick.
They would have picked her if they thought it was the only way or Barack Obama would, the only way, I'm told that he could win. But he thinks he can win with Biden, on top of which we watched Biden today talk about Michelle Obama also. Remember, there's this undertone of "Oh, they're not American, and she said this was the first time she's proud to be an American." Biden addressed that today, and he's also...
COOPER: We're going to take a short break. When we come back, we're going to take more about the issue of Clinton. Also, we'll take a look at how the Republicans are responding today to the pick of Joe Biden as Barack Obama's vice president. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to the Democratic National Convention. We're watching all the excitement today, an important day as Barack Obama selects Joe Biden to be his running mate. Let's find out from some of our republican strategists, republican analysts how they view what's going on with the democrats are doing. Ed Rollins is joining us right now from the CNN Election Center. Ed, how did the democrats do on this important day?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: I think they did fine. I think I want to put reality to all this. You know, this is not a guy making us shake in our boots. I mean, I think obviously he's a great asset for Obama to learn something about foreign affairs but there's not a whole lot of voters across this country who all of a sudden in going to jump on the band wagon. I've heard discussions that he's a Catholic, he's also pro-life Catholic. I had to remind people John Kerry was a Catholic and didn't carry the Catholics in the last go- round. Equally as important as a vice president, John Edwards didn't carry North Carolina. So I mean, I think to a certain extent he's a credible guy. He may be a better guy if they get elected. He may very well be back being chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a McCain presidency. So we're not sitting here shaking in our boots. I think I would have been more frightened about Mrs. Clinton. But from this perspective, we expect a formidable race, he's a formidable vice presidential candidate but certainly not someone that exceed any expectations.
BLITZER: I just want to clarify, Joe Biden is a Catholic but he does support abortion rights for women. I just want to make sure that we don't leave any misperception about where he stands on this very sensitive issue of abortion, right, Ed?
ROLLINS: That's a very important thing. As you can find, being a Catholic, you know, there's been a lot of Catholics who come along and they get into this race and they take a pro-choice, and they get a little embarrassed in the course of the campaign when the bishops come down and condemn them or what have you. I'm not saying that's going to happen. But there's no automatic Catholic vote out there. You got to go earn it and you got to basically share their values in the same way the fact he was born in Scranton. I was born in Boston. I lived in California and grew up in California. I can't go back to Boston to be elected as a republican. So I think there's some grounds. Delaware, obviously he's a great credible person on foreign affairs, for the liberal democrat point of view, but it's not like all of the sudden you've got a game changer.
BLITZER: Do you agree that this is not necessarily a game changer, Leslie Sanchez, for Barack Obama?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I agree. I think Joe Biden is somebody who likes to hear the sound of his own voice. I think they both have in common that the fact that he can be overshadowed. He can overshadow Obama, no doubt about that, especially in terms of gravitas experience and we cannot ignore the fact that he was the most critical of Obama especially in foreign policy. You know, he's the one that said he was short-sighted in his answer and wanted to meet with you know, rogue dictators without pre-conditions. I mean, so there's clearly an awkwardness to this choice. You know, and one of the things, to think about, if you harken back to 2004, when there was this question of vulnerability. You had a lot of women voters, a lot of independent conservatives who did not believe that we were going to be secure with John Kerry. They were talking about it in focus groups, you know a lot of people were reporting on that, and it was this unease with the candidate. It exists again today. This was trying to absolve that but I still at the same point I don't think it makes that sale.
BLITZER: Amy Holmes, you used to write speeches for republican senators up on the hill including the then Senate majority leader Bill Frist. And you got to know, you got to see Joe Biden interact with his republican colleagues, democratic colleagues. Is this the kind of decision for Barack Obama that, going forward, will reassure American voters that Barack Obama can be an effective and excellent commander in chief?
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I did get to see Senator Biden interact in his small senators only lunch discussing foreign policy and I got to see Senator Biden lecture his colleagues, as if they were junior staff members on the foreign relations committee, and that included Joe Lieberman and my boss, the Senate majority leader. So I look at this pick of Joe Biden, when Barack Obama said he wanted someone who will challenge his ideas, I think Joe Biden most self- assuredly will. And I would also maybe disagree a little bit with this description of Joe Biden being the anti-elitist. This man of the people. This is someone who has been caught, you know, on the record actually being quite patronizing to voters.
He told one voter back in 1988, when Biden was running for president that he thought that he had a higher I.Q. than this guy when this guy tried to challenge him on his education credentials. And just in this election cycle during the democratic primary in that great youtube debate that CNN put on that was just terrific, and one voter he asked him what he would do about gun control and he showed his, you know, rather shocking gun and put it in his lap and said "this is my baby. Are you going to protect my baby"? And Joe Biden said I think this guy is a nut case and I think that he's maybe an example of why we need a mental test on people who own guns.
So Joe Biden and his mouth is very tricky. It can get him into trouble and it can get him into trouble with his fellow citizens and American voters.
BLITZER: We're going to learn more about Joe Biden momentarily. Our Suzanne Malveaux has been looking into who this senator is, and why he was selected, what he brings to the table. Suzanne is going to take us to the Delaware delegation here on the floor of the Democratic National Convention, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And welcome back to Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention will begin on Monday. We are here already with our preview coverage. Suzanne Malveaux is up where the Delaware delegation is. Now, you would think that since Joe Biden is from Delaware that the Delaware delegation would have great seats. They actually do not. They are in the nose bleed section of this hall. Suzanne, is that going to change? Are they still going to be stuck up there after Joe Biden has been selected?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, these are the nose bleed seats really but I have a feeling they are going to change. We don't know exactly when or where but certainly everybody is looking at Senator Joe Biden, the influence that he's going to have. Delaware, it only has three electoral votes. There are 23 delegates here but obviously he makes a big difference in this race. He really brings something to the equation. Everybody is going to be focusing not only on Barack Obama but who is this guy, Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The odd couple. The change guy. The status quo. Joe Cool, average Joe. The guy who takes the train to work from Delaware to D.C.. Joe Biden brings Barack Obama the grounding and the gravitas to the ticket, but who is this guy? Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 65 years old to a working class Catholic family. His dad went from riches to rags after a series of bad business deals, which left the family broke. Joe Biden Sr. made ends meet selling used cars and cleaning boilers. The Biden philosophy, you've got to help yourself.
Joe jr., who stuttered as a teen, overcame it, delivering a speech before his school. At 29 years old, Biden, the county councilman, now in Delaware, ran for U.S. Senate, taking on the two-term incumbent republican J. Caleb Boggs. He ran on an anti-Vietnam war platform in a campaign run by his sister, accusing Boggs of being a do nothing. He won by a little over 3,000 votes but just five weeks later, tragedy struck. His wife, Neilia and 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed. And their two sons, Hunter and Beau seriously injured in a car accident. Biden was sworn in at his sons' hospital bedside.
He later remarried Jill Tracy Jacobs and had another daughter, Ashley. In 1987, Biden made a bid for the presidency, promising to rekindle the fire of idealism, But it was cut short by a humiliating scandal. He quit the race three months into it, after acknowledging he plagiarized passages in some speeches and exaggerated his resume. And a few months later a brain aneurysm nearly killed him. In 1990, Biden returned to good health and good favor, winning his Senate seat by 63 percent, a career best. From 1987 to 1995, he was chair of the senate judiciary committee, where he was criticized for his handling of the 1991 debacle, surrounding the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got up from the table, at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke. Looked at the can, and asked, "who has put pubic hair on my Coke"?
MALVEAUX: At the same time Biden built his reputation as a foreign policy expert, helping secure a peace agreement in the Balkans, visiting hot spots like Pakistan and criticizing the Iraq war.
JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Or let them die.
MALVEAUX: His tendency to speak his mind has sometimes gotten him into trouble, most recently this reference to Barack Obama.
BIDEN: I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking -
MALVEAUX: In January, 2007, Biden took another shot at the presidency, but his candidacy failed to catch fire. He dropped out after a fifth place showing in Iowa. Now, Joe Biden in a new role, the experienced Washington hand charged with taking some of the risk out of Barack Obama's change.
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MALVEAUX: And Anderson I want to point out, where the Pennsylvania delegation is, it's much closer to where you guys are sitting, it is way down there in the front, way on the floor there. That is obviously because Pennsylvania, very influential. They are certainly hoping that his Scranton, Pennsylvania, roots of Joe Biden will help capture that swing state. Hillary Clinton did very well there. They are hoping to kind of a blue collar, the older voters that she captured somehow that Joe Biden will also resonate. She is from Scranton. Some of her roots from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They are hoping that that is going to be a real advantage to Barack Obama. Anderson.
COOPER: And we certainly heard Scranton, Pennsylvania, mentioned about a million times today by the candidate and by Barack Obama. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks. John King, to get to Ed Rollins' point earlier, which is basically this is much adieu about nothing, that just because, you know, he's from Scranton doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to be able to appeal to folks there or to Catholic voters. How much of a difference can he make on the campaign trail?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think Ed raises a very legitimate question that we should say over and over and over again. It's a legitimate point that rare is the moment in history where we can make a direct correlation between a vice presidential pick and movement in an election. However, this is a different election and so we will see. I think it is worth testing the proposition, can Joe Biden help in these places. Why is it different? Barack Obama is 47 years old. He's only been on the national stage for four years and he's African-American. The country is being asked to do something pretty dramatic, in making him president and they realize that. So he needs somebody to vouch for him in some of these places. There are, If you look at any of the polling data, they fundamental favor the democrats but a significant number of voters, important voters in presidential elections and in important places in presidential elections say I like this guy, I want change, but can I trust him? Can he really make Washington work or is this all talk? Is it what Hillary Clinton tried to say in the primary, all speeches. He can't do what he says. She has raised some doubts about him and some of the doubts are just natural because he is a newcomer to the national stage.
COOPER: And Hilary Rosen, John McCain raised serious doubts in the last couple of weeks about Barack Obama, about who he is, about his character, about his values and there are questions that many people do have. Do you think Joe Biden helps him answer those values questions beyond foreign policy, beyond economic issues?
HILARY ROSE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think Senator Biden started to do that today. He started to talk about who Barack Obama is and put it in the context of his own life, which is really all Americans want. They're not that interested in who other people are. They're really most interested in whether they're understood and Biden helps that. He is somebody who has an extraordinary personal history that's extremely compelling with his family. He's got a big family now. My daughter actually goes to school with his granddaughter. It's a fun, engaging family that's all going to be on the campaign trail for them. So I think in terms of sort of the intangibles, John is right in terms of the polling but the intangibles, about who Barack Obama is, I think this helps.
BLITZER: And you know, there's an intriguing issue with his son, who is the attorney general of the state of Delaware, he's also a member of the Delaware National Guard, who is about to be deployed to Iraq. So he's going to have a son serving in Iraq. John McCain had a son who served in Iraq as well. So, I think that's going to resonate.
And you know, one other thing that's going to be interesting about this, he's also presumably not only going to run to be vice president of the United States. He's up for re-election as the senator from the state of Delaware as well. Like Joe Lieberman in 2000, he can do both under state law so he can run for re-election and he can also, if he gets, if he doesn't get to be vice president, he still has his job as a senator but it's just an intriguing little development that we'll be watching on that front as well.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: And you know, and you know, in the end, presidential elections are about character and they're about leadership, and if you look at the polls that you guys were talking about, about four in ten Americans, somewhere in there, say they don't think Barack Obama really understands or shares their values. That's something Joe Biden can help him with.
COOPER: We're going to take a short break. Our coverage continues. We'll be right back.
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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to our continuing coverage and advanced look at the Democratic National Convention which of course kicks off on Monday. Today's hot topic is Barack Obama's pick of Senator Joe Biden as a vice presidential nominee. And this has brought up a number of questions as to the role of Hillary Clinton, how she was considered, whether she was considered, also how Bill Clinton was brought into the mix.
Earlier in our discussion tonight with the best political team on television, we talked about the issue of respect and whether or not enough respect has been shown to both Bill and Hillary Clinton in making this choice and in moving forward. But it also brings up another interesting point. I want to throw this to Gloria Borger, who is in Denver, at the Pepsi Center there. Gloria, is this actually a break perhaps that Barack Obama needs to make to break away, to break out from under that shadow of the Clintons to be able to come into his own and to prove, especially to some of those democratic voters who were on the fence that, yes, he can carry his party?
BORGER: Well, I think if he's going to do that, he's not going to do that right now. He does need the Clintons right now. Bill and Hillary Clinton are very popular in the democratic party. Hillary Clinton got 18 million votes during the primary. Yes, the Clintons are a dynasty, this is essentially passing the torch, if you will, from one generation of democrats to another generation. But right now, I think Barack Obama does not want to get a divorce, if you will, from the Clintons, he wants to continue or try at least to embrace them and have them be part of his unity ticket and then we would see what was happens in the fall. And if he were to win, I am sure he would want Hillary Clinton to be a huge ally of his in the Senate. She's quite an effective senator.
HILL: So, the big issue, of course, is how do you bring in those 18 million voters especially - I believe John King when you're talking about the 27 percent who really are still very upset of the Hillary supporters, how do you then bring them back in after everything that we have learned today about how things may or may not have gone down when the choice was made and when Hillary Clinton was notified?
KING: Erica, this is a great drama because the Clintons have been such dominant personalities in the democratic party for so long now. But, but they are democrats, Obama's a democrat. People work this out in the campaign. Just the other day I was scheduled to travel to southeastern Ohio. I had to cancel the trip because of flight and weather issues but we were talking to the Obama people in southeast Ohio, it is a huge problem for them right now, for the same reasons we were just talking about in Scranton, Pennsylvania. What are they doing? They have hired for the Obama campaign, many of the people who helped Hillary Clinton beat the pulp out of Barack Obama in those counties back in the primaries. And so and they have said that their number one priority is to get Barack Obama there, but to get Bill Clinton there, to campaign by himself or with Barack Obama.
While there is still resentment, there's still some tension between the two camps. That's sort of an inside game and that will carry on. It will probably carry on right through the election. But at the same time, they know the outside game is to get out on the campaign. I talked to people close to Senator Clinton, she understands the pressure on her in this hall, and she will rise to the occasion. They insisted on the floor, do everything to keep her people. Yes, celebrating what she did, but also moving past it and getting ready to support Obama. It will be a fascinating drama to watch, but most of the accounts, despite the lingering tensions and some resentment and mistrust, but most of them believe out on the playing field, it will turn out OK. BLITZER: Let's bring in David Gergen who served for four presidents, both democrat and republican. David, what does it say about Barack Obama that he made this decision involving Joe Biden?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it says that Senators Joe and Barack Obama are ready to fight in ways that we have not fully appreciated or a lot of his supporters have been worrying about. And I think two things about Joe Biden that we have not yet discussed tonight, is that, Wolf, he gives him coverage on the foreign policy front between now and the election. You know, just in the last few days, the Georgia-Russian face-off has really helped John McCain. And we may have one or two more episodes in foreign policy that will come up between now and the election. There could be a October surprise. T here could even be a terrorist attack of some sort. And it's very important for Barack Obama that he now has somebody by his side who can be there and show that there will be experience in the Oval Office on any kind of foreign policy issue that comes up. I think that's huge to give him cover between now and then, just as I think John McCain needs some help on the economic front.
But the other thing, Wolf, is that as we saw today in Springfield, this is not just a senator from Scranton, so to speak, this is a scrappy kid from Scranton and he can reframe the argument as he started to do today. What we have seen in this campaign in the last few weeks is that if you put up Obama against John McCain, mano en mano, just about the future, who's going to be the best commander-in- chief, John McCain does very, very well in those tasks. It was Joe Biden who started making the case today. This is not just about mano en mano, this is about the last four years versus the next four years, and we're going to have an extension of the last four years and he really yoked in ways that Barack Obama has not yet. He linked Bush to McCain and he really went after McCain in ways that Barack Obama does not do and does not do comfortably. And I think Ed Rollins will be the first to say, you know, that John McCain is getting quite good at this and the Obama team needs to sharpen up and I think that's what Joe Biden is going to do, far more than say Evan Bayh might have done or Tim Kaine might have done or Kathleen Sebelius might have done, the others who are apparently on the short list.
COOPER: John King, do we know how rehearsed ahead of time some of the themes that Joe Biden hit today? I mean, how clear were they with the Obama campaign? I mean does it mean that Joe Biden is coming up with some those of those lines, one of the things he said about McCain is not enough to be a good soldier, you have to be a good leader. Are those things that the Obama people came up with?
KING: The theme comes from the Obama campaign, they are the bosses here. And even Joe Biden, can he be comfortable here in the number two role? The themes come from the Obama campaign, some of the language was clearly how Joe Biden speaks and how he speaks and my friend John McCain went after them pretty aggressively. I think you're going to see that go on and on and on.
COOPER: Interesting though, we heard and as I think Candy noted in her piece early in the break. We actually got to take a short break. We'll be right back, our coverage continues with more from John. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
