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American Morning
McCain Promises Change: Highlights Differences With Obama; Post-Analysis of McCain's Speech; U.S. Braces for Another Storm; Can Palin Overshadow the Original Maverick?; Could Bob Barr's Run be a Presidential Spoiler?
Aired September 05, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Cue the balloons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to win this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator John McCain says, I accept.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Change is coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Challenging Barack Obama and his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will make them famous and you will know their names. You will know their names.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: This morning, his opponent responds. And protesters pay the price.
It's the "Most Politics in the Morning" live from Saint Paul.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome. It is Friday, September 5th. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry in New York. Hey, John.
ROBERTS: Hey, good morning to you, Kiran. John Roberts here at the Xcel Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for what is the very final part of this Republican National Convention.
It's kind of a forlorn feeling this morning. Almost like remember when you were a kid and the carnival was wrapping up at the end of the summer. It's all over.
In the last five hours, they have torn this place down. You've got all the flooring up, all those chairs that once held all of those delegates, stripping down the stage as well. And by the end of the day, much of this will be out of here and it will be almost like it never happened.
But out on the campaign trail a very different story this morning. Senator John McCain has made his case to the country as to why he should be the next president. After accepting his party's nomination last evening McCain spoke of honor and courage and with the people in this arena into a near frenzy when he focused on the differences between his plan for America and Barack Obama's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open -- I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them.
I will cut government spending. He will increase it. My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them.
My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat -- where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain was introduced last night by his wife, Cindy, who praised the senator as a father. And later, she also spoke of his running mate, Sarah Palin, a woman who captured the Republicans' hearts on Wednesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: John has picked a reform minded, hockey mom, basketball shooting, moose hunting, salmon fishing, pistol-packing mother of five for vice president. And as a fellow hockey mom myself and a western conservative mother, I couldn't be prouder that John has shaken things up as he usually does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Just outside the Xcel Center police had to use tear gas and flash bang grenades to push back a group of protesters. Authorities say hundreds of people were arrested -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, last night also marked an amazing revival. It was just a year ago the pundits had John McCain down for the count, his campaign nearly bankrupt. Here's CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran and John. And welcome to the fall campaign. It really began last night here in Minnesota when, like the Democrats last week, the Republicans made it official.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): An old warrior who survives hell and a political phoenix risen from the ashes of a campaign once declared dead. John McCain accepted his party's nomination Thursday and then painted himself as a non-party man.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been called a maverick. Someone who -- someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment. Sometimes it's not.
What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you.
CROWLEY: He is facing the worst political environment Republicans have seen in decades. And he cannot win with Republican votes alone. So while McCain did tick off a number of solidly conservative positions, he also chastised his party for losing its way. Because this night was about the place most voters live, in the middle, where they look for something new.
MCCAIN: Let me just offer an advance warning to the old big spending, do nothing, me first, country second crowd. Change is coming.
CROWLEY: New is a hard sell for a 72-year-old with 26 years on Capitol Hill. But change is the watch word of the '08 election. So McCain sells the experience to bring change.
Still, even as he looks forward, the foundation of McCain's campaign is his past. The tale of a young soldier taken as a prisoner of war, tortured and imprisoned for five years.
MCCAIN: I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith, the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people.
I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea. A cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
CROWLEY: The experience informs his life, infuses his campaign, and provides this overarching theme -- "country first." John McCain is on a mission.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: It is an uphill battle for John McCain from now until Election Day. All of the elements favor Democrats at this point. But John McCain likes to tell friends, I've faced tougher odds before -- Kiran and John.
CHETRY: Candy Crowley for us this morning, thanks. Barack Obama's campaign is responding to the McCain speech. A spokesman says, "John McCain admonished the old, do-nothing crowd in Washington, but ignored the fact that he's been part of that crowd for 26 years, opposing solutions on health care, energy and education."
Meantime, the Obama campaign reports raising a record $10 million after the speech by McCain's running mate Sarah Palin. Palin accused Obama of being a political lightweight with no significant legislative accomplishments. The Republican Party says it raised $1 million following Palin's speech.
And all this week we've been tracking CNN's poll of polls for you. The latest shows the presidential race tightening again. Barack Obama leads John McCain by four points, 47 percent to 43 percent with 10 percent of voters still saying they're undecided -- John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, thanks.
This morning John McCain and Sarah Palin will be off and running as the battle for the White House begins in earnest now. Sixty one days until Election Day. Their first post-convention stops, Wisconsin and Michigan. The candidates getting a big red send off from Republican delegates here after a speech in which McCain presented himself as a fighter, a reformer and a survivor.
CNN's Jessica Yellin joins me now to talk about it. You know, after what Governor Palin did on Wednesday night many people in this room thought that the bar for John McCain had been raised. Did he manage to get over it?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He gave a speech that was very compelling when he talked about his personal experience, his personal struggle. He connected with this audience and I think viewers out there. He also was very compelling when he talked about taking on Republicans in Washington. It's possible.
The problem for John McCain was that this needed to be a speech where you grabbed people by the lapels and say if you haven't gotten my message yet, notice me now. Here's why I'm different. I'm not sure he accomplished that.
ROBERTS: So he's running as the agent of change. He's trying to run back as the maverick of 2000. You know, 2000 was one thing and a lot of people really believed in that maverick message.
A lot of water under the bridge, a lot of votes for President Bush since then. Will people buy this? Will independents buy it?
YELLIN: Well, that's the big question. The Obama campaign is certainly driving home this message that he has been with Bush, as he himself has said, McCain, 90 percent of the time.
He used the word change over and over, I think 10 times in the speech. He wanted to sell himself as a maverick, but simply saying it isn't enough. That's why I think he had to grab the lapels and not be a challenge for him. ROBERTS: And quickly, what about the visuals last night? I looked at the screen and I saw the green backdrop. Almost the one that looked like it was in New Orleans and I thought to myself, what happened?
YELLIN: Don't you remember? And they said green never again. The tight shot was green. The wide shot looks like a mansion. After all this drama over houses, how could they do that?
Apparently it was a high school. It just didn't look that way. And the other thing is --
ROBERTS: And the green was grass, right?
YELLIN: Well, right. But could you tell?
ROBERTS: No.
YELLIN: It didn't reflect well. And then, look at that.
ROBERTS: There you go.
YELLIN: And then, Sarah Palin out in the audience shaking hands well after John McCain had said his last goodbye and left the stage. The vice presidential candidate shouldn't leave after the main guy.
ROBERTS: And it will be an interesting dynamic over these next couple of months.
Jessica Yellin, thanks so much.
Eight minutes now after the hour on the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: McCain's new mantra.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Change is coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Co-opting Obama's message. Can McCain pull it off? Our panel weighs in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Never give up.
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I fought the big spenders in both parties who waste your money on things you neither need nor want. And the first big spending pork barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. I will make them famous, and you will know their names. You will know their names.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain hammering home one of his signature issues last night, eliminating pork barrel spending.
Joining me now with some morning after analysis of McCain's big night, here we are.
John Avlon is a registered independent, also author of "Independent Nation." And Patricia Murphy. She is editor of citizenjanepolitics.com. Good morning to both of you.
JOHN AVLON, CONTRIBUTOR, POLITICO.COM: Good morning.
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: Good morning.
ROBERTS: So what did you think? He's trying to reclaim the mantle of maverick.
AVLON: Yes.
ROBERTS: After many people said running hand in hand with George Bush over the last eight months or so. Can he do it, John?
AVLON: Yes. I think this was John McCain's declaration of independence. It was understated. It was not a big oratory night, but he made his case clearly.
He took on the excesses of the Republican Congress under Tom DeLay. He said to a convention audience, our party has made mistakes. We went astray with overspending, corruption, cronyism. That's a tough message for a party convention. But he went and did it. And it's directly an attempt to reach out and win back independent support.
ROBERTS: So, Patricia, what has happened here over the past week? Has John McCain mollified the base with his pick of Governor Palin and now he's free to run toward the center over the next 61 days?
MURPHY: I don't think he has mollified this base. He has set this base on fire. I talked to Republicans coming into this and it was almost like they were coming to a funeral. They were not excited. They were coming here because they needed to be seen. They didn't want to actually be here.
They were going to vote for John McCain but they weren't too excited about it. I talked to the same people last night. They are ready to put out signs, make calls, call their neighbors, knock on doors.
This base is on fire and I think it's almost entirely because of Sarah Palin. She's a conservative. She reaches out to women in a way that this party was not doing before and I think it is a really good pick for him.
ROBERTS: So, John, from the independents' perspective, if he can effectively run toward the center over the next couple of months, what kind of problem does that present for Barack Obama?
AVLON: Well, it can mean -- this is all about a battle for the center at this point. It's about winning over swing voters, moving independents and reaching out to the center. John McCain owned this territory for most of the last 10 years. His 2000 campaign was the most credible centrist independent campaign we've seen in a long time.
The problem is independents have been so angry at the Bush administration that they're totally alienated from the Republican brand. What McCain's got to do is re-brand the Republican Party in his image.
What Obama needs to do is what he did in the primaries. Reach out, win independents back, keep making his post-partisan case and saying that the Bush party has just alienated independents because they're fundamentally polarizing in their politics.
ROBERTS: Patricia, does he have enough time to re-brand the Republican Party? There's not a lot of -- not a great number of days between now and November 4th.
MURPHY: There's not a lot of time, but it's actually getting back to the brand that people have associated with McCain all along. So I think that he does have time to do that.
He also has time to get Sarah Palin out in the swing states among those hockey moms with Pennsylvania, Ohio. I'm also going to start looking at those states like Georgia, Virginia and obviously, Alaska -- states that Obama is trying to redraw the map. And does his choice of Sarah Palin and this convention excite the conservatives enough to start to claim those states back?
ROBERTS: Well, let's focus on Georgia for a second here because that's a state where Bob Barr, former Congressman Bob Barr running as a libertarian, could make a dent in John McCain's numbers. And if he did that, Barack Obama could potentially take Georgia and then the path to the White House becomes much shorter.
AVLON: Sure.
ROBERTS: Do you think that McCain will be able to peel off some of those libertarian votes that might go for Barr or are they so far gone that's there's no chance to getting it back?
AVLON: The libertarian is no question. They've been politically homeless in this political cycle. They had Ron Paul for a while. But the Republican Party has not really made a good faith effort to reach out to libertarians in awhile. They really tried to make their piece instead by bringing the social conservatives into the fold. In order to re-brand the Republican Party and really grow in the future, they're going to have to reach out to libertarians again. That means re-finding a big tent that has room for social conservatives and libertarians. It's a tall order. But the conservative activists should find comfort in this fact alone from John McCain.
They need to remember that he is running ahead of the Republican brand because of his independence, not in spite of it. That's the key lesson here. And if they don't learn it, they will lose this election.
ROBERTS: This will be a fascinating election campaign.
Patricia Murphy, John Avlon, good to see you. Thanks for coming in.
AVLON: Good to see you.
MURPHY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: 15 minutes after the hour now on the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: On alert. Preparing for Hanna, but keeping an eye on what could be next.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly, we're a lot more concerned about Ike.
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CHETRY: Tracking the triple threat. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, we're following other breaking news this morning and that's developing activity in the Atlantic. There's Tropical Storm Hanna already a deadly rain maker now closing in on the Carolinas. And then not far behind is Ike, a dangerous Category three storm that is racing toward Florida.
Rob Marciano is live in the hurricane headquarters with an update on the track of both of these storms for us this morning.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Yes. Hanna looks like it's going to make landfall tomorrow night into Saturday morning along the Carolina coastline.
There's Ike. It's still a major storm and then Josephine out here. So three of them to talk about. Two of them a more immediate concern.
First off is Hanna with winds of 65 miles an hour. So almost a hurricane. Very broad circulation. The center of it is actually right about here. So we're seeing a flare up on the west side. We've got tropical storm force winds that extend outward of 300 miles. So don't necessarily concentrate on where this line goes but know that the storm is going to have a wide impact on all the Carolinas.
So 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning is where we think it will make landfall somewhere between Charleston and the outer banks of North Carolina. Likely a tropical storm so that's the good news.
It will have battering waves and wind and will have dangerous rip tides and certainly some beach erosion and some flooding rains. But at this point, if it does become a hurricane, probably just a minimal hurricane.
Major hurricane status is Ike and expected to regain maybe to three to four by the time it gets to the Bahamas. Here's the timing of it.
We're looking at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning somewhere around the Florida Straits or south Florida potentially as a three or four category hurricane. Here's a shot of it. Check this out from the International Space Station yesterday.
You got to remember, our satellites typically fly at about 22,000 feet. The International Space Station at about 22,000 miles. This is taken at 200 miles, a real closeup view of that eye. All that outflow just a signature shot of what at the time was a category four storm. That is a cool picture.
Mind you, this space station going at about 17,000 miles an hour. An impressive shot. No doubt about that.
Ike definitely looks very, very dangerous. John and Kiran, the folks in south Florida certainly on edge with this and already likely beginning to make preps.
We're also watching Hanna. Reynolds Wolf on the way to cover that storm later on today. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks a lot, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: We'll check in with you a little later. Thanks.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROBERTS: The next rock star.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY ELDER, "LARRY ELDER RADIO SHOW": I sort of feel bad for John McCain. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Opening act or headliner? Can McCain keep Palin from stealing the show?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE CUMMINGS, SR. CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO.COM: He does have to perform well and grab center stage back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very proud to have introduced our next vice president to the country. But I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain here at the Xcel Center last night talking about his choice for a running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is number two on the ticket and number one in the hearts of many Republicans. With Palin's star rising, there was a concern that she could overshadow the man who would be president.
CNN's Carol Costello is looking into that part of the story for us this morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Kiran, Rush Limbaugh says Sarah Palin makes his heart crazy and his mind nuts. It makes you wonder if a hockey mom with a great personal story can trump a war hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Dare we say it? Some conservatives are. Sarah Palin is their Barack Obama. Charismatic, compelling, a rock star conservatives can love.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.
COSTELLO: Talker Rush Limbaugh called her fabulous, a once in a lifetime politician who can spin a line.
PALIN: That luxury jet was over the top.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: She sold the state jet.
PALIN: I put it on eBay. LIMBAUGH: I put it on eBay. This lady has turned it all around. And "John McBrilliant," pulls this off with the gutsy choice of Sarah Palin.
COSTELLO: This from a guy who once said if John McCain got the nomination it would destroy the Republican Party. We'll say it again. Sarah Palin is a rock star.
LARRY ELDER, "LARRY ELDER RADIO SHOW": I sort of feel a little bad for John McCain. He's not a great speechifier. And given how high a decibel level the convention rose when Sarah Palin spoke, it's going to be hard for John McCain to deal with that.
COSTELLO: And that makes some Republicans nervous. Will this woman dubbed a maverick with her youth, her charm, her family, a conservative agenda, overshadow the original maverick?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, she beat the odds --
COSTELLO: You know, the guy who's running for president.
JEANNE CUMMINGS, SR. CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO.COM: Risk with choosing someone who's fresh and new is that they will be the exciting element. They will be the person that's most intriguing to those watching the event.
COSTELLO: Cummings says McCain's lack of star power was apparent when he took the stage after Palin's speech. He seemed overwhelmed in the presence of so many Palins. She says the only answer, McCain and Palin should limit joint appearances and he should step it up. Conservatives say, they're not worried, though.
ELDER: Will she overshadow him? If she does, is that a bad thing? Most people are going to vote for a president based upon the president, not on number two.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's interesting. Conservative talkers were quick to point out that Sarah Palin's teleprompter was rolling too fast forcing her to ad lib. It was if they were saying, see, our rock star can ad lib and theirs can't -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello for us this morning. Carol, thanks very much. Rush Limbaugh calling John McCain "McBrilliant"? This has been an unusual political season, no doubt.
Forget about overshadowing McCain, though. Sarah Palin's speech almost beat Barack Obama in the ratings. Let's take a look in an "AM EXTRA."
The Alaska governor's prime time debut drew more than 37 million viewers. That's counting all broadcast networks and cable news channels, but not PBS. Palin easily beat Joe Biden who drew 24 million for his acceptance speech. But Obama comes out on top. His outdoor speech was seen by an estimated 38.4 million people.
CHETRY: Swing vote. Is this the man who will decide the election?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB BARR, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The United States of America at its biennial convention. Thank you for being here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Live with Bob Barr. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll ask Democrats and independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, John McCain promising to reach across party lines in his speech last night. And our next guest, Bob Barr, a third party candidate for president running as a libertarian, once a Republican. Bob Barr just got on the ballot this week in New Hampshire. That makes 42 states now, and he plans to be on the ballot in all 50 by Election Day.
And some Republicans fear that he could take votes from McCain. Bob Barr joins me now from Washington.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
BOB BARR, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning. Always a pleasure to be with CNN.
CHETRY: You had the chance to see some of John McCain's speech last night. One of the things he talked about was bringing change to Washington, even acknowledging that the Republican Party itself is one that's in need of reform. Let's listen to a little bit of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And, Bob, you were a Republican and decided to break away from the party. What are some of the basics you think that the GOP really has gotten away from?
BARR: Well, pretty much everything. And what senator McCain, of course, didn't remind people in that attack on the Republicans, mild as it was, is the fact that he's been up there with the Republican Party for almost three decades.
There were very, very few specifics in his speech last night, and this points out the sort of dearth of ideas in the Republican Party. There's nothing really in terms of deep cuts in federal spending. He gave a mild, sort of lukewarm passing offhanded support for maybe there might be some tax cuts, or at least we'll try and keep taxes low.
He went out of his way for some reason to antagonize Russia which seems sort of odd. We do have a lot of problems in the world, and yet he apparently has decided that it's almost worth going to war with Russia over what's happening in Georgia.
But in terms of domestic policies, domestic spending, getting the government out of people's lives, getting the government out of Mom and Pop businesses, there was absolutely nothing of substance there. And this is the real problem that Mr. McCain is facing with a lot of real conservatives and libertarians.
CHETRY: Yes. Let's talk about Georgia, but a different Georgia -- the state of Georgia, your home state. You have a very strong base there. In some of the polling, you're in double digits there. And this election's looking quite close and some of these swing states you could effectively, by winning Georgia or even taking enough votes away from John McCain there, put Barack Obama in the White House. What do you think of the possibility, as people call it, of being the spoiler?
BARR: Well, I'm not in this to be a spoiler. I'm in it to bring a very important message and give the American people a real choice -- something that Senator McCain is not doing. So, there really is a very clear difference between Senator McCain's campaign and Bob Barr's campaign.
CHETRY: If the net result, though, was Barack Obama being in the White House, would you be OK with that?
BARR: Well, it isn't a matter of what I'd be OK with. The fact of the matter is if John McCain loses the election, it will be because there is a lack of vision, leadership and an agenda for the American people.
That's what the Republican Party is suffering from. And they certainly had a good convention with Governor Palin. But now that the balloons have all popped, they need to get out there and provide some substance and apparently they're not going to.
CHETRY: All right. Always good to hear your take. Bob Barr, libertarian presidential candidate, thanks for being with us this morning.
BARR: Thank you. ROBERTS: Coming up now on 32 minutes after the hour. This morning, Republicans are leaving St. Paul ready for a fight. Last night, on a stage designed to recreate the feel of a town hall meeting, McCain defined the change that he would bring when it comes to energy independence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: My fellow Americans, when I'm president we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We're going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We'll attack the problem on every front. We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.
We'll build more nuclear power plants. We'll develop clean coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex fuel, hybrids, and electric automobiles.
Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet.
My friends, it's an ambitious plan. But Americans are ambitious by nature, and we face greater challenges. It's time for us to show the world again how Americans lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And as McCain was speaking inside the Xcel Center, outside a wild and tense showdown was under way between police and protesters as the crowd tried to push their way toward the convention here. Officers fought back with tear gas and flash bang grenades. Authorities say that hundreds of people were arrested. We don't have an exact number on any of that yet, though.
But back inside the Xcel Center, McCain was looking to independents and Democrats, casting himself as the only candidate to reach across the aisle and sometimes buck his party in doing it. Joining me now is Democratic analyst Julian Epstein.
Julian, it looked clear last night that McCain is going to run toward the middle and he's going to run hard. How does Barack Obama counter that over the next couple of months? Because very often in election, it comes down to who independent voters -- who swing voters are most comfortable with?
JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC ANALYST: I think McCain is going towards the center in words but certainly not in deeds. It was a good speech last night. It had a compelling biography. And it was a great speech in fact, until he got to the part about what he would do if he were president. George Bush could have given that speech. In fact, if you just take two examples, what McCain would do on taxes, it's exactly what George Bush did eight years ago, which is to give taxes almost overwhelmingly to the superrich.
On health care, he would do essentially nothing about the health care crisis and the 40 million uninsured.
He talks about -- importantly, I think, the critique of the Republican Party, the overspending of the Republican Party during the last eight years but his policies are effectively that of George Bush's.
So, I think the question is going to be, will that dog hunt --
ROBERTS: OK. So, let's come back to this idea of a compelling story. He was saying last night in going over his biography that his presidency would be rooted in love of country, suggesting that Barack Obama's would be rooted in love of self. Let's listen to how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So how does Barack Obama launch a counterattack against that? Because that has been sort of a consistent theme throughout the three days of this convention.
EPSTEIN: Yes. I think this is the kind of personal attack that's going to turn a lot of fickly independents off. But they have made a decision to move from the experience argument to the change argument. I think what Barack Obama says, if you want change, vote for the real thing rather than a pale alternative. Republicans are not credible messengers on change.
ROBERTS: Julian Epstein, good to see you. Thanks for your help all this week.
EPSTEIN: All right, John.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it. We'll see you back a little bit later on.
EPSTEIN: OK.
ROBERTS: We'll pair you together with a good Republican, all right, our friend Kevin Madden, who used to work with Mitt Romney. All the girls love him.
36 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
CHETRY: Kitchen table politics. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has the potential to play the working- class heroine.
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CHETRY: Forget the big tent. Republicans set their sights on the big box.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Sam's Club" Republicans.
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CHETRY: Can they get them to vote in bulk? You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Well, John McCain warning Washington last night that change is coming. A McCain-Palin ticket could appeal to a group of swing voters that have been hard for more traditional GOP candidates to reach. These are the so-called "Sam's Club" Republicans. CNN's Jason Carroll joins me now.
We've got the NASCAR dads, the hockey moms, the soccer moms, now you have the "Sam's Club Republicans."
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They've got it all here. Let me tell you what it's all about. The wealthy still vote for Republicans in significant numbers. But some party insiders say the GOP's real base are socially conservative voters from modest means. They are Sam's Club Republicans.
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CARROLL (voice-over): A rousing reception for Senator John McCain last night. But many GOP insiders are still buzzing about what his running mate, Sarah Palin, can bring to the table -- more specifically, who she can bring.
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: What I like to call Sam's Club Republicans. These voters are on a tight budget.
CARROLL: Sam's Club Republicans. Named after the warehouse discount store. Minnesota's governor coined the phrase after a bloc of predominantly white, working class, non-college graduates, helped vote him into office. That's who Tim Pawlenty says McCain needs and he thinks Palin is their ticket.
PAWLENTY: Voters across the whole socioeconomic spectrum can look at her and say, you know what, I think she can understand and relate to my problems or my concerns because she's walked my walk. CARROLL: Governor Pawlenty is not alone. Ross Douthat has been writing about Sam's Club Republicans and even suggested Palin as a possible vice presidential nominee weeks before McCain picked her.
ROSS DOUTHAT, AUTHOR, "GRAND NEW PARTY": She has the potential to play the working class heroine in a sense that, you know, woman who worked her way up from obscurity.
CARROLL: Sam's Club Republicans may be a relatively new phrase. But this key voting block isn't. Richard Nixon called some of them the silent majority in the '70s. In the '80s many were known as Reagan Democrats. Call them what you want, but political analyst say they're fickle and warn Palin may not cast a wide enough net to real in all of them.
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: She will do a good job of bringing in the old Reagan Democrats, the sort of Sam's Club Republicans as they're called now. But I don't think she'll do a very good job of bringing the Hillary Clinton Democrats in.
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CARROLL: We'll have to see. Political observers say the candidate who captures the Sam's Club vote will be the one that delivers best on issues important to them such as low taxes, rising cost of health care and raising children. And at the end of the day they say, it will come down to how McCain and Obama approach them, not so much their running mates.
CHETRY: Can you do a piece on Hillary Clinton supporters who shop at Sam's Club? Maybe that's still an untapped voting block there.
CARROLL: Let's try that next week.
CHETRY: Good job, Jason. Good to see you. Thank you.
CARROLL: All right.
ROBERTS: Meeting the enemy.
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MCCAIN: I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams. And how to stand up to those who don't.
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ROBERTS: Toe-to-toe with rogue nations. Zain Verjee, live in Libya with a look at what could be the ultimate test for the next president. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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MCCAIN: We face many dangerous threats in this dangerous world. But I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them.
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ROBERTS: Senator John McCain last night telling delegates that he is ready to stand up to terrorists. Well, this morning America's top diplomat sits down with a man Ronald Reagan once described as the mad dog of the Middle East. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Muammar Gaddafi today. The Libyan leaders regime was implicated the bombing of PanAm 103 and still owes millions of dollars to the family's of U.S. victims.
It's a historic sit-down and CNN has exclusive access this morning. Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee is traveling with the secretary, and she joins us now live from Tripoli.
Zain, put this all in context for folks at home. How big of a deal is this that the secretary is sitting down with the Libyan leader?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. This is a really big deal. Both for the United States and for Libya. I mean, this is Muammar Gaddafi that she's going to be shaking hands and sitting down with. This was someone that was seen as the Osama Bin Laden of the '80s. Libya was seen then as the bad guy of the world.
From the U.S. point of view, they're saying, look, this is a success story. It's a rare dramatic one. Gaddafi has given up weapons of mass destruction. Libya has been really helpful to the United States, officials have told us, in counterterrorism efforts in this region as well as preventing Libyan fighters from going over to fight in Iraq.
Also, critically for the United States, Libya has accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and agreed to compensate victims. Another key point, John, is oil. The United States is motivated by huge untapped resources that Libya has. Which Secretary Rice, by coming here, by trying to seal the deal with Gaddafi is going to make it a lot easier for American oil companies to operate here -- John.
ROBERTS: So, Zain, as you said, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am 103. But as we said at the beginning of this, they still owe families of the victims millions of dollars. So, what is the reaction of those families to this visit?
VERJEE: Well, they have been extremely upset. They've been furious. Essentially saying that the United States is just selling out. They are angry that Secretary Rice is even here meeting with Gaddafi. From the State Department's point of view, they say, look, we understand the difficult sensitivities involved here.
But they say that they've been working on it. The compensation deal, they say, is on track and they hope it will happen. Officials have told us, though, that it is time to move on. Gaddafi has rehabilitated his image and Libya should be part of the world community -- John.
ROBERTS: Our Zain Verjee this morning following the secretary's visit to Tripoli, Libya. Exclusive access that you'll only see here on CNN. Zain, thanks so much.
It's 47 minutes after the hour. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: Palin's record.
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PALIN: I stood up to the special interests, championed reform, protected the tax payers.
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CHETRY: Deborah Feyerick reviews the big speech and finds it wasn't all straight talk. We're checking the record and reporting the facts. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Well, it's a wrap. Republicans tying a red, white and blue ribbon around their Grand Old Party in St. Paul. And Jeanne Moos has an unconventional look at how the extravaganza came to a close.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The balloon drop. It's sort of like the lights turning on at a party so you know it's the end. The candidates prepare to exit. The delegates have a last stand. The Democrats had real fireworks out doors. Republicans had fireworks on the big screen inside. The Dems had the sky cam draped in streamers. The Republicans had TV camera men buried in balloons deeper and deeper. Even the closing benediction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All mighty God.
MOOS: Was blessed with balloons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heal our land.
MOOS: But first, heal thy heart, the rock group's heart, ask the Republicans to cease and desist. Stop using their song, Barracuda, to celebrate VP pick Sarah Palin. Palin's nickname was barracuda back when she played high school basketball.
As the convention was gavelled to a close, you almost expected Tony Soprano to show up as they played "The Journey" song from the Soprano's finale. Remember the screen went to black mid song? At least the song finished at the convention. Delegates grabbed their state sign posts, souvenirs, signs posted with signatures. They milled around an emptying arena that seemed a little like Time Square after midnight had passed. Once you leave the Republican convention, there aren't many places you can wear an elephant hat. It's hard looking dignified when you're checking your BlackBerry dressed like Dumbo. With an unconventional moment, I'm Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ROBERTS: That's the ticket.
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MCCAIN: Stand up. Stand up. Stand up and fight!
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ROBERTS: The maverick makes it to the top of his party.
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MCCAIN: Change is coming.
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ROBERTS: And we take a look at number two on the ticket.
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PALIN: And I stood up to the special interests and the lobbyists.
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ROBERTS: Sarah Palin, fact or fiction. The record she really brings to Washington. It's the "Most Politics in the Morning" live from St. Paul.
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MCCAIN: I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement. But let there be no doubt, my friends. We're going to win this election. We're going to win the White House.
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ROBERTS: We're back with the "Most News in the Morning." Senator John McCain there firing up the crowd at the Xcel Center last night with his acceptance speech. Joining me now with reaction, CNN political contributor Bill Bennett. He's the national radio host of "Morning in America." Joins me down the street in Egan, Minnesota.
Bill, it's good to see you this morning. So John McCain trying to sell himself as the maverick again. Will people buy that? His record has been pretty close to President Bushes over the last couple of years.
BILL BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: It's been close in a lot of ways, but there had been some real differences. And some of the fights that he's had with George Bush, John, have been pretty public. You remember the fight about torture, the fight about Don Rumsfeld and the conduct of the war when he pushed the surge. I think everybody knows that's something he was pushing and George Bush accepted it. Good idea. Disagreements about budget, you know, spending too much.
So, he's got the advantage that a lot of those disagreements have been public. But I think he has to keep making the case. It was an unusual thing, John, wasn't it, for a guy to take the nomination through Republican convention and say Republicanism over the last 10 years is part of the problem.
ROBERTS: Yes. But there's a lot of conservatives who believe that as well. They think that the party has lost its way. They don't like the spending. They don't like the growth of government. And it's also an appeal to swing voters. Can he sell it on both of those levels?
BENNETT: Well, if anybody can, it's John McCain. You know, given the environment, John -- the political environment, it seems to me this is the only Republican who has a plausible chance of winning the election because of what you just said.
This is a guy who has a maverick reputation. I think people do believe he is an independent guy. He's an independent cuss sometimes. Again, some of these fights have been pretty public. And in a year in which Republicans are in bad odor, you need somebody who's fought with Republicans from time to time and who has an independent speak to appeal to those independents and cross over voters.
And of course, the Palin effect, we don't know yet what that's going to be with independents and maybe Hillary Clinton women.
ROBERTS: So the battle now in the next 61 days is for that growing segment of America that we call the great middle, and the Obama campaign going after that as well. Here's what their reaction to last night's speech was. Quote, "he talked about bipartisanship but didn't mention that he's been a Bush partisan 90 percent of the time. That he's run a Karl Rove campaign and that he wants to continue the president's disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years.
With John McCain, it's more of the same. And you remember those signs, Bill, that they had in Denver last week during the Democratic convention. McCain equals McSame. Is that a powerful point to push against John McCain?
BENNETT: You know, I don't think so. But we shall see. I mean, that we'll find out in November. I don't think so. The thing is -- remember Fred Thompson's speech, John, he said two questions you never have to ask about John McCain. Who is this man and can we trust the country with him? There's a sense that people have that they know John McCain. And as they think about who they know, do they think he's George Bush? Do they think it's just going to be a carbon copy of George Bush's presidency or they think it's going to be different? This 90 percent, by the way. Most votes as you know are pro- forma. If you look at Harry Reid, he probably is with the president 60 percent of the time. So, I mean, you have to go through issue by issue.
On the war there's no question. He supported the war. But he's the guy as much as anybody in the Senate, more than anyone in the Senate who helped get the surge which, as you know, even Barack Obama is conceding has succeed beyond our wildest expectation.
ROBERTS: I guess we'll find out over the next two months whether or not John McCain can convince independent voters that he's the same guy he was back in 2000. Bill Bennett, thanks so much. Good to see you this morning. And thanks for your help this week.
BENNETT: Yes. Let's all get some sleep, huh?
ROBERTS: That would be a great idea. Thanks, Bill.
