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Campbell Brown

Democrats Worry About Poll Numbers; Palin Campaigns Solo; Biden Gaff: Obama Should have Chosen Hillary

Aired September 14, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is not lost on either Governor Palin or Tina Fey, the similarities between the two of them. But certainly, Tina Fey was a dead ringer in terms of her accent and her whole persona of Governor Palin last night.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that art imitating life or life imitating art? I'm not sure which, Dana. But, interesting to hear that perspective, very interesting.

BASH: Both.

ACOSTA: And also, good to know you have satellite TV on the campaign plane.

BASH: We do.

ACOSTA: That's all the -- that's all the time we have for BALLOT BOWL this hour. More BALLOT BOWL coming up after the break. And more on the situation down on the gulf coast with Hurricane Ike, that's coming up after a break.

This is BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. BALLOT BOWL resumes in a moment.

But first, the latest on Hurricane Ike's aftermath. They say it could be weeks, even months, perhaps, before towns along the Texas coast can be lived in again. A day and a half after the storm rolled through, they are still trying to assess the extent of the damage. So far, Ike is blamed for at least eight deaths.

And many Houston streets are blocked by standing water, downed trees, and power lines. An overnight curfew will remain in effect there all week.

And rescuers are trying to find an estimated 20,000 Galveston area residents who ignored evacuation orders. So far, about 2,000 of them have turned up safe. Galveston residents who did evacuate are being warned that they cannot return yet.

And one of the hardest hit Texas communities, Crystal Beach, 20 miles northeast of Galveston, well, despite stunning destruction, some people there still refuse to leave.

Here now is CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Hurricane Ike devoured Crystal Beach. Hundreds of expensive homes on this tiny coastal island look like they exploded. Shreds of debris left floating in the water. And as you fly over, you only see the stilts of where many homes once stood. Even some of the concrete slabs were torn apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's like Hurricane Katrina all over again.

LAVANDERA: Crystal Beach sits on a barrier island, just east of Galveston. The heart of Hurricane Ike ripped through here and the storm surge delivered a brutal blow. We flew over with the Air Force search and rescue team, hunting for people who rode out the storm, and incredibly, there were people below, alive.

Across the devastated region, some 1,000 military personnel are involved in search and rescue missions, and even as hundreds of people were pulled out on Saturday, pararescue jumpers, Vincent Acker (ph), and Doug Dickens (ph), encountered only defiance from storm survivors. On the seven-hour mission, at least a dozen people refused their offers to be pulled out. The airmen left food and water behind for them.

Crystal Beach appears completely cut off from ground help. Even a cow that survived the storm could only find refuge on the back doorstep of a home. Another nearby town, High Island, is also surrounded by water, an area where oil rigs decorate the coastal landscape. It's bizarre to see those oil rigs now just sitting in water. And you can see the chemicals and oil polluting the floodwaters.

Everywhere you look in this area, you see water where there isn't supposed to be water. How long it will take to recede isn't known, but you can't help but wonder, Crystal Beach and this sliver of island can survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Ed Lavandera reporting.

Well, Ike is not done yet. The quick-moving storm is adding to the record rainfall that hit Chicago yesterday. More than 6 1/2 inches of rain flooded streets and left people stranded there. City officials are asking for a state-issue federal disaster declaration.

All right. Let's check in with our Chad Myers, who is tracking this storm which is still, you know, have a pretty good punch.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It does. It's still blowing wind all over the place in Indiana, in Kentucky, and Ohio. Right there at the airport in northern Kentucky, which is the Cincinnati airport -- 74 miles per hour. We have some damage around there as well, and it's going to be a very windy day over across a lot of the Midwest and northeast.

These are the sustained winds you're feeling: Cincinnati, 30; Louisville, 28. But you can double that number to get to the gusts. And some of these gusts now are still knocking things down, taking power lines down. I had a report of 500,000 people around Cincinnati without power.

Here's a live shot from Cincinnati. This is what a camera looks like when you have winds to 60 and sometimes 70, something on fire, the fire department trying to get to it. Probably have something to do with a power line coming down onto something. And that's what it leave (ph) -- that bouncing camera. It's a long shot, so a zoomed in camera, but that's what the wind is doing there in northern Kentucky. In Cincinnati, same story -- Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, and down to Knoxville as well.

It's going to be a windy day; it's going to be a rainy day in some spots, but not too much. We're going to see rain showers. The winds are going to be -- and these aren't even thunderstorm winds. It's just wind coming out of the air, coming out of the circulation from what was Ike and interacting with the cold front.

The rain as well to the north into Flint, in Detroit, in Fort Wayne. And then further down to the south, we're getting more showers here. This is still part of the same area of rain shower activity. You could see a couple of storms here spinning later on today, but I don't think we're going to get too many tornadoes. Corpus Christi, you're seeing some heavy rainshowers, down around Brownsville as well -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chad, thanks so much.

Well, CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in High Island, Texas, on the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston. She joins us now -- with a lot of destruction behind you, too, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're just a little bit south of High Island in a place called Port Bolivar. And it's hard to say -- to describe this place in any other way other than to say it is decimated.

Right now, you can see over my shoulder some waves lapping ashore. That is about the only sound you can hear here aside from an occasional seagull and maybe a house alarm that is eerily sounding down what was probably a busy street.

I'm standing on a cracked foundation of what once was a home. Every home here in this particular area set on wooden stilts and nearly every one is wiped clean. You perhaps remember what it looked like in Waveland, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, that's what this looks like to us. We have seen cars submerged in the mud and in water, and occasional television set, a lawn mower. But there is absolutely no sign of life here. It makes you think back to that National Weather Service bulletin that if you do not leave a particular area, if you do not evacuate low-lying areas, quote, "you will face certain death." If anyone did stay behind, I can't imagine how they made it.

Now, we have learned that the U.S. Coast Guard did make evacuation flights here before Hurricane Ike hit and did some rescue flights afterwards. But there's no way of knowing right now whether anyone has made a house to house search. However, I can say that every power line is downed, every house is destroyed, practically speaking. And so, there will be much work to be done to try to bring this particular coastal community back -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti near High Island, Texas there -- incredible devastation.

Well, let's get a view of the storm and from those who did actually weather it, CNN iReporters. Josh Levs has the cream of the crop.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. You know, I want to get straight to this guy's pictures because they're pretty amazing. Let's just pull them up right now.

This is from Paul English. Now, I want you to see some of the stunning photos that he took. And as we look at them, I want to tell you what he was even doing there, an incredible story. He is an E.R. doctor at the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston.

And just let's scroll through the photos he sent us. He stayed behind to work in the E.R., which is why he was there and even able to take these pictures. And one of the ones that we're going to see in these areas -- we keep scrolling through these photos -- let's look at that one for a second, that, he says, was a fire in the boatyard near the hospital that caused a temporary evacuation of the E.R. where he was working.

Now, let's just go through some more from him. These are really stunning photos. And while he was working there, he says at one point he went with a co-worker to go see if the co-worker's house was OK. And just on the way, they weren't looking for destruction, they weren't specifically trying to find the worst pictures, just going out there, Fred, this is what they saw in the Galveston area.

I'm telling you -- in this story, perhaps more than any other I have ever seen, our iReporters are telling us the story.

And we encourage you, if you have photos and videos taken in any kind of safe way. We do check these things first if they were taken in a safe way, send them to us at iReport.com. And we're going to keep showing you what it is that happened to this area.

And, Fred, you can look at this and you can start to think about how many people out there are going to have to start from scratch to rebuild their lives and their livelihood, particularly right there in hard-hit Galveston.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is going to be a long, hard road.

LEVS: Yes, look at that.

WHITFIELD: One way to go. All right.

LEVS: When they can even see the road again, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. All right, Josh. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: And, of course, there are ways you can help the storm victims. Just log on to our Website and find out how to impact your world. You'll find links to organizations offering assistance at CNN.com/impact.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. BALLOT BOWL returns right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to another round of BALLOT BOWL '08. I'm Jim Acosta in Denver, Colorado, a state where Barack Obama has a big campaign swing over the next 24 hours, hitting towns like Grand Junction and Pueblo, that coming up for Barack Obama in the next 24 hours.

We should mention we're standing in front of Invesco Field, that is the site of his big speech of the Democratic National Convention, thought it would be fitting to have that backdrop.

And if you see some blue and orange shirts behind me, don't be alarmed. Today is Denver Broncos game day in Denver. They are playing the San Diego Chargers. So, you may see a few fans from time to time.

But speaking of football, what we have seen over the last 24 to 48 hours, really, the last week of this campaign has been some smash mouth political football. And, I want to bring in two of my colleagues will be joining me over the next hour of BALLOT BOWL, Ed Henry who was up in New Hampshire covering what is a very important battleground state up there.

And my colleague, Dana Bash, she was also here in the Mile High City, she is keeping tabs on Sarah Palin who has a swing of her own through Colorado over the next 24 hours.

And, Dana, smash mouth is certainly a big part of football and it seems to be becoming a part of this campaign season with the attack ads, with the aggressive lines of attack out on the campaign trail. Sooner or later, somebody is going to throw a flag for unnecessary roughness out on this campaign trail. It's really on both sides -- both sides are going at each other with just 51 days to go here in this campaign. BASH: That's right. And, you know, interestingly, this morning Karl Rove, ironically, may have been the first person to throw that flag. And he had some pretty harsh words for his fellow Republican John McCain in suggesting that some of his ads may not be truthful and maybe he's going one step too far with those. And we'll talk about that a little bit more in the hour.

But you mentioned, Jim, that I am here covering Governor Sarah Palin. She is in her first solo campaign swing to battleground states. Colorado is obviously one of them. She'll have a rally here tomorrow.

Since John McCain picked Sarah Palin, the two of them have been pushing this idea that they are now the change ticket, that they are a pair of mavericks. That is McCain aides say because they believe and looking at their data, their internal data, that undecided voters aren't so sure they want to vote for Barack Obama but they don't, don't, don't want four more years of George Bush.

So that is why they are pushing this idea that they are a team that is different from both of them. However, even they cannot omit the idea that the issue that is on voters' minds still is the economy.

So, this past week, pretty much at every campaign stop, they didn't get into too many details but John McCain did recognize the tough times that voters are in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, LEBANON, OHIO)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can I give you some straight talk for a minute? No one knows this straight talk better than you. These are tough times. These are tough times. You're worried about keeping your job, finding a new one, struggling to put food on the table, stay in your home.

This week, we're looking at a costly government-led restructuring of our home loan agencies. We need to keep people in their homes but we cannot allow this to turn into a bailout of Wall Street speculators and irresponsible executives. They cannot be rewarded.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: All you've ever asked is for government to stand on your side, not in your way. And that's what I intend to do, stand on your side and fight for your future.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: I'll keep taxes low and cut them where I can, Senator Obama will raise them. I'll open market new markets to our goods and services, Senator Obama will close them. I will cut government spending and eliminate earmark spending, and he will increase it.

My friends, my tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My healthcare plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good healthcare insurance, his plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run healthcare system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor. We cannot have that.

(CROWD BOOING)

MCCAIN: I know how to work across the aisle. I've worked across the aisle and I've got the scars to prove it. My friends, Senator Obama has never -- he has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate and he has never reached across the aisle on any major issue in the time he's been in the Senate. I'll reach out my hand to anyone who will help us work together to fix these problems and end the gridlock in Washington, bring about change.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: We've got to start putting our country first. That's what I've done throughout my entire career and that's what I'll do as president.

Now, my friends, let me just remind you we still live in a very dangerous world. Events recently of Russian aggression into Georgia are an example. Russia is trying, not only to reassemble the Old Russian Empire but control of the energy supplies that go to Europe and the world.

And my friends, these are tough times. But the fact is, also, that we have succeeded in Iraq and we are winning and our troops will come home with victory and honor. They will come home with victory and honor.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: If Senator Obama had had his way, we'd have suffered defeat, Iranian influence would have increased, and we would face greater chaos in the region. Senator Obama has refused to acknowledge that he was wrong about the surge. He said it wouldn't succeed.

Thanks to General David Petraeus and these brave young Americans, we are winning in Iraq and welcome home with honor.

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: Senator Obama was wrong about Iran, he was wrong about Iraq, he was wrong about Russia, he's wrong about America's national security challenges in the future, and he has no experience. And more importantly, he lacks the judgment to lead this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: There you actually heard Senator McCain bring back something that we hadn't heard, at least, in the first week or so, Jim, that Senator McCain picked Governor Palin, that is bringing back the experience argument against Obama.

And McCain aides tell me that he actually brought that back after Obama was mocking him for essentially dropping that because he picked Governor Palin. They've said that they brought that back to show that they are not going to back down from that.

And that really was a very good synopsis, I think, a good chunk of what we heard over and over and over again at these rallies that the two of them had together. Governor Palin and Senator McCain doing a little of substance, hitting the economy, hitting Iraq, but for the most part, what they have been trying to do is push the idea of who they are and the kind of people that they are, and the kind of -- the approach to government that they will have rather than getting too far into the substance lately on the campaign trail.

ACOSTA: Yes, Dana, and that's the beauty of BALLOT BOWL. We get to hear the candidates in their own words on the issues people care about. And you heard John McCain roll through them right there.

But if you listen to Barack Obama, from his vantage point, what we've seen over the last two weeks has been a distraction, and in the way many Democrats see it. Sarah Palin has been that distraction. Now, of course, Republicans will say -- well, that's because of the way the Democrats responded to Sarah Palin's pick, that's because of the way the media responded to the pick of Sarah Palin.

But Barack Obama was out on the stump yesterday in Manchester, New Hampshire and was going right after John McCain. And this is a preview, many Democrats feel, of what we're going to be seeing over the next 51 days. And that is less talk about Sarah Palin, more talk about John McCain.

Here is Barack Obama going right after the Republican nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They don't want to debate the Obama/Biden ticket on issues because they are running on eight more years of what we've just seen, and they know it. They don't have new ideas to help you send your kids to college. They don't have new ideas to help you get healthcare. They don't have new ideas to help you increase wages.

So, as a consequence, what they are going to spend the next seven, eight weeks doing, is trying to distract you. They are going to talk about pigs and they are going to talk about lipstick and they are going to talk about Paris Hilton, and they're going to talk about Britney Spears.

They will try to distort my record, and they will try to undermine your trust in what the Democrats intend to do. I mean, that's what they do every election. Well, they did it four years ago. They did it eight years ago. They've done it 20 years ago.

But, let me -- let me be clear, and I don't care whether you are a Democrat or an independent or Republican, I want you to be -- I want you to be perfectly clear about this. The times are too serious for those strategies to work this time. This moment is too urgent. If we don't bring about the changes that we need starting right now, then our children may not have the same kind of America that we want them to have. I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out millions more people don't have health insurance. I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out that the ocean tides have risen a little more and that the weather patterns have changed a little more. I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out that China and India have out-competed us again because we weren't serious about fixing our education system.

I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out that we've been distracted by wars we don't need to fight instead of focusing on the wars we do have to win. I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out we've still got veterans sleeping on the streets instead of providing them the care that they need. I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out that more people are jobless and more people have lost their homes and more people do not have healthcare.

I don't want that future for America. I don't want that future for my children. I don't want that future for yours.

And so I believe that we will not be distracted this time. We will not be diverted this time. John McCain may have the lobbyists, but I've got you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And there you have it right there from Barack Obama. Some tough talk from the Illinois senator, saying that right there at the end, "John McCain has lobbyists, I've got you."

So, Dana, there you have it, really a crystallizing of the issues from both of these candidates. It seems that we've sort of moved past this distraction over the last couple of weeks of Sarah Palin and who she is about, what she's going to be all about, and you see both these candidates here going right at each other toe-to-toe.

It's going to be interesting to see how these arguments shape up as we get very close to these debates coming up at the end of this month. It's fun to watch.

BASH: It sure is. But, you know, the reality is and the interesting thing to watch from my perch in covering Governor Palin last night and today, is that she is still very much trying to push who she is and trying to connect with voters, particularly here in the west, especially the state where we both are in Colorado. She is reminding them of the fact that she is somebody who likes to hunt. She's somebody who likes her guns.

Those are the kinds of values that really, the McCain campaigns believe appeals to Democrats and Republicans and independents in this state, which is why she is here campaigning in her first solo trip.

She's also trying to appeal into the so-called "Wal-Mart moms." That is the term that we're hearing more and more from the McCain campaign. While she's doing that here, John McCain is on the other side of the country, out in New Hampshire. He is appealing literally and directly to NASCAR dads.

We're going to hear from our own Ed Henry, who is with Senator McCain, about just what his message is to those NASCAR dads. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash in Denver, Colorado, where Governor Sarah Palin is in the middle of her first solo campaign trip. She is here trying to rally the Republican faithful in pockets that she needs and Senator McCain needs to boost turnout in order to win states like Colorado, which right now show is neck-and-neck in the polls, even though it had been a reliably red state.

We're going to go to a state that has not been reliably red or blue lately. Ed Henry is in the state of New Hampshire where Senator McCain is campaigning in.

Ed, that's the state, New Hampshire, which the last time around, in '04, that was the only one to flip from the Republican column to the Democratic column. And that's why it's such a fascinating purple state right now.

You covered Senator McCain at a NASCAR race today. Tell us how Senator McCain is using that particular kind of event, and more broadly using the message to those voters right now.

ED HENRY, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Clearly, Dana, trying to reach out to white working class voters, men as well as women. They're at the NASCAR race as well. There are some NASCAR moms like hockey mom. But specifically those NASCAR dads you mentioned. John McCain was at that race trying to reach out to them.

Later, he went a bar in Manchester, New Hampshire, with Curt Shilling, the very popular pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, which hits the New Hampshire market. Obviously all their games closely watched here. Also an attempt by John McCain obviously to try to appear like a regular guy reaching out to voters in that way, whether he's at a bar or at a race.

What I find interesting, as you know, from being on the road, it's almost as if John McCain is borrowing a strategy from George W. Bush in 2000, when it was John McCain as a Republican candidate for president who ultimately lost. But early in that primary battle, was billing himself as a change candidate, the reformer. After John McCain won in New Hampshire, George W. Bush retooled his campaign, in part, by coming back with that message, reformer with results. Not just a reformer who talked about change, but a reformer with results. He rode that message to the White House in 2000.

Now we see John McCain essentially trying to take Barack Obama's change message, reform message, and say, look, Barack Obama has been talking about it for months now. He's only been Washington for a brief time. He doesn't know how to get that reform done. Now John McCain, with Sarah Palin at his side, is now essentially trying to say -- although he's not using these exact words -- I'm the reformer with results, campaign finance, lobbying reform and others. That's the case John McCain is trying to make at NASCAR races and even at some sports clubs -- Dana?

BASH: that's right. And polls show -- Republican polls and McCain aides tells us their internal polls show it's working and they are not going to let it go.

You mentioned George Bush in 2000, the man who George Bush calls the architect of that race for him in 2004, Karl Rove was out this morning and he talked about -- he's somebody who has not the greatest history with John McCain. Recently, he's been a staunch McCain supporter. This morning he pretty much called McCain and his aides out on some controversial television ads they have been running, for example, on Barack Obama saying that he promoted sex education for kindergarteners and others, saying those ads don't pass the truth test. Not exactly the kind of thing the McCain campaign wants to hear from somebody like Karl Rove.

HENRY: You're absolutely right. As you saw within moments, both of us were getting e-mails from the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign and their surrogates, basically saying, look, even Karl Rove is saying as a conservative that John McCain has crossed the line.

We should point out that the Democrats left out some of the other things Karl Rove said, as you said, where he basically said he believes Barack Obama has crossed the line as well. Democrats wouldn't mention that part, of course, just as a lot of times leaving we get emails from Republicans leaving out part of the story.

Clearly, nonetheless, you're absolutely right, Karl Rove suggesting John McCain ads crossing the line, particularly sex education. He has gotten momentum recently. We've seen that in national polls and battle ground states as well. He has to be very careful that these ads don't cross the line because if he gets called on it, not by Democrats, but Republican, obviously that could backfire -- Dana?

BASH: That's right. And in talking to McCain aides, as I'm sure you have, they have been pretty tough responding to some of the questions I, and I'm sure you've asked, about those ads saying, you know what, we stand by it and we're going to keep putting those ads up. For both campaigns, I think it's fair to say that started out saying this is going to be an above the fray campaign, neither of them has lived up to that. That is for sur.

Thank you very much for that.

HENRY: Thank you.

BASH: We look forward to getting more from the Granite State in New Hampshire with John McCain.

When we come back, we are going to hear from both candidates on this issue of change and every other issue they have been talking about on the campaign trail because "BALLOT BOWL" is the place to hear from the candidates in their own words unfiltered. We'll have much more of that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash in Denver, Colorado.

We'll get back to the candidates on the campaign trail in their own words in just a short while. First, we want to get a snapshot of where things stand in the race for president, which is 51 days to go.

For that we bring in none other than our very own Bill Schneider.

Bill, let's start with the overall picture, where things stand on a national level between these two candidates.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The overall picture, Dana, is close. That's got Democrats worried. Our latest CNN poll of polls, which averages four surveys taken recently, shows McCain 46, Obama 45, just one point apart with McCain slightly ahead. Clearly, Barack Obama has lost the lead he had most of the summer. Since the conventions it has been neck-and-neck with John McCain.

Democrats are very worried about this but they reassured themselves because they say, you know what, national polls show everything is neck-and-neck. Democrats have generally taken comfort from state polls. There is no national race, remember. There are 51 separate state and D.C. races. State polls in many of the critical swing states have continued to show Obama slightly ahead. So Democrats assure themselves, pay no attention to the national polls, look at the states.

BASH: Especially this close to Election Day.

Let's look at one of those battle ground states you're talking about. The state of Iowa, there's a new poll that should give Obama comfort there, isn't there?

SCHNEIDER: There is Iowa, Obama 52, McCain 40. That's a 12 point lead. CNN polled Iowa a couple of weeks ago with a 15 point lead for Obama. Looks like Obama is in good shape in Iowa. Remember, that was the state on January 3rd where Obama made his breakthrough. Iowa is very well organized for Obama. He has a very deep infrastructure there. Looks like a very good state for him.

Iowa is an interesting state because it voted for Al Gore in 2000 and then switched to George Bush in 2004. The Democrats would dearly like to take it back and it looks like they will.

BASH: And John McCain doesn't have a very deep base there, because he didn't campaign there in 2000 for their primary. He didn't campaign there the last time around either. Not a lot of connections for John McCain in Iowa.

Let's look at another state where perhaps Barack Obama should be worried, another swing state, Minnesota.

SCHNEDIER: This is the big uh-oh. Remember, I said swing states are generally tilting to Obama. Well, look at Minnesota, 45-45, a tie. Minnesota has not voted for a Republican since 1972, for Richard Nixon, because they voted for favorite son Walter Mondale in 1984. But it's a tie in Minnesota. The Democrats are absolutely certain they have to carry Minnesota. They will carry Minnesota.

What happened? Just two weeks ago, CNN polled Minnesota and found Obama 12 points ahead. That was just before the Republican convention. So it's possible that the convention, which was held in the Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, possible the Republicans got a little boost out of their convention to the point where it is now a dead heat. It's also possible that the economy of Minnesota isn't quite as bad as the economy of other states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Obama does do best in the swing states where the economy is in the worst shape. But Democrats have got to be worried about that poll in Minnesota.

BASH: Fascinating, Bill. Thank you very much.

Minnesota is a quirky state. Quirkiness is something people in Minnesota wear proudly. It's going to be fascinating to watch whether or not that does open up again to where it historically has been for Democrats and Republicans.

Bill, thanks for the update on where we are in the polls.

SCHENDIER: Sure.

BASH: Bill mentioned Minnesota and the Republican convention. That, of course, is where Sarah Palin gave her debut speech.

We are going to hear after the break from both Sarah Palin and the vice-presidential candidate on the Democratic side, Senator Joe Biden, in their own words on the campaign trail right after a break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL '08." I'm Dana Bash in Denver, Colorado, following Governor Sarah Palin on her first campaign swing to battle ground states. She has been sticking pretty much to script, having short rallies, talking about her message as a reformer.

But before she came here, she was back in her home state of Alaska pushing not only that, but the idea of her knowledge, she says, and her experience with a very, very important issue right now to voters, and that is energy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So here in Alaska we're giving money back to the hardworking Alaskans. In these tough times, John McCain and I are ready to do the same thing across our country by bringing tax relief to all Americans. (APPLAUSE). In a McCain-Palin administration, we're excited to expand nuclear energy and expand our use of alternative fuels. And we will drill now to make this nation energy independent. (APPLAUSE).

More and more every day, everyone we're speaking with is recognizing it is a matter of national security, and it is for our economic prosperity. We need American energy resources brought to you by American ingenuity produced by American workers. And we have it right here in Alaska. (APPLAUSE).

That energy independence for our nation is going to start right here in Alaska, with that natural gas pipeline. People all over the country, they are hearing about it and saying thank you Alaska for allowing safe, responsible development of your resources to help secure our state, provide jobs here, but also for the betterment of our entire nation. They are saying thank you Alaska. (APPLAUSE).

When that last section of the pipeline is laid and the valves are open, our state, our state, Alaska, will be a leader in energy policy. And our state will have brought Americans one step closer to energy independence. And that's one step closer to an America free from foreign suppliers that do not have our interest at heart. (APPLAUSE).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: That was Governor Sarah Palin speaking this past week in her home state of Alaska, playing up the issue that John McCain insisted is the issue she has a lot of experience with, because it is -- energy is tremendously important in her home state of Alaska, something she has been working on in her less than two years of governor and before that as well.

Jim, there's something they disagree on, that is very much important to people in Alaska, and that is drilling in ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. As you know, Jim, Governor Palin says, drill, baby, drill in ANWR, and Senator McCain says he thinks that's too pristine to touch.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS CORRESPNDENT: That's right, an important distinction on the Republican ticket. As for Joe Biden, remember him? Remember Joe Biden, the vice presidential candidate? He's not getting as much attention is Sarah Palin is these days. He was up in Nashua, New Hampshire, earlier this week and proving, once again that he not only has the gift for gab, he has the gift for gaff. The subject came up, vice presidential candidates. And Joe Biden had a revealing moment there. He let his guard down and, as he's prone to do he shot straight from hip, telling the crowd up in New Hampshire that maybe, perhaps, the Senator from New York might have been a better pick after all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton's as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close, personal friend. She is qualified to be president of the United States of America. She's easily qualified to be vice president of at United States of America. And quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me, but she's first rate.

I'm so tired of the Republicans trying to make out this exotic, brilliant guy who doesn't connect. Let me tell you something, he would if he were raised in your neighborhood. He would have been your friend. He would have been the guy you hung out with. He would have been the person who covered your back. so it's an honor, it is genuinely an honor to be on the campaign ticket with what I think to be the most inspiring leader that I have seen since I have gotten to the United States Senate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: There you have it. Joe Biden, who was also very good at Democrats all too well, very much throwing the red meat at those Democratic audiences.

We have heard from one of our campaign imbeds traveling with Joe Biden that Joe Biden plans to deliver a tough speech on John McCain tomorrow. They're dubbing it the Bush 44 speech, as in John McCain would be a third Bush term and would be Bush 43rd for all intensive purposes.

So there you have it, Joe Biden on the campaign trail up in Nashua, New Hampshire.

We also want to note for our viewers tonight, coming up tonight on CNN at 9:00 eastern, 7:00 here in Denver, "Revealed," the vice presidential candidates on the Democratic side and on the Republican side. We'll have specials on Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. That's coming up tonight on CNN.

And stick with us. There's a lot more "BALLOT BOWL" coming up after the break. This is "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA FEY, ACTRESS: Hillary Clinton, who came so close to the White House, and me, Sarah Palin, who is even closer. Can you believe it, Hillary?

AMY POEHLER, ACTRESS: I can not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: No, that was not Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton together on the campaign trail. That was a hilarious opening sketch for the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," with, of course, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Very, very good, Jim. You saw the two of them there. Pretty good imitations of both of them.

Interesting bit of color last night when this was on live at 11:30 eastern. We were flying here out west on Governor Palin's plane, which has satellite TV. The press corps were in the back of the plane. We were all watching. We assumed she was watching in the front. Afterwards, we were told she was watching and she thought it was pretty funny and Tina Fey did a good imitation of her on the campaign trail.

ACOSTA: Amazing stuff. I don't know if it's art imitating life or life imitating art.

And, Dana, I think you were talking about, before we went on air, that Governor Palin has sort of a Tina Fey look. Is that -- is that right?

BASH: It's something she knows about. In fact, as I tell her -- you see on the screen the two of them next to each other. It's actually uncanny. I was told by one of Governor Palin's aides that she knows very well that she looks like Tina Fey. In fact, recently, for Halloween, Governor Palin, back in Alaska, dressed up as Tina Fey. There is knowledge inside Tina Fey's family and certainly she knows that there's a similarity there. We expected Tina Fey to play Governor Palin. She sure did and she did a great job, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Dana, thanks very much.

And thanks for all of you for watching "BALLOT BOWL." "BALLOT BOWL" returns next weekend. But coming up next, Don Lemon and the "CNN Newsroom." Thanks again for watching.

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