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Ballot Bowl 2008
Back on the Trail: Obama Campaigning in Nevada; McCain: Obama's Economic Goal to Spread Wealth; Biden Blasts GOP Ticket; Polling in Battleground States; McCain Says Obama's Tax Plan Would Hurt Middle Class
Aired October 25, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DANA BASH, CNN CO-HOST: Hello, and welcome to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash, coming to you today from Albuquerque, New Mexico, or as it is known here, the Land of Enchantment.
Well, Election Day is just 10 days away. And this is your chance to hear the candidates running for president in their own words. Sometimes we will bring them to you live, sometimes it will be on tape. But always what we do here on BALLOT BOWL is give you a chance to hear the candidates unscripted.
And joining me for this afternoon's edition of BALLOT BOWL is my co-anchor, Jessica Yellin.
Jessica is joining us from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hey, Jess.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CO-HOST: Hi, Dana.
I'm at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, where they are setting up for an Obama rally here this evening. Barack Obama is now making his 19th trip to Nevada, a state that the Democrats lost during the Bush years. But the Obama campaign making an aggressive pitch to win this state back this year.
He just wrapped up a rally in Reno, Nevada. And he came out with some new attack lines on John McCain.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator McCain has been throwing everything he's got at us, hoping something will stick. He's called me a socialist for suggesting that we focus on tax cuts not for corporations and the wealthy, but for the middle class.
(APPLAUSE)
Then the other day he took it to a whole new level. He said that I was, get this, like George W. Bush. You can't make this stuff up.
In what may be the strangest twist of this campaign that's had a lot of strange twists, John McCain said that I would somehow continue the Bush economic policies and he, John McCain, would change them. He denounced the president for letting things get completely out of hand. That's what he said.
That's right, John McCain's been really angry about George Bush's economic policies, except during the primaries when he said that we've made great progress economically under George Bush, or just last month when he said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong under George Bush. In fact, John McCain is so opposed to George Bush's policies, that he voted with him 90 percent of the time for the first eight years.
That's right. He decided to really stick it to George Bush 10 percent of the time.
(APPLAUSE)
So let's be clear. John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policies is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. What Joe Biden says, it's like Tonto getting mad at the Lone Ranger.
John McCain's been with Bush every step of the way. Every step of the way. Fortunately, President Bush doesn't seem to be all that offended, because yesterday he cast his vote early for, guess who? John McCain. And that's no surprise, because when it comes to the policies that matter for middle class families, there's not an inch of daylight between George Bush and John McCain.
Like George Bush, John McCain wants to keep giving tax breaks to companies that shift jobs overseas, and oil companies and CEOs. The same failed Wall Street, first Main Street, last economic policy that we have seen officer the last eight years, and we are going to change it on November 4th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Barack Obama in Reno, Nevada.
And Dana, Barack Obama, as you know, was off the campaign trail for a day, but he's back now and launching what the campaign is calling his closing argument. We'll talk about that and so much more in the coming hours.
But now back to you, Dana, in New Mexico.
BASH: That's right, Jessica. And find out, as you know, what part of his closing argument is going to be delivered right here in the state of New Mexico. That is where John McCain actually just wrapped up a rally here in Albuquerque. And he started by trying to reach out and connect to voters here because of the fact that he represents a neighboring state and, of course, the state of Arizona, and tried to make the case that he understands the issues that are important to the people of New Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, I am a fellow westerner. I understand these issues. I understand land and water and Native-American issues and border issues. And I understand the challenges that great western states face with our growth and with our needs and with our challenges.
And, my friends, Senator Obama has never been south of border. You know that? And he doesn't know these issues.
I know them. I know what the Southwest is. I know the strength in the culture, in our Hispanic culture, and the strength of our great states.
(APPLAUSE)
And we welcome it. And we welcome it, and I am proud. And I am proud to be a senator from the West.
So, my friends, let me just remind you, it's been a long campaign and we have heard a lot of words. And after months of campaign trail eloquence, we finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is. As he told Joe the plumber back in Ohio, he wants to "spread the wealth around."
Just yesterday he said it again. He believes in redistributing wealth. That means taking money from one group of Americans and giving it to another.
We have seen that movie before in other countries. That's not America, because we believe in policies that grow our economy and create jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
Senator Obama is more interested in controlling wealth than creating it, in redistributing money instead of spreading opportunity. I'm going to create wealth for all Americans by creating opportunity for all Americans and not take Joe the plumber's money away.
(APPLAUSE)
Senator Obama says he's going to try to soak the rich, but it's the middle class that are going to get put through the wringer, because a lot of his promised tax increases misses the target. To pay for nearly $1 trillion in new government spending, his tax increase would impact 50 percent of small business income in this country and the jobs of 16 million middle class Americans who work for those small businesses.
And by the way, whether it's Joe the plumber in Ohio, or the working men and women of New Mexico, we shouldn't be taxing our small businesses more, as Senator Obama wants to do. We need to be helping them expand their businesses, create jobs.
(APPLAUSE) My friends, America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to spread the wealth around in this country. We believe in spreading opportunity for those who need jobs, and those who create them, and that's exactly what I will do as president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That was John McCain speaking just a short while ago here in Albuquerque on the issue that we are hearing pretty much at every stop in what aides tell us we are going to hear for the next 10 days. Because they insist that he is getting some traction with this issue of pounding Barack Obama, using Joe the plumber as a vehicle for it, but pounding Barack Obama as somebody who is going to raise taxes, particularly on small businesses, and as you heard there, insists that will get rid of some jobs.
And Jessica, it was actually kind of interesting. It was not a very large crowd here today. I think there were fewer than 1,000 people. And Ricky Shiner (ph), our photographer actually heard one of the organizers try to usher in volunteers to fill the space. So definitely a different kind of feel I think than what you're used to at the events you go to.
McCain people say crowds don't equal votes, and that was proven during the Democratic primary when Obama got lots of crowds, and not necessarily the votes on key primary days.
YELLIN: And it makes sense, Dana, because right now we know all the candidates are really trying to persuade those undecideds, the folks who usually turn out for the events like the one I'm going to be attending today, where they expect 12,000 to 15,000 at this Obama event, tend to be the die-hards, the people who are already committed, but we will see.
Another person who is out on the trail today hitting back pretty hard against John McCain's attacks is Joe Biden, Barack Obama's running made. He was in Suffolk, Virginia. That's a state that Republicans have handily won for many years now and where Barack Obama is pulling well ahead.
And today, Joe Biden speaking there, lashed out at John McCain by tying him repeatedly and aggressively, as he has so often to George Bush, and what they are calling George Bush's failed economic policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ladies and Gentlemen, you know, in the last debate my friend John McCain felt the absolute need to declare, Bobby (ph), that he was not George W. Bush. And just recently John McCain actually went so far as to compare Barack Obama to George W. Bush.
I have a 10-year-old granddaughter. Her name is Finnegan Biden. She's cute as can be. And Finnegan, as she would say -- she'd look at John McCain and say, "Hello?" You know.
I mean, come on. John, John, John.
And now John McCain is attacking George Bush's budget and his fiscal policy.
But Johnny, where were you the last eight years when you voted four out of five times for his budget?
Well, I'll tell you where John was the last eight years, and it was a matter of principle. I'm not making -- this is not political. It's a matter of principle. John McCain thought that -- he voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. He believed George Bush was right 90 percent of the time.
Just yesterday -- just yesterday it was reported that President Bush filled out his absentee ballot and he voted for John McCain. Well, I suppose that's what you might call returning the favor.
Ladies and Gentlemen -- Ladies and Gentlemen, look, John McCain -- John McCain is the one who, for the better part of this past year, has been saying literally, not figuratively, saying that, "We've made great economic progress under the Bush economic plan." That's what he was saying up until September the 15th.
Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, he's been very out of touch. Sarah Palin, Governor Palin's been very out of touch.
Ladies and Gentlemen, look -- look, I know Halloween's coming, but John McCain dressed as an agent of change is one costume the American people ain't gonna look at it.
(APPLAUSE)
I mean, you know, give me a break. Agent of change? Whoa!
Look, on a serious note, I know we're not running against President Bush. But we are running against the very Bush economic policies that John McCain embraces. I mean, literally.
John McCain and Sarah Palin, I love watching them on TV, Bobby (ph), when I get back to the hotel room after these great days, long days but great days, invigorating. The American people are so receptive to our message, in my view, all across America. And I get back and I turn on the television when I get back to whatever hotel or motel room I'm in, in whatever part of the country. And I turn on the television and they always have replays of what went on during the day.
And I love watching Senator McCain and Governor Palin standing on the stage and go, "Hey, maverick. Hey, maverick. We're the mavericks."
(APPLAUSE)
Well, I want to tell you -- I want to tell you, they're mavericks. I love it. Well, as Senator Bob Casey from Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States Senator Bob Casey says -- I'm paraphrasing, it -- he says, folks, you can't call yourself a maverick when all you have been the last eight years is a sidekick!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Joe Biden speaking in Suffolk, Virginia, today.
You know, Joe Biden has been in the headlines lately for having a little bit of the foot in the mouth disease. But I talked to a number of Barack Obama's top aides and they said, look, we knew what we were getting with Joe Biden. Sometimes he makes gaffes, but he's such a real guy, they think, a man who on the stump connects with crowds and says it like it is in voters' minds. And that's exactly the kind of thing they like about him, the kind of message he delivered right there in that bite. That's what they say a large part of the reason they put Joe Biden on the ticket.
Now, Dana, you have been also covering a running mate who also draws large crowds. And I guess some controversy as well.
BASH: Absolutely. Both of those things. There's no question about it.
And as Election Day grows closer, I think both of those things are growing, the crowds and controversy surrounding Sarah Palin. And she has been, you know, for the most part, playing the role of the good running mate. And she has been echoing the message and the talking points that has been -- that we've heard from John McCain on the stump. And that specifically has been the issue of the economy, and the issue of Barack Obama, and using Joe the plumber to insist over and over again that he wants to "spread the wealth."
And listen to what Sarah Palin was saying on that note in Springfield, Missouri, at the end of this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now more than ever we need someone tough as president.
(APPLAUSE)
And we need a true leader, a leader with experience and courage and good judgment and truthfulness. We need someone with a bold and free and fair plan to take this country in a new direction.
We need John McCain.
(APPLAUSE)
Our economic plan, John and I, we will help our families keep their homes and help retirees keep their savings and those investments that they worked so hard for, and then they trusted other people to manage those investments for them. And because of corruption on Wall Street and in Washington, D.C., they are made to worry about those savings.
Not on our watch. We will protect them with greater oversight. We'll get rid of that corruption, that abuse.
We're going to help our families pay for health care. We're going to help our students pay for college.
(APPLAUSE)
Our economic plan will get this economy back on the right track. It will be a pro-private sector, pro-growth agenda.
How we do this, we're going to bring tax relief to every American and every business. And speaking of businesses, I know that here in Missouri, small business owners and the employees there are the backbone of this community and of this state.
How many of you are small business owners or you work for small business?
(APPLAUSE)
You are the backbone. You are the backbone of our economy. And we're going to let you keep more of what you earn and produce so that you can hire more people. That's how jobs are created.
(APPLAUSE)
That's how jobs are created. And no one knows that better than Johnny Morris, who founded Bass Pro Shops. Johnny founded one of America's great companies with nothing more than a dream and eight feet of space in his dad's store.
And like a lot of other businesses, it grew into a big one. He got to hire more people and create more jobs all across this country. And that's the kind of job growth and the job creation that our opponent's massive tax increase would kill. And we're not going to let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That's Sarah Palin speaking yesterday in the state of Missouri. Today she's campaigning in the state of Iowa. And we are going to bring that to you when we get it.
But up next, we are going to stick with where we are, and that is in the state of New Mexico. Also talk about where Barack Obama is today, Nevada. And talk about these western states and how critical they could be to determining who the next president of the United States will be. We're going to talk to our own Bill Schneider about that, look at some polls, right after this.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to this edition of BALLOT BOWL '08.
I'm Dana Bash in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
And right now I want to bring in our own Bill Schneider to look at the state of play right now in some of these key battleground states where the candidates have been campaigning and are campaigning today, as a matter of fact.
Let's look -- Bill, first of all, great hat. Let's start there.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you. It's cold here.
BASH: With regard to the states that we're going to be -- it looks it. With regard to the states that we're going to be looking at, I think you have Virginia and Nevada and West Virginia. Tell us what you're seeing there, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: Well, we're seeing that Obama is leading in Virginia by a solid eight points. The latest Poll of Polls, which is several polls' average, shows Obama 51, McCain 43. That's a pretty good lead.
And at this point, the Democrats are really counting on Virginia. That's a state that has voted Republican in every election since 1964. If the Democrats make a breakthrough there, then they feel they are pretty sure that they're going to carry the White House this time.
And it's interesting that the McCain vote is 11 points worse than Bush did four years ago. The Obama vote is six points better than John Kerry.
Now, another state, and this one is closer, that's very tightly contested, is Nevada. Right now in Nevada, Obama's leading, but only by four points -- Obama 49 percent, McCain 45.
Now, we're beginning to see an interesting pattern. McCain in Nevada is doing five points worse than George Bush four years ago, who carried this state. Obama's only doing one point better than John Kerry.
And finally, a third battleground state, one that McCain is carrying, and that is West Virginia. It's close, but McCain is ahead by two points. McCain 47 percent, Obama 45 percent. But four years ago, George Bush carried the state of West Virginia by 13 points.
The Republican vote in West Virginia, same pattern we saw in the other states. The Republican vote way down. McCain is doing nine points worse than Bush. Obama only two points better than Kerry.
So a similar pattern state after state. The Republican losses are very large, but Obama's doing just a little bit better than John Kerry.
Where are those other votes going? They are going to the unsure category, people who aren't voting Republican this time, but are not quite sure whether or not they're going to vote for Barack Obama. BASH: And obviously, as you can imagine, the McCain campaign, they are very happy about any number of people who say that they are unsure right now, because they are hoping that that means they will go McCain's way.
I want to talk though, before we let you go, Bill, about the state where I am, in New Mexico. What do the polls tell us right now about this state? Because obviously, I think over the past 20 years or so, it really has gone back and forth between electing Democratic presidents and Republican presidents.
What do the polls say about that right now?
SCHNEIDER: Here's a little trick you can play on your friends. What was the closest state in 2000 between Gore and Bush? Answer, it wasn't Florida. It was New Mexico, because New Mexico went Democratic by only about 300 votes. Florida went Republican by about 500 votes.
How is New Mexico going this time? According to the latest poll from an Albuquerque newspaper, Obama is leading, but not by much. It's Obama 45, McCain 40.
And talk about unsure voters, this new poll shows 15 percent, 15 percent, about 1 in 7 New Mexico voters, say they are not sure how they are going to vote. That's an awful lot of people who aren't sure this close to Election Day where you are.
BASH: Very interesting. And that certainly is why not just John McCain, but Barack Obama will both be in this very state today.
Bill, thank you very much. We're going to be certainly getting back to you over the next couple of hours.
Before we go, we want to tell you about something that CNN is doing right now. And that is a voter hotline.
In several states the polls are already open, voters are already going to cast their ballots. And we want to hear from you if you run into problems at the polls. We want you to call the CNN voter hotline and help us track any problems. And we'll report it in real time and we'll put up the number for you to call.
It is 1-877-462-6608. That's 877-462-6608.
What we are trying to do at CNN is work to keep them honest all the way from Election Day and beyond. But obviously, any problems at the polls are big, big problems, and CNN wants to work to let people know about that, particularly the government officials in these particular states.
And when we come back, we're going to get back to the campaign trail and back to the issue, issue #1, that all of the candidates are talking about nonstop, the economy. Specifically, we're going to go to Barack Obama and his message on the economy.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
YELLIN: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL.
We are here in Las Vegas, where they are setting up for a Barack Obama rally that should start in a few hours. They've just launched the music, and we can see crowds gathering outside, lining up already.
We want to take you to something that happened earlier this week on the campaign trail now. In these closing days, Barack Obama is increasingly responding to John McCain's attacks and launching some of his own against McCain's tax plan, specifically in Indiana this week, earlier this past week.
Barack Obama took off after John McCain, accusing McCain of supporting tax cuts to companies that outsource. He says John McCain's tax policies would hurt American jobs here at home.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Senator McCain thinks the economic policies of George W. Bush were just right for America. In the Senate he's voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. He said earlier this year that we've made great progress over the last eight years. And while Senator McCain says now that he's different from George Bush, you sure couldn't tell by the policies he's proposing.
Just yesterday John McCain strongly defended the Bush policy of lavishing tax cuts on corporations, including those that ship American jobs overseas. He made kind of a strange argument that the best way to stop companies from shipping jobs overseas is to give more tax cuts to companies that are shifting jobs overseas.
More tax cuts for jobs outsourcing. That's what Senator McCain proposed as his answer to outsourcing. He said that's "simple, fundamental economics."
Well, Indiana, my opponent may call that fundamental economics but we know that's just another name for Wall Street first, Main Street last. That's the kind of economic philosophy we've had for the past eight years and that's fundamentally wrong.
(APPLAUSE)
If Senator McCain wants to defend tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, that's his choice. But I say let's end tax cuts for companies that ship jobs overseas, give them to companies that are investing right here in Indiana, right here in the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
If he wants to defend free trade agreements designed to protect the profits of big corporations and a trade policy that lets countries like China tilt the playing field against our workers, that's up to him. But I say we need a trade policy that protects the dreams of hardworking Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
If he wants to defend a tax code that's more than 10,000 pages long, filled with loopholes written in by corporate lobbyists like the ones running his campaign, he's got every right. He has every right to defend offshore tax havens that let companies avoid paying taxes here in America. But I say it's time to close corporate loopholes, shut offshore tax havens and restore balance and fairness to our tax code.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, there's a building in the Cayman Islands that supposedly houses 18,000 corporations. Think about that. That's either the biggest building or the biggest tax scam in the world. I think we know which one it is.
That's the system my opponent defends. That's the system he wants to preserve. He wants to keep on putting corporations ahead of workers.
I see some folks here, sheet metal workers. I heard your interview this morning. You guys sounded great. I see some carpenters up here, "Carpenters for Obama."
I see some teachers out here for America. I see teamsters for America.
Who's looking out for steel workers? Who's fighting for carpenters? Who's fighting for teachers? Who's fighting for teamsters?
That's the president I want to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Barack Obama in Indianapolis, Indiana, this past week. He still trails John McCain in that state, but by showing up in a red state, he forces the McCain/Palin ticket to spend their resources there.
But the McCain/Palin ticket, they are not taking this lying down. They are hitting back on his taxes argument.
So, coming up after the break, you've heard about Joe the plumber. How about Tito the builder? He seems to be Sarah Palin's new best friend on the campaign trail. That's after this commercial break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL.
I'm Dana Bash in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Well, ever since the final presidential debate, when John McCain over and over mentioned the name "Joe the plumber," talking about a man who everybody at this point pretty much who follows politics knows by now, met Barack Obama in his driveway in Ohio, it has become a symbol and kind of really almost like a cult following for many of John McCain's followers and people who come to his rallies.
You see signs that say "Joe the Plumber." You see T-shirts that say "Joe the Plumber." He talks about it constantly because his campaign thinks that this is finally a way for him to connect to people he's been trying to connect it on the issue of the economy, specifically small business owners, and also blue collar workers.
Well, John McCain talked about Joe the plumber. And his running mate, Sarah Palin, has a new character, somebody who came to one of her rallies in the state of Virginia. His name is Tito the builder. And Sarah Palin talked about Tito the builder this past week in Cincinnati, Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: When it comes to taxes, you have a real choice on November 4th. Our opponent is not being really candid with you about his tax plans. And it is -- it is not mean-spirited, it is not negative campaigning to call someone out on their record or their tax plans or their associations.
(APPLAUSE)
It is not mean-spirited, it is in fairness to you, the voter, so that you know what these choices are.
Now, you have to really listen to our opponent's words, because he's hiding his real agenda of redistributing your hard-earned money. He says he's for a tax credit, which is when government takes your money to give it away to someone else according to a politician's priorities.
Now, John McCain and I, we are for a real tax cut, which is when government takes less of your earnings in the first place.
(APPLAUSE)
Ohio, you really know how to raise them right, because we really have to hand it to your neighbor, Joe the plumber, down the road in Toledo. Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
Straight-talking Joe the plumber. He got Barack Obama to finally state his true intentions with his economic plan in plain language. And Joe is not alone in questioning our opponent's plan to spread the wealth. A lot of folks around this great country identify with Joe.
Just the other day in New Mexico we saw a sign in a rally that had "The dairy Man," and we saw here "Tom the Teacher." And at a rally recently for Senator McCain in Virginia, there was a man there named Tito Munoz (ph). And Tito owns a small construction company.
We like to call him "Tito the Builder." And Tito isn't pleased with how the Obama campaign and its media friends have been roughing up Joe the plumber. They are investigating and attacking him for merely asking a question.
So Tito has a question of his own, and Barack Obama isn't going it like this one either. Tito wants to know, and I quote, "Why the heck are you going after Joe the plumber? Joe the plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that so wrong?"
Tito is an immigrant from Colombia, and he had this reminder for us. He says, "Everything is possible in America. And I made it, and Joe the plumber can make it even better than me."
(APPLAUSE)
Tito said, "I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the USA." And Tito isn't the only McCain supporter who feels that way. There were signs we have been reading, "Phil the Bricklayer," and "Angela the Nurse," and others, including yours, "Pam, the Republican Teacher."
All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Sarah Palin speaking this past week in Cincinnati, Ohio. Today she is in the state of Iowa. And next hour, we're going to bring you some tape of what she was talking about there.
And Jessica, a little bit -- I think it's fair to say a little bit of an odd remark, but it was clearly a not-so-subtle reference to what happened this past week, and that was a report that $150,000 from the RNC has been spent on clothing for not just Sarah Palin, but also for her family.
I will read you a quit quote off of my BlackBerry. And again, we're going to get you the tape in the next hour.
She said that it was cold in Iowa, "So I put on my warm jacket. It's my own jacket. It doesn't belong to anybody else. My own jacket for once."
Kind of an interesting comment there from Sarah Palin, Jessica. It will be interesting to see the way she delivers that, and I assume she delivered it with a smile.
YELLIN: And it kind of evokes Nixon's famous reference to his wife's cloth coat, which brought his political fortunes back so many years ago.
I know you've done a lot of reporting on Sarah Palin, the latest stories. And I hope we get a chance to talk about that later.
First, Dana, we can turn to something else that's going on in this back and forth between the two campaigns. One, we focused heavily on this argument over a tax policy and the economy in general. But there's also a debate about the style of the two campaigns.
And Joe Biden, speaking in Greeley, Colorado, really socked it to the McCain campaign, accusing them of under-the-belt tactics in some of their ads going after Obama's character.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We have to do one thing more. We have to unite this country. It's not sufficient.
All kidding aside, I know a lot of you are partisanly for us. And we appreciate that. But, Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the reasons I ran in the first place, one of the reasons I accepted when Barack asked me to be his vice presidential nominee along with him, is we believe strongly that you cannot heal this country, you cannot straighten out the world, unless we unite the country.
You know, you have heard a lot of scurrilous ads and phone calls lately, made -- which lie about Barack Obama and also raise unfair questions about his character. A lot of Democrats are angry. But, folks, if, God willing, we win this, when we win, we have to reach out, we have to isolate those extremes, we have to reach out to Democrats and Republicans and Independents.
And I say to my friend John McCain, if he's really serious when he said this morning on one of the shows that this election is all about the economy, then I say, John, stop your ads! Bring down those robo-calls!
If it's about the economy, argue about the economy, not about Barack Obama's character, not about these scurrilous ads. John, stop these calls!
(APPLAUSE)
We have to unite this nation when it's over. We have to pull it back together.
And, Ladies and Gentlemen, these attacks don't hurt Barack Obama. They hurt you. They divide the country. They distract people or attempt to distract you from the things that are affecting people's everyday lives.
Barack Obama and I can take two more weeks of these attacks, but our country cannot take four more years of this policy and these politics! It must end! It must stop now!
(APPLAUSE) Look, folks, one of the reasons -- one of the reasons why Barack and I -- Barack Obama and I are running is we know how damaging the politics of division has been for America. And, folks, I know some of you are not going to like it because some of you may be really very, very partisan. But, folks, we mean it when we say America's got to put these divisions behind us.
God willing we are elected, you are going to see a president and vice president who are going to do everything we can to reach across the aisle. We do not believe -- we do not believe -- we do not believe, as Sarah Palin implied in one of her speeches in North Carolina -- she since backed away from it -- that she's happy to be in, whatever it was, the patriotic part of America, whatever the saying was.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got to stop this stuff. We've really got to stop it.
We are one nation under God. We are an indivisible country. And that's who we've got to speak to, the indivisible nation that Barack Obama and I want to serve.
And, folks, that's why Barack Obama and I are so confident, so confident we can get through these difficult times, economically and internationally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Joe Biden speaking in Greeley, Colorado, earlier this week.
And our next play up on BALLOT BOWL, well, John McCain says that Barack Obama is going to soak the rich. We'll hear how he puts it on the other side of this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL.
I'm Dana Bash in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where John McCain is spending the entire day competing for the five electoral votes that New Mexico would offer him if he were to win it.
But earlier this week, he was in a much richer state in terms of the electoral map. That is the state of Florida. In fact, that would be the biggest prize with regard to all of these battleground states that John McCain and Barack Obama are competing for, 27 electoral votes there.
And while he was there, John McCain tried to hone the message that we have been hearing time and time again about the economy, and specifically about taxes, Barack Obama's tax plan. And the way he did it was to talk about the middle class and to insist that Barack Obama's plan would not help the middle class, as Obama says constantly on the campaign trail. McCain says it would actually hurt the middle class. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Senator Obama may say he's trying to soak the rich, but it's the middle class who are going to get wet.
Our economy is in trouble, my friends. We know that. We've lost over 700,000 jobs, and it's 300,000 jobs that have been created by small business.
And, my friends, whether it's Joe the plumber in Ohio, or Gary the dentist in Altamonte Springs, or Jesus the restaurant owner in Orlando, or Christine the florist in Plant City, or Bob the boat builder, and Tony the teacher, we shouldn't be taxing our small businesses more, as Senator Obama wants to do.
(APPLAUSE)
We need to be helping them expand their businesses and create jobs. These small business owners have achieved the same dream that Joe the plumber has. They now own their own businesses and, combined, employ hundreds of thousands of workers because they have been successful. Senator Obama wants to spread their wealth around. That's exactly the wrong approach in an economic slowdown.
Just today, we received news that jobless claims have increased by 15,000. Senator Obama's tax increases would put even more people out of work.
The answer to a slowing economy is not higher taxes, but that's exactly what's going to happen when the Democrats have total control of Washington. We can't let that happen, and I won't let it happen.
(APPLAUSE)
And I don't know how much you have seen, but we have already seen a preview of their plans, and it's pretty simple -- tax and spend. Now, the chairman of a powerful committee in the House of Representatives said this week that they "... are going to focus on an immediate increase in spending," and then he went on to say that there "... are a lot of very rich people out there whom we can tax."
Really. Is there really? Is there really?
You know, my friends, you've got Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama. You've got -- you've got a recipe for tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend.
What should concern the American people is that the Democratic budget plan they passed just this year, with Senator Obama's help, called for raising taxes on people making just $42,000 per year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That's John McCain speaking on Thursday night in Sarasota, Florida. And there he unveiled a theme that we really have been hearing more of, and McCain's aides say we will hear pretty much now until Election Day. That is, McCain not just talking about Barack Obama's tax plan, but specifically warning voters about the fact if Obama wins, there will be total Democratic control in Washington. And that is something that McCain aides say that they hope will give maybe some of those undecideds a little bit of pause, maybe those who wants to see some checks and balances in the nation's capital.
So that was John McCain speaking in Florida this past week.
And up next, we are going to go back to the campaign trail, but not to Barack Obama. He was in Hawaii visiting his sick grandmother over the past couple of days. Instead, he had somebody who he knows pretty well filling in for him. That would be his wife, Michelle Obama.
We're going to hear what she said on the stump, filling in for her husband, right after the break.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHNEIDER: I'm Bill Schneider for CNN BALLOT BOWL in Lima, Ohio.
Next, we're going to hear from Michelle Obama speaking in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday. She was filling in for her husband who was in Hawaii, visiting his ailing grandmother, whom he calls Toot. Now, that's short for Tutu, the Hawaiian word for grandparent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: You probably know that Toot is a very important person, like many of our grandparents are. But Toot helped to raise Barack.
And she -- you know, I was talking to him the other night, and, you know, she's tough. Her birthday is on Sunday.
And he said that, you know -- because I always asked Barack through this year. I was like, "How are you doing this? You are tough."
And he said the other night -- he said, "You know, I got my toughness from Toot," you know. Because she taught him with her quiet confidence and that love and support that he could do anything. Just deep love and admiration.
So on behalf of Barack and Malia and Sasha and all of our family, we just want to thank all of the supporters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: Our next play in the BALLOT BOWL, just 10 days before the election, both presidential candidates visit the Wild, Wild West. And we're going to hear from both Obama and McCain, unfiltered, partner, next.
