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Ballot Bowl 2008

Barack Obama Speaks in Nevada, Attacking McCain and Promoting His Rescue Plan; John McCain Speaks in New Mexico as a Fellow Westerner

Aired October 25, 2008 - 16:00   ET

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

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we believe that the best of America, the best of America, is not all assembled there in Washington D.C., it is here. It is in the kindest and the goodness and the courage of everyday, hard-working Americans, those of you who run our factories and you grow our food and you teach our children and you fight our wars. You protect us. You predict the virtues of freedom. This is where the goodness of America is.
John and I believe in the promise of this country, the promise that is this country in and all the opportunities and the freedom and the equality that we wish for ourselves and each other and for our sons and our daughters. And we believe that America isn't the problem. America is the solution.

We may not be a perfect nation. We learned from our mistakes, though, and collectively, we represent some pretty perfect ideals, though. We still believe that America is that shining city on a hill that Reagan used to speak of, and I thank god that we have a man ready and willing for lead it, worthy to lead it, someone who inspires us with heroic and trustworthy deeds and not just words.

So, Iowa, if you believe in what we believe in and if you are ready to shake up Washington and clean up Wall Street, and if you are ready to get our economy back on the right track and to win the war, then John McCain and I, we're asking for your vote. Yes. We are asking for your support, because, Iowa, from now until election day, you're going to hear our opponents go on and on about how they can claim to fight for you.

But since he usually won't say it on his own behalf, I'm going to say it for him for my running mate, there is only one man in this campaign who has ever really fought for you. Only one man with the courage to keep on fighting for you, and that man is John McCain, and I thank you, and I say God bless Iowa, God bless America. Thank you. Thank you.

DANA BASH, CNN CO-HOST: And you are watching CNN BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash coming to you from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

What you have been watching for 20 minutes or so, maybe even longer, has been Sarah Palin speaking to you live from the campaign trail from Des Moines, Iowa, and that's what we do here on BALLOT BOWL. We give you the candidates from the trail. We give it to you live like we were just able to do, and sometimes it is also on tape. But what we always do on BALLOT BOWL is bring you the candidates as they try to get your votes. We bring them to you unfiltered.

And for this edition of BALLOT BOWL, I am joined by my colleague Jessica Yellin, who is in Las Vegas, Nevada, and, Jessica, you're waiting for Barack Obama to start speaking there.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CO-HOST: That's right. We're at an outdoor rally at a high school, Bonanza High School, outside of Las Vegas. Barack Obama took a day off the campaign trail yesterday, but he is back brainstorming the state, fighting hard for his five electoral votes that Nevada offers and bragging rights to a red state advantage.

Right now, the latest CNN poll shows Obama four points up in this long-time red state, and today, speaking just a few hours ago in Reno, Nevada, he went after John McCain both attacking McCain as a continuation of George Bush's policies and then promoting what Obama is calling his own rescue plan for the middle class.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator McCain has been throwing everything he's got at us, hoping something will stick. He called me a socialist for suggesting that we focus on tax cuts, not for corporations and the wealthy, but for the middle class. 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 policy and that 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 has been really angry about George Bush's economic policies, except during the primaries when he said that we have 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 more than 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.

So let's be clear. John McCain attacking George Bush for his out of hand economic policies like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go it alone foreign policy. What Joe Biden says, it's like -- like Tonto getting mad at the Lone Ranger. John McCain has 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 ship jobs overseas and oil companies and CEOs. It's the same failed Wall Street first, Main Street last economic policy that we've seen over the last eight years and we are going to change it on November 4th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Barack Obama just a few hours ago, and he will be speaking just a few hours from now where I am here in Las Vegas. One of the key measures the Obama campaign is now examining are the number of early voters, and they have been spreading news that here in Nevada the early voters have an advantage with the Democrats. More Democrats are voting early now than Republicans. That is a change from 2004 when more Republicans voted early. And noteworthy, because, of course, John McCain is from a neighboring western state, Arizona, a neighbor of Nevada.

So, Dana, all interesting data as we start crunching the numbers in these final days, but I know you're going to take us to a look of John McCain in another western state, or talking about his western roots at least.

BASH: That's right. No, I think it's actually interesting, Jessica. You talk about Barack Obama being in the state of Nevada all day. That was traditionally a red state. John McCain, this is his second day in the southwest. He is not going to Nevada, which I think is quite telling as to where the campaign thinks he is or is not with regard to having a much of a chance in that state.

But he is here in New Mexico, and his aides say that despite the fact that, like many other states, he is behind in the polls here, because the state has kind of gone back and forth Democrat and Republican over the past 20 years or so. He is competing hard here, and John McCain himself said that he is competing hard here because, as Jessica pointed out, because he is somebody who is from a neighboring state, and that was part of his pitch to New Mexico voters just a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), 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 a great western states face with our growth and with our needs and our challenges.

My friends, Senator Obama has never been south of our 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 and our Hispanic culture and the strength of our great states. We welcome it. We welcome it, and I am proud, and I am proud to be a senator from the west.

So, my friends, so, my friends, let me just remind you it's been a long campaign, and we 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 -- he believes in redistributing wealth. We've seen that movie before in other countries. That's not America. Because we believe in policies that grow our economy and create jobs.

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. Senator Obama said he is going to try to soak the rich, but it's the middle class who are going to get put through the ringer. Because a lot of his promised tax increases misses the target, to pay for nearly a trillion dollars 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 business, create jobs.

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'll do as president of the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: John McCain speaking what was a chilly morning here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and, Jessica, what struck us about that speech wasn't necessarily the speech. We've heard most of what he said before, but, frankly, it was the crowd. It was a pretty sparse crowd here, Jessica. I mean, probably fewer than 1,000 people, which isn't like -- it's not that that is so few, but the idea is that they actually have perimeters where they set up and have an expectation for a certain number of people to come, and the perimeters, even inside the perimeter there was a lot of empty space.

And we heard one of the McCain's aides trying to get volunteers to come in and fill up the space. So not necessarily a good sign for the McCain campaign here in the state of New Mexico, but the McCain campaign responds always when we talk about crowds that Barack Obama is somebody who gets big crowds, but if history shows anything from the Democratic primaries, he got a lot of big crowds, for example, in the state of New Hampshire, and he lost that state -- Jessica.

YELLIN: I have heard that said many times. It has been one of the ongoing battles in this election season of who is getting the bigger crowds. And some of those crowd estimates, you kind to have to scratch your head sometimes. I can tell you the crowd is starting to fill in here in Bonanza High School Las Vegas where they're waiting for Barack Obama.

Joe Biden was also on the campaign trail today, though. He was speaking earlier today going after John McCain pretty aggressively. He likes to mock the McCain-Palin ticket for this their maverick line and tie them as closely as possible to George Bush. It's exactly what he did earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, folks, I want to tell you something. Barack Obama has a backbone of steel. He can take -- he can take 10 more days of these personal attacks. But out country cannot take four more years of the economic policy of George W. Bush in the hands of John McCain.

Folks, it's time to remind all Americans we literally, not figuratively, we are one nation, under god. We are indivisible. We are all Americans. Ladies and gentlemen, every great president, every great president we've had, Democrat as well as Republican, they've always taken dire circumstances, and we've had more difficult circumstances in our history.

They've always taken these dire circumstances and they turn them into opportunities, and they have done it how? By reminding Americans what we've overcome in the past, reminding them of who we are, and appealing to their better angels. That's how we've done it in the past.

And ladies and gentlemen, I know this guy, Barack Obama. You campaign with a guy. You debate him 12 times. You meet his family. You get to be friends with his mother -- excuse me, his mother-in-law and his family and his brother-in-law and his sister, and you learn something about a man. The reason why I am so sure that Barack Obama will be a great president, he will appeal to America's better angels and unite this country.

Folks, let me conclude by saying to you all that at the end of the day, at the end of the day it's about understanding the strength of this country. My dad and my brother, Jimmy, is with me here today. I've had the great pleasure of either one of my sons or my sister, my wife, my brother traveling with me. And you know, I bet every one of you can think of something you've heard your mother or father say to you 100 or 1,000 times when you were growing up.

Well, one of the things my dad would always say is that if you had a bad day, if you know, got knocked down on the football field and that was not an unusual occurrence for me, if you asked a girl out on a date and she said no and your feelings were hurt or if you thought you were going to get an A and you got a C and you were down, you're feeling sorry for yourself, my dad would always come in and he would say, champ, the measure of success is not whether or not you get knocked down. It's about how quickly you get up. How quickly you get up.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have never seen so many Americans knocked down. With so little help, just a helping hand from the government to get them back up. So, folks, it's time for us to get back up. It's time for us to together, together, to get back up and demand a change we need for the country we love.

Ladies and gentlemen, I can say to you with absolute certainty after spending time in the trail and every part of this country, I guarantee you, America is ready to get back up. You are ready to get up. I am ready to get up. Barack Obama is ready to get up. It's our time. It's America's time. So let's get up. Take back the country we love.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Joe Biden speaking earlier today at a rally in Virginia, a state that does seem to be getting up for Barack Obama at the moment. He is polling well ahead of McCain on the CNN poll of polls there. So far looking like a promising red state for an Obama win this year. We will see. Dana, I think that a lot more red state competition ahead, and we'll discuss it all, but now I'll toss it back to you in another red state, New Mexico.

BASH: That's right. And you know we're also going to talk after the break about -- about Iowa, rather. That is a state that Sarah Palin is in today. She's spending the day there. John McCain is going to sleep there tonight, and he is going to campaign there tomorrow, and a lot of Republicans are scratching their heads going why are they wasting their time in a state of Iowa, because most polls show that Barack Obama is well ahead there.

But we want to take you after the break to something that Sarah Palin said there, and it's something that she said about her wardrobe. You're going to want to hear this after the break. And also, Bill Schneider is going to take us into some of these battleground states and look at the latest polls in several of them. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We want to take you to another battleground state, a very important battleground state, and that is Ohio. Our Bill Schneider is standing by there, and he is with the Election Express, and, Bill, I want to talk to you about what you do best, no one knows it better than you, and that is polling. I want to take our viewers to some of these states, including the one that you're in Ohio and Florida. Tell us what the latest is with regard to how these two candidates are faring?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Though Florida and Ohio are the two biggest remaining toss-up states, both voted for Bush four years ago. Let's look at where our poll of polls puts both of these big toss-up states. Right now Florida, a three-point margin for Obama. Very close. That's why we call it a toss-up state. Interestingly, Obama's current 48 percent is only one point better than John Kerry did four years ago, but McCain's 45 percent is seven points worse than Bush did with seven percent of the voters in Florida still unsure.

How about Ohio where I am right now? 49 percent -- 44 percent. A five-point spread. Still too close to call. A very big toss-up state. Obama's 49 percent is exactly the same vote that Kerry got four years ago, but same story. McCain's 44 percent is seven points worse than George Bush with seven percent percent unsure. So in both of these states we're seeing this all over the country, the Republican vote is collapsing, but the Democrats haven't yet realized all those gains. A lot of voters remaining unsure.

BASH: That's right. Those unsure numbers is what's giving people inside the McCain campaign a bit of hope, a lot of hope, actually, as they try to find their way towards some kind of victory in all of these states, in which you just pointed out, it looks very tough. You have one more poll for us, don't you, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was a Kerry state. It's a blue state, and McCain, since the Republicans are likely to lose a couple of former Bush states, most likely we're saying Iowa, New Mexico, they need to take a former Kerry state, and they're hoping for Pennsylvania. A very big one, but our poll of polls right now shows that may be a difficult climb for McCain.

We're showing a ten point lead for Obama over McCain in Pennsylvania, and interestingly, Obama's 51 percent is exactly the same vote John Kerry got in Pennsylvania four years ago, but same story. McCain's 41 percent is seven points lower than George Bush got. Eight percent unsure in Pennsylvania. With the ten point spread, we are calling Pennsylvania a likely Democratic state. A victory for Obama this year.

BASH: Well, certainly the McCain campaign as you well know, Bill, they are focusing extremely hard at this point on the state of Pennsylvania. McCain is going to go back there. Sarah Palin is going to go back there early next week. They realize that it's been a blue state for the past couple of cycles.

But they realize that with those 21 electoral votes that they basically have to try in that state to turn it back to red, because so many of these red states are going to really fall out of John McCain's column, they're going to go to Barack Obama. So thank you for the update on all of these polls. We appreciate it, Bill. Again, we love the hat.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

Now, we're going to be talking about Sarah Palin after the break, and I'm sure everybody has seen over this past week the story about the fact she had $150,000 from the Republican National Committee for clothes, for not just her own -- for Sarah Palin, but also for her family and she actually talked about her wardrobe on the campaign trail today. Not specifically that, but she definitely seemed to be alluding to that story this week. You want to hear this. Stick around after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: OK. God bless you. Piper wants to say one more thing as I'm talking to these kids. So Piper, go ahead.

PIPER PALIN, DAUGHTER OF SARAH PALIN: Vote for my mom. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was Sarah Palin's youngest daughter, Piper, speaking earlier today. You heard that a very cute Piper saying vote for my mom, something that we certainly see the kids on the campaign trail, but don't necessarily hear from them very much. So that was a rare moment just a short while ago in Des Moines, Iowa.

Before she got to Des Moines, Sarah Palin was in Sioux City, and while she was there, she made a not so subtle reference, I think it's fair to say, to some controversy over her wardrobe this past week. The fact this she had about $150,000 spent by the Republican National Committee on clothes for herself and for her family in and around the Republican convention.

Listen to what she said in Sioux City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: Your state is filled with good, hard-working people all loving the great outdoors, and it was nice and crisp getting off the airplane and coming into the -- it reminded me a lot of Alaska. I put my warm jacket on. And it's my own jacket. It doesn't belong to anybody else. My own jacket from Alaska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: It was very clear the crowd knew exactly what she was talking about, Jessica, and you know, we have been hearing privately, frankly, over the past week, week and a half from people inside and outside the McCain campaign about some growing tension between some McCain aides and Sarah Palin over a host of things.

But primarily recently it's been about the fact that some McCain aides say that they feel like she's going "rogue" and that she has been saying things recently that have been off message with regard to, for example, saying that Michigan, she wished that the campaign was still competing in Michigan after the controversial decision to pull out of Michigan, saying that she thinks that robo-calls are irritating as the campaign was trying to defend their use of robo- calls.

And now you have the Palin team, if you will, some people close to her telling us, you know, she is trying to break free a little bit because she was not happy about the fact that her "roll out" was seemed, from her perspective be mishandled. So there is tension that again we've heard behind the scenes, Jessica, but it is spilling out more and more. And it is very interesting to see people at least inside the campaign be more aggressive about saying this.

And one of McCain's senior advisers I talked to earlier today saying you know what? This is what happens when you are behind. People start to turn on each other. People start to say bad things and scapegoat one another, and it seems to be what's happening with Sarah Palin. Other people inside the McCain campaign are saying, you know what, maybe she's looking out for herself, for 2012. She sees that McCain doesn't have the greatest chances of winning right now, and this advisor actually said that she's a "diva."

So this is the kind of language we're hearing back and forth, but on the campaign trail it's important to note that Sarah Palin is very much on message. She is really echoing what we heard from John McCain with regard to taxes and the economy. And Joe Biden, I'm sure you'll love this, Jessica. The McCain campaign says wait a minute, there's a bit of a double standard. Joe Biden goes off the reservation all the time. He goes off message talking about, for example, the fact that America's enemies are going to test a new President Obama.

Where are the questions about that? So it's very easy to see what happens when we get to this point. Not unusual. Vice presidential candidates and presidential candidates and their staff almost always have tensions, but we're certainly hearing about more and more of them from Palin and McCain, Jessica.

YELLIN: Well, Dana, as you say, it is not unusual for there to be some tension, but this is a little bit more out in the public and a little juicier with the details of what they're unhappy about on both sides than we usually see. I know -- I know you have done reporting on this. Considering your reporting, what is it in particular that Sarah Palin's handlers say she is unhappy about in the roll-out?

BASH: Well, specifically -- that's a great question. Specifically everybody saw the interview that she with Katie Couric which nobody, even Sarah Palin, will tell you that was not basically a disaster because she did not answer the questions well at all.

Not only that, it wasn't just one interview. It went on for several days because that was what was discussed and that was what was agreed to beforehand. Some people close to Sarah Palin say, well, you know, it's the idea that she was kept from the press, didn't have any press conferences and that they waited for her to do these big high profile interviews -- that that perhaps was a mistake.

I can tell you, though, that other people who were working with and knew the behind the scenes story with Sarah Palin say, you know what, we did what we thought was right. That she simply, because she came from Alaska, it was a big surprise. She's not done work -- that much work on the international and national stage. She didn't know John McCain's record, wasn't expected to. We did what we thought was best to get her up to speed before she had much interaction with the press.

And so they definitely stand by their decision to do what they did, even though it was controversial at the time to wait and have Sarah Palin hold off before she talked to the press. Now she gives press conferences on the plane. She talks to radio stations. She talks to local reporters. She is definitely unplugged, but some of the things that she's saying and some internal tension is definitely brewing and it's spilling into the public. And it's quite interesting, and it's definitely making for another not so great news story for the McCain campaign as they're trying to find their way and really try to stay on message on taxes, on the economy in these last 10 ten days, Jessica.

YELLIN: It's certainly not the story they need out there 10 days before the election. I'll tell people, Dana, that you have done some great reporting on this. If they want to read more about it, they can go to CNN.com and click on the "Political Ticker." You have a good story up there on this. So plugging that, shamelessly for you, and I'm going to plug what we have after the break, which is a story about Joe Biden, the other VP candidate, and some hot water he got into by raising the commander in chief question, is his running mate ready? That's on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. Before the break, we were talking about a controversy that erupted on the Republican side of the ticket. Well on the Democratic side of the ticket this past week, the Obama campaign had to confront a drama that was raised by Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden, when he was caught saying to a fundraiser -- at a fundraiser that he knows when Obama is elected, if he is elected, he is quite sure that an international crisis will erupt because a young president like Barack Obama would no doubt be tested by foreign leaders just the way John Kennedy, JFK, was tested by foreign leaders when he took office.

This was not an ideal turn of events for the Obama campaign because Obama has tried to bat back suggestions that he is not ready to become commander in chief. It raises that whole experience question again. So Barack Obama opened a front on Tuesday addressing his own foreign policy credentials, talking about foreign affairs, and he said it was really a meeting -- he took a meeting with his advisors, foreign policy advisors, he said, to get up to speed on the latest foreign affairs issues.

But he also used it an as opportunity to blunt some of the political attacks that were coming his way in the wake of Joe Biden's comments and McCain was quick to jump on the issue again. Let's listen to what they both had to say in the ongoing back and forth over this this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: Whoever is the next president is going to have to deal with a whole host of challenges internationally and that a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigilant. We have to be careful. We have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy, that others don't take advantage of it.

That is true whether it's myself or Senator McCain, and it's been throughout our history, and I think it is going to be very important for me, should I have the great honor of serving as president, to have a team in place that is familiar with these issues, that understands the challenges, that is able to give me the best advice and will be able to navigate these challenges and set some clear priorities even as we're focused on rebuilding our economy after the disastrous eight years.

So I guess the important point to make here is, yes, we are going to face a number of threats and tests and challenges because for the last eight years we've had a bad policy, a bad set of policies that have resulted in two unresolved wars, bin Laden and al Qaeda communicating regularly and training folks to potentially attack America. And an economy that has been in a free fall. And that's why it's going to be so important for us, I think, to move with resolve in a new direction, and that's one of the reasons I'm running for president.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Senator Biden said -- so what about saying to voters that your presidency --

OBAMA: I had -- look, as I said before, you know, I think that Joe sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes. But I think that his core point was that the next administration is going to be tested regardless of who it is because of the fact that we have -- the next administration is going to be inheriting a whole host of really big problems.

And so the president is going to be tested, and the question is will the next president meet that test by moving America in a new direction, by sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology, but we're about creating partnerships around the world to solve practical problems. That's going to be the best way to meet that test, and I have confidence that we will be able to do so.

MCCAIN: The next president won't have time to get used to the office. We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world, and I'll bring our troops home from Iraq in victory and honor and not in defeat.

If Senator Obama had had his way, they would have come home in defeat, have no doubt about that. And incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, this weekend Senator Biden guaranteed -- he guaranteed that if Senator Obama is elected, we will have an international crisis to test America's new president. He predicted it. He said mark my words, my friend. We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.

Yesterday Senator Obama tried to explain away this by warning -- by saying that his running mate sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes. Really? Really? That's another way of saying that he accidentally delivered some straight talk to America. Friends, Senator Biden referred to how Jack Kennedy was tested in the Cuban missile crisis. I had a little personal experience in that. I was a navy pilot on board the USS Enterprise, and I was ready to go into combat at any moment. And I know how close to a nuclear war we became, and I will not be a president that needs to be tested. I have been tested. Senator Obama has not been tested and it shows. It shows in Senator Obama's responses to our challenges abroad. What is more troubling is that Senator Obama told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, it would have to stand with him because it wouldn't be apparent to Senator Obama would have the right response. Forget apparent, my friends. We know Senator Obama won't have the right response.

How do we know? Because we've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign. He opposed the surge strategy that's bringing us victory in Iraq and will bring us victory in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Well I spoke to some of Obama's senior aides about this little tempest Joe Biden kick-up and their sense is, look, they believe it's not penetrating. It is not working as an issue for the McCain campaign because voters have gotten a chance to know Obama and have taken a measure of him. If they believe that he was dangerous as commander in chief, that would already show in the polls. So they make it clear they're not too worried about this line of attack, but the McCain campaign continues to pursue it.

And as for Senator Biden's gaffe-prone nature, the aides say, look, we knew that about him when we picked him, but he has a lot of other assets, policy experience, judicial experience with judges, et cetera, and a good manner, they believe, on the stump. So it was all worth it, in balance, they say, and they believe this will pass without too much headache. But we will see in the coming days as the McCain campaign continues to pursue this issue.

Coming up on the other side of the break, we're going to show you something a little bit different. Every so often people do something -- have some fun on the stump. We have a little bit of a different kind of introduction for John McCain. Stay with us, and you'll see it after this commercial break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Dana Bash in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

And John McCain was speaking a short while ago here. And along with him, he had somebody who we see with him pretty much almost all the time these days on the campaign trail, and that is his side kick in the Senate, one of his best friends, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Now Lindsey Graham sometimes tries to warm up the crowd for John McCain. He did it yesterday in Durango, Colorado, and we want to play it for you, because this is a part of the sights and sounds of the campaign, so you don't get to see very much, particularly this speech that Lindsey Graham gave. He certainly added some humor to the event. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: How many people have been to South Carolina? All right. Come back, spend money, stay a while. You know, I played high school football for four years. First time I have ever been on the field.

Let me say, if you can't understand me, it's not your fault, but I do want to let you know one thing -- that I love the McCains. They're good people and Cindy McCain will be one heck of a first lady. Heck of a first lady. Since I never get to talk much, I'm in no hurry. I'm sort of enjoying it.

Cindy's dad was a World War II veteran. He got shot down three times in the army air force serving his country. John got shot down. She likes guys that got shot down. She's the patron saint of every guy that's ever gotten shot down. But she does so many things that many of you don't know about to help people in need. She's a great mother, a great wife, a great philanthropist and a great small businesswoman, by the way.

John McCain has lived the American dream. He is a navy guy that married a beautiful woman who owns a beer distributorship. That's as good as it gets.

Now, I have been hanging around this guy for about 10 years now. I have been in every fight that he has gotten me into in Washington. You know what, I got the scars to show it, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. John McCain is the guy that will do and say things that no other politician will do, and we're all better off for it.

Senator McCain, John McCain, you want somebody to reach across the aisles, this is the guy. He has been doing it before it was fashionable. He has reached across the aisle to try to clean up this campaign finance mess that's ruining politics. He reached across the aisle to find out -- so start the 9/11 Commission so we would learn from our mistakes that led to this attack.

He has reached out the aisle to solve hard problems like immigration and I got my brains beat out. Because that's tough, isn't it? Isn't that a hard thing to do?

Well, you know what America needs? We don't need somebody that sounds good. We need somebody that works hard. John McCain works hard. John McCain does all the things that Barack Obama talks about. I can make a real short speech. It would be entitled "The Times That Barack Obama Did Something Hard and Controversial in the Senate." I am now done.

Well, this guy has done the hard, controversial things because he puts his country first. He told the Republican Party things they didn't want to hear, because I was in the room when he told them. You know what? He is going to be Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's worst nightmare.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: Senator Lindsey Graham getting a little bit more on message at the end of that clip there. But certainly ribbing John McCain and Cindy McCain at the beginning, and he is somebody who John McCain likes to keep around pretty much for that reason. A lot of these candidates try to find ways to cope on the campaign trail. For John McCain, having Lindsey Graham and the humor that he brings is part of the way he copes. There's though no question about that and our viewers just heard why.

Well after the break, we are going to bring you a lot more of BALLOT BOWL. We are going to go back to the campaign trail, so you don't want to miss it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. More BALLOT BOWL in a moment, but, first, an update on this hour's top stories.

Incredible anguish for actress Jennifer Hudson. Her mother and brother were found shot to death in the family's Chicago home yesterday. Her 7-year-old nephew is still missing. Chicago media report police have questioned Hudson's brother-in-law, William Balfour. Police have not confirmed that, but they say they're speaking with many people.

President Bush is urging Americans and the world, for that matter, to be patient. The president used his weekly radio address to talk about the global financial crisis. He predicts things will get better over time. He says it would be a mistake to turn away from the principles of free markets, free enterprise and free trade.

In Baghdad, a bomb attached to a car carrying an Iraqi army general exploded and killed the driver. The general and a bystander were wounded.

And Matt Keil is an Iraq War veteran. He came under sniper fire and was paralyzed from the neck down. That could have been the end of the story, but it wasn't.

Here now is CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Matt and Tracy Keils is a story of love interrupted by war. Home from his first tour of duty in Iraq, Matt met Tracy through a friend. It was, he says, love at first sight. Their wedding came during his second tour in Iraq.

TRACY KEIL, WIFE OF MATT: The main reason we got married is because what if something happened?

COOPER: Something did happen just six weeks later. Fighting in Ramadi, Matt was shot by a sniper.

MATT KEIL, IRAQ VET: I jumped up on the tallest part of the roof to lay a camel net over the stairwell and that's when I got shot in the right side of the neck. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

T. KEIL: They told us that he had a Christopher Reeve type injury, and I just collapsed.

COOPER: He was paralyzed from the neck down.

M. KEIL: Realizing that my wife was going to be helping me eat, cleaning me up, doing things like that, it was kind of devastating.

COOPER: Devastating, but slowly things did start to look up. Matt regained some use of his left arm. In August 2007, while undergoing treatment, Matt heard about Homes for our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted houses for disabled veterans. John Gonsalves started homes for our troops frustrated that not enough was being done for our veterans.

JOHN GONSALVES, HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS: Our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers are all in a far-away place putting their lives on the line and getting injured and many of them dying for us, and we're not doing anything. I mean, we have to do something.

COOPER: So now you're volunteering for those who volunteer for us?

GONSALVES: That's it.

COOPER: John got hundreds of volunteers to help build Matt and Tracy's home for free.

GONSALVES: It's the certificate of occupancy.

COOPER: We were there when it was presented to them.

M. KEIL: Your fingerprints are throughout our entire home now. You will always be a part of our family no matter what, and we love you. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: To see more of Matt Keil's story, please visit our "Impact Your World" page on our Web site. That's at CNN.com/impact. And for more stories only today's young vets can tell, watch the "ANDERSON COOPER 360" special "Back from the Battle," CNN tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. BALLOT BOWL returns in a moment.