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Ballot Bowl 2008

Clinton Speech in West Virginia; Obama Speech in Oregon; Can Democrats Unite?

Aired May 10, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello everybody, welcome to BALLOT BOWL. We're coming to you from Bend, Oregon. I'm Ted Rowlands. We've got a busy hour ahead. The candidates on the trail today, we'll hear from both the Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, this is your chance of course on ballot bowl to hear and see the presidential candidates live and unfiltered from the campaign trail.
West Virginia is the next big battle ground on the primary calendar, voters heading to the polls on Tuesday. With such a tight race between the Democrats every contest of course is very important right and every minute on the campaign trail is important. We're in Bend, Oregon because Barack Obama just left the high school gymnasium here after addressing supporters here and taking questions from him. Here's a bit of what he had to say today in Bend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... because we're challenged here at home. I don't have to tell you this, I'm sure the people of Bend are going for what people all across the country are going through. People are working harder and harder just to get by. We just went through an economic expansion in which for the first time in our recorded history the income for the average family actually went down during this economic expansion. The average family had $1,000 less while the economy was growing and corporate profits were up and the stock market was up. It's never happened before.

And it's a signal of something wrong here in America. There's something wrong when people work as hard as they can and yet still can't live out their American dream. There's something wrong when you've got 47 million people without health insurance and if you have got health insurance you've seen your co-payments and deductibles and premiums going up and up and up.

There's something wrong when people have worked all their lives, have a retirement and pension they think they can count on and suddenly a bankruptcy court erases everything that they've worked for and they find themselves vulnerable.

There's something wrong when we see jobs shipped overseas and people who had put 20 or 30 years of their lives into a company, not only lose their job but lose health care, lose their pension and lose their sense of place, lose their sense of meaning, their sense of dignity because they no longer have work to support a family. There's something wrong when there are children all across the country who despite the slogans are being left behind because they can't afford a decent education.

So in such circumstances, I decided we could not afford to wait. We couldn't wait to fix our schools and can't wait to fix our health care system and we can't wait to end global warming and we cannot wait to save our rivers and streams and forests, we cannot wait to end this war in Iraq. We can't wait and that's why I'm running for president right here and right now. Can't wait. We can't wait.

We can't wait.

But not only did I think we couldn't afford to wait, I also believed that the American people were ready. They were ready for something new. I believe that the American people were tired of a politics that was about tearing each other down. They wanted a politics about lifting the country up. That I was convinced that the American people were tired of spin and P.R., they wanted somebody to talk straight to them about how we were going to solve problems. And most of all, I was convinced that the American people wanted to be able to come together and be reminded of what we hope we hold in common. That we're not just a collection of red states and blue states, that we're not just black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor. That we're Americans and when we can unify, when we can come together and recognize the common hopes and dreams and struggles that we have, there's nothing that can stop us. No dream we achieve, no destiny we cannot fulfill.

I was convinced the American people believed that. And after visiting 47 states and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people and shaking hundreds of thousands of hands and kissing hundreds of babies, I'm here to report that my bet paid off. My faith in the American people has been vindicated. Because everywhere I go people are standing up and saying we're ready for change, we want something new, we want to turn the page and we want to write a new chapter in American history and now Oregon, it is your turn.

It is your turn to go ahead and ...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: And that's Barack Obama from earlier this afternoon here in Bend, Oregon making some comments before he took questions from the audience here at a high school in Bend. Before he came to the high school here, he went and visited a green company, this is a company called PV Power and toured the facility basically they make solar power components to help solar power go from the top of roofs into the energy, to fuel homes, to energize homes. And when he was here he commented about the fact that when he, if he is president, the solar power and renewable energy will have an ally in him in Washington if indeed he is elected president.

Oregon will have their election, their primary on the 20th of this month. But this is an all ballot by write-in state. Meaning that really it's going on right now. So both candidates have spent time here. Barack Obama is leaving here going to Chicago and he will be down tomorrow for mother's day. But Hillary Clinton was here this week as well. Today she was in New York. She was there for a fundraiser with a Mother's Day theme with her daughter Chelsea Clinton. Let's listen to a little bit about what she had to say in front of her supporters in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And as I travel across America, I'm constantly reminded how fortunate we are and the many blessings that we have that many of us have enjoyed and sometimes take for granted. People ask me all the time, don't you get tired? Physically of course, it's grueling and demanding, but I never, ever get tired of meeting people and hearing their stories and listen to what they hope their next president will do. Because there's a great sense of yearning in this country that we once again start acting like Americans, that we live up to our values and ideals, we solve our problems, we work with one another again. And both Charlie and Anita (ph) said it so well, there's a lot of unfinished business that awaits our next president. And I believe with all my heart we are up to doing it.

But it will depend greatly on the outcome of this next election. And for me it is about electing a Democratic president then governing again to make progress that people feel in their lives that they can believe that we're once again fulfilling America's great mission of extending opportunity and equality and progress for everyone.

So it's exciting to be with you because I want you to know how grateful I am for your support and how much you have sustained me throughout this campaign. But it has been a joy. Now, I know that may be hard to believe.

But if you would just take the advice that I give to my own mother, and that is just turn off the television, you will really enjoy this experience.

Because what I hear and what I see is all about how we're going to finish this nominating contest, which we will do. Then we will have a nominee and we will have a unified Democratic Party and we will stand together and we will defeat John McCain in November and go onto the White House.

And, of course, on Mother's Day, it's always good to remember the advice that our mothers have given us. Sometimes we follow it and sometimes we don't. But sometimes -- well, that's a topic for another day.

But there's a lot of wisdom in that advice that everyone of us has received and of course, my 88-year-old, soon to be 89-year-old mother is still giving me advice as I reflect on a lot of the advice that I've been given, it would be pretty good advice for a president to take into the Oval Office. You know, treat each other with kindness, be nice to one another. Don't grab somebody else's toys. Know when you're supposed to use the right fork and knife. It is a joy for me to think about all of the wisdom that has been passed down and it would be exciting to have the first mother in the White House. And ...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: All right. That was Senator Clinton in New York on this eve of Mother's Day. On Mother's Day she'll be back on the campaign trail in West Virginia. The other thing people have been watching closely something that fluctuates on a seemingly hourly basis is the race for superdelegates. The latest in that race has Barack Obama whittling down the Clinton lead to two superdelegates, Clinton picked up two and lost one and Barack Obama picked up three. But check in with us in another couple hours and that may change as that continues to change.

Coming up, we'll go to West Virginia, the site of the next primary and get the very latest on the ground there. Plus, we'll hear what John McCain has to say. You're watching BALLOT BOWL on CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: And welcome back, everybody, to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Ted Rowlands in Bend, Oregon where Senator Barack Obama was addressing supporters earlier today. He is on his way back to Illinois to spend the day tomorrow, Mother's Day in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton will be leaving New York and going to West Virginia tomorrow to continue to campaign there. Our Paul Steinhauser is there in West Virginia in Charleston and Paul, Hillary Clinton according to the polls has a huge lead. Anything to suspect that that will change? Give us what the latest is there in West Virginia.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You said it right. A huge lead. In the latest polls that have come out in West Virginia Hillary Clinton is up by over 40 points and that is a large lead, an ARG poll just out showing a 40 plus point margin for her.

And there's a reason why. This state, the demographics in this state really seem to break Hillary Clinton's way. You have a lot of blue collar workers, not many upscale voters and not many African American voters. Hillary Clinton has done very, very well so far this primary season with blue collar workers. There are a lot of them in the state. This is why you're seeing her so high in the polls.

Another thing about the state. It is a state that used to vote for the Democrats quite often. But in the last two elections have this state has gone for George W. Bush. It's a state the Democrats would dearly like to take back. Hillary Clinton was here on Thursday and she talked about West Virginia and its role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: In fact, I thing it's fair to say West Virginia is a test, it is a test for me and Senator Obama. For too long we have let places like West Virginia slip out of the Democratic column. And you know, it is a fact that no president, Democratic president, has ever won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia. That's how important the voters of West Virginia are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: It's important to the Democrats, it's important to Hillary Clinton. She's hoping for a big one here on Tuesday and maybe grab a little bit of momentum back and maybe help with fund raising as well. Barack Obama will be here Monday, the state votes Tuesday. Twenty eight delegates at stake, Ted.

ROWLANDS: Well, we were talking about the superdelegates a little bit ago and Barack Obama seems to be whittling away at the Clinton lead. In fact, at the beginning of the year she had a 100 plus lead in superdelegates, it's now down to two. But a win in West Virginia, a big win in West Virginia, will that go a long way for her in convincing people to stay with her and maybe coming over to her side?

STEINHAUSER: You know, it probably won't. Only 28 delegates at stake. It won't be nearly enough for her to catch up to Barack Obama in the overall delegate count. And this is the state where she's expected to win. It's a state he's not campaigning very much. Though he is up with campaign commercials here.

I don't think it's going to sway a lot of superdelegates, even a large victory here. Her argument though, Ted has always been and continues to be she's more electsable. And she is going to point out that if she does well here in West Virginia especially with these blue collar workers and he cannot do well with them, that is her argument. She is the one more electable in November because she does better with blue collar worker. So that is her one argument. And West Virginia may help her a little bit but probably not enough with the superdelegates.

ROWLANDS: All right. Superdelegates one of potential ways that she could overtake Barack Obama, but like you say a long shot at this point. Stick with us, we have much more to come on this hour of BALLOT BOWL. When we come back we'll hear from the other side, Senator John McCain. He is not on the stump today but he had a busy week. We'll check in and hear from him when BALLOT BOWL continues on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: And welcome back everybody to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Ted Rowlands coming to you this Saturday from Bend, Oregon. John McCain is not actively campaigning here today. He did a fundraiser in Houston, Texas today and he was going to take the rest of the weekend off. On Friday, however, he appeared in New Jersey. He was with Joe Lieberman and talked about a number of different issues, including the environment and he also discussed his age.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to ask, why are you talking about the environment now. I've seen you a number of times on TV and you have never really discussed this issue, is this a concern about losing voters or is there something else going on here? And with that question, I want to ask how do you feel about the criticisms like Frank Pallone, that this is pandering and have a poor record on the environment?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sorry I missed his comments. I'm proud of my record on the environment. As Joe mentioned. I campaigned for president in the year 2000. Young people said what are you going to do about climate change? I had hearing after hearing in the Commerce Committee, Senator Lieberman brought it to the Senate long before Senator Obama or Senator Clinton had involvement in it. I have a long record in preserving natural treasures of my state. And I have talked in every town hall meeting to be honest with you to address the issue of climate change. So may I invite you to the next town hall meeting that I have and we'll be discussing it more in the future. Did you want to follow up?

I don't know -- I'll give you our schedule but it will be soon. We continue to have town hall meetings across the country. One more.

QUESTION: I wanted to follow up on first part of Ron Claiborne's (ph) question, do you take offense to Obama's comments that you're quote "losing your bearings." And the bigger issue ...

MCCAIN: I ignore it. I don't take offense to it.

QUESTION: Do you feel your age is a legitimate issue in this campaign?

MCCAIN: Every issue that the American people want to be an issue and part of their discussions is fine with me. It's fine with me. It's fine with me. Just as the Reverend Wright's remarks, I don't believe that Senator Obama shares his views in any way. But he has said it's a legitimate topic of discussion. If that's what the American people want to discuss, that's fine. I'll continue to try to introduce them to my 96-year-old mother and display the same vigor and same energy that I have been able to display throughout this campaign, which allowed me to win the nomination of my party.

Any discussion in my view of any issue that the American people think is legitimate is up to them.

Joe?

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (I) CT: I just want to report this morning I personally checked John McCain's bearings and he has not lost any of them. They are all really in great shape.

MCCAIN: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: Reacting to the interview that Barack Obama did with Wolf Blitzer earlier this week, we have a lot more coming up on BALLOT BOWL. A lot of people think Hillary Clinton should drop out because she mathematically can't make it. We'll get the very latest from inside the political campaign, the Clinton campaign.

But first we're going to get the latest on severe weather hitting the southeast part of the country. That is coming up. You're watching BALLOT BOWL on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You can't rule out a couple of tornadoes because the wind profile is so favorable. Large hail and damaging winds and deadly tornadoes all across the bright red area here for today. This will be ongoing overnight tonight in the lower Mississippi River Valley affecting the Deep South and Carolinas again through tomorrow.

So, Rick, your NOAA weather radio, your best friend over the next 24 to 48 hours. Keep it handy and heed the warnings.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: As bad as things can get here, they are certainly not going to reach the crisis mode that they are experiencing in Myanmar. That is truly a crisis right now a week after the cyclone killed, by some estimates, 100,000.

International relief trickles in to the survivors and so does the international outrage at the nation's military regime. This is the same junta that seized relief aid that is holding a referendum today that would strengthen its grip on power. There is also reports that Myanmar's military generals dispensing international aid as their personal gifts to storm survivors.

America's first suburb is aiming to be America's first green suburb. Long Island's Levittown was built for World War II soldiers coming back from the war and started families. Today it is striving to get all 17,000 households to do something to save energy, to be the first again.

Here's CNN's Miles O'Brien taking a look at their master plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hubie Van Meurs is taking a lot of pressure off the folks in Levittown, New York.

HUBIE VAN MEURS, ALURE ENERGY: Keeping all the outer windows and doors closed, we can find out how leaky the house is.

O'BRIEN: He's plugging leaks and insulating attics are all over this New England town where the sprawling of America began more than 50 years again. Levittown was the country's first planned suburb. TOM SUOZZI, NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We thought if made history back in the 1940s and it can make history again by being the first suburban community to go green.

O'BRIEN: Nassau County executive, Tom Suozzi, launched the campaign to encourage everyone in Levittown, 17,000 homes, 52,000 people, to do something green, from changing light bulbs to installing a new furnace.

Several local companies have ponied up special deals and finance. Just about every household is taking part.

Levittown homeowner Tom LaSusa found the program easy to love.

TOM LASUSA, RESIDENT: Whatever little bit will help us and whatever little bit will help the environment.

SUOZZI: We think, if you can do it in Levittown, you can do it anywhere.

O'BRIEN: Could be this is place is still a trend setter after all of these years.

Mile O'Brien, CNN, Levittown, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: As you know, and as we have been told oftentimes, a woman's work is never done. After the break, you'll meet one that set out to save an entire city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Our latest "CNN Hero" found her purpose helping people who lost pretty much everything. Liz McCartney and her boyfriend moved 1,000 miles to help rebuild St. Bernard Parrish after Hurricane Katrina.

(CNN HERO)

SANCHEZ: By the way, if you want to nominate your hero for recognition, tell us your story at cnn.com/hero.

The candidates, unfiltered, talking about issues that matter to all of us. We'll be back with "BALLOT BOWL" in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, to this Saturday edition of "BALLOT BOWL, your chance to hear the candidates unfiltered.

The next big primary on the Democratic side is West Virginia on Tuesday. Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time in that state, including last Thursday when she was there addressing supporters.

Let's listen in and hear a little bit about what she said last Thursday in West Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to say thank you because a lot of you have stuck with me. You have been there through all of the ups and downs and biggest victories and toughest moments and I think that it's because you understand that you got to have a president who gets up every day and fights for you, who never gives up on you, who always keeps going for our country. That is what I will do if I'm given the chance to serve as your president.

Now, there are some folks who have said, well, we needed to end this before we got to West Virginia. I don't think so. I think we want to keep this going so that the people of West Virginia's voices are heard and their votes are counted.

You know, I want you all too and we're going to get there together, I'm telling you. You think it is a little bit like deja vu all over again. Some in Washington wanted us to end our campaign and then I won New Hampshire. Then we had huge victories on Super Tuesday. Then we won Ohio and Texas and Pennsylvania and I was never supposed to win Indiana. Well, I'm running to be president of all 50 states. And I want to be sure that we count all 50 states.

In fact, I think it's fair to say West Virginia is a test. It is a test for me and Senator Obama because, for too long, we have let places like West Virginia slip out of the Democratic column.

And you know, it is a fact that no president, Democratic president, has ever won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia. That's how important the voters of West Virginia are.

I remember, these are the voters right here in West Virginia who delivered two terms to president Reagan and two terms to president Clinton. And I like that outcome better.

I think the hard working voters of West Virginia represent the heart and soul of the Democratic part and the back bone of our victory in November. We've always said we're the party of the people, haven't we. We're the party of the waitress on her feet and the nurse on the night shift and the worker on the line and we're the party of the coal minor on the job. We are the party of the hard working people of West Virginia. We stand with you and we will stand up for you.

For too long what we've seen in Washington under, first the Republican Congress, then the Republican administration is government of the few by the few and for the few. Well, we need to reverse that and get back to the way America works best.

When we walked into this beautiful state capital, I asked, when was this built. He said it was finished in 1932 during the Great Depression. We were flat on our back in America. We never stopped building and never stopped dreaming. We never stopped producing results for our people. That's the kind of attitude that made America great. And that's what we're going to bring back to the White House next January. And that's what we need in terms of the contrast in this election. I believe we need to stand for the people of America, particularly hard working people. That's why I'm in favor of making the oil company pay the gas tax this summer instead of you having to pay it.

I know very well there's a phrase in West Virginia, the drive to survive, right? Living in a lot of beautiful places that are kind of off the beaten track, it takes some time and it takes some money these days to get to where you need to go.

And there is no reason why we can't have a responsible policy that gives you a break this summer for the average person be about $70. For a lot of you that drive longer distances it will be even more. But we could do what we need to by imposing a tax on the record profits of the oil companies. I think it's time we had a president who took on the oil companies instead of cozying up to them.

We aren't going to do that until we get the two oil men out of the White House, but we need to start this summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLAND: That's Hillary Clinton in West Virginia last week. A state she's expected to carry by a large percentage on Tuesday when they go to the polls there.

Today Hillary Clinton was in New York City for a private fundraiser, a mother's day-themed fundraiser with her daughter, Chelsea.

Our producer embedded with the Clinton campaign is Alex Marquardt. He's in New York as well.

Alex, a lot of people are saying, it's not going to work, you don't have the numbers. It's mathematically almost an impossibility to win this thing. What is Hillary Clinton telling voters about staying in the race?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN POLICE PRODUCER: She says first of all it is not over. She's been counted out before. She was counted out before Ohio and Texas. She was counted out before Pennsylvania. And now she's been counted out again. And she's in it until there's a nominee. And in order to have a nominee you have to count Florida and Michigan. She doesn't go so far as to say she's in it until the convention but certainly until there's a nominee.

The other night in Washington, she said there's no sense for alarm. Calm down. When we have a nominee the party will unite and rally around the nominee to beat John McCain in the fall.

In the end of the day the differences between her and Senator Obama aren't that big compared to the differences between the Democrats and John McCain.

ROWLAND: If she were able to pull it out, and the scenario would be a complete long shot. A lot of people say it would have to be a real fumble on the Obama side and superdelegates going towards her side. is it her sense, is she telling voters no matter what happens, if I'm elected I will be -- this will be a united party, even considering that if she does get it, there's going to be a lot of hard feelings that Clintons stole it, if you will?

MARQUARDT: She doesn't think there going to be much issue uniting the party as I mentioned just a second ago. She really thinks the differences between the two of them aren't all that big and whoever the nominee is, the Democrats voting for the other candidate will come to her side eventually and join them.

Now she said the other day that even though it feels like 100 years since Iowa, it's only been four months. And there's more time, until the election in November, which is plenty of time to bring the parties together united behind that one candidate to beat John McCain in the fall.

ROWLAND: All right. True enough. It's only until June 3rd until the primaries are over and a lot of people asking for her to step aside. You put a good context to that, given how far they've come, a little bit longer isn't too long to wait.

Alex, thank you very much for your insight, embedded with the Clinton campaign.

We're going to take a quick break, but we have much more "BALLOT BOWL" coming up. We'll hear from Senator Barack Obama again on the other side of the break. You're watching "BALLOT BOWL" on CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLAND: Welcome back to "BALLOT BOWL." I'm Ted Rowlands in Bend, Oregon, for this Saturday edition of "BALLOT BOWL."

Senator Barack Obama has left the state of Oregon on his way back to Illinois. Yesterday he was in Eugene, Oregon talking to folks at the University of Oregon. Among other things he said he was looking at the 20th of this month when the Oregon primary is held to be the last date of the support of the Oregon vote. He said that was the day he would wrap this up. He said that and much more.

Let's listen in to a little bit of what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know there are some people who are worried about the fact that the Democrats have been going at it for a pretty long time. People say, oh, gosh, the Clinton supporters aren't going to support Obama and the Obama supporters won't support Clinton. And everybody has got bruised feelings and everybody is all upset and wound up.

And you know, now, listen, I just want everybody to be clear that we may have some arguments within the party. We've got some real differences, but whatever differences exist between myself and Senator Clinton, they pale in comparison to the other side.

We know no matter what else happens, when we go to the polling place in November, the name George W. Bush won't be on the ballot. We know that. And the name of my cousin Dick Cheney won't be on the ballot. We know we have an opportunity to shift away from the politics characterized by Katrina and confidence and Brownie mismanagement and warrantless wiretaps and foreign renditions and economic policies that -- in which prosperity doesn't trickle down by rather pain trickles up. I forgot about Halliburton. Wasn't even thinking about them.

So we've got this opportunity. And even though Bush and Cheney won't be on the ballot, the ideas of Bush and Cheney will be on the ballot because, like it or not, John McCain has decided to run for George Bush's third term. That's what he is all about. It's true.

I respect John McCain's service to our country. He's a genuine American hero. But John McCain has decided that the war in Iraq is a success and that we have a chance to continue this war without an exit strategy, potentially continuing our occupation for 100 years.

John McCain looks at George Bush's economic record and he says, you know, "I see great progress." That's what he said. That's a direct quote.

Apparently, he wasn't talking to the 260,000 people who have lost their jobs just since the beginning of this year. Apparently, he wasn't listening to those folks that I met all throughout indiana, all throughout North Carolina and Ohio and Pennsylvania and right here in Oregon who worked all their lives in a plant and sudden my the plant gets shifted overseas. and they are not only losing their job, but they're losing health care and pension and losing a sense of who they are and their dignity and community.

Apparently, he's not listening to them. Apparently, he's not listening to the single moms who can't figure out how to get health insurance for their kids. Apparently, he's not listening to those children trapped in poverty, who can't even imagine finding a job and being able to buy a home and live out the American dream. That dream has been crushed from them.

I don't see great progress. They don't see great progress. You don't see great progress. I don't know what John McCain is looking at but if he sees great progress, then we definitely don't want to see him in the White House. That's why I guarantee you that Democrats will be united come November. Don't you worry. We will join together to make sure that we're successful in November.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLAND: Senator Barack Obama last night in Eugene, Oregon, addressing supporters at the University of Oregon.

That is going to do it for us for this edition of "BALLOT BOWL." Another edition of "BALLOT BOWL" will come at you tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern. Please join us for that. And stay tuned. Coming up next on CNN, this week's "This Week in Politics." Thanks for watching.

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