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Ballot Bowl 2008

More Reporting of Campaign Happenings

Aired September 20, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD CNN CENTER: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. It's a working weekend for the Bush administration. The Congress trying to hammer out a rescue plan for the nation's financial system. A draft proposal would give the government broad power to buy the debt of any U.S. financial system for the next two years. And spend $700 billion to buy bad mortgages. President Bush says he originally thought he could let markets work themselves out on their own but changed he's mind after talking with financial experts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: When one card started to go, we were worried about the whole deck going down. So I believe this will work. We had a lot of judgment of capable people, not only here in Washington, but our people were listening to a lot of other voices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, overseas a deadly suicide car bomb devastating a heavily guarded hotel popular with westerners in Pakistan, killing at least 34 people. Some 200 people were wounded in the blast at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The hotel was also a favorite among Pakistani politicians and business people. The attack came hours after the new president made his first address to parliament, vowing to root out terrorism.

The man who took over from Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa has made the word downplay the country's devastating Aids crises resigned under pressure today. Mbeki expected the inevitable after the top leaders of his party, the African National Congress, asked him to quit. Mbeki was popular among the international business community for bringing the country's morbid economy back to life.

And former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was critically injured in a crash of a leer jet in South Carolina. Four people died in that accident. Popular disk jockey, DJ Am, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was seriously hurt. The FAA says the plane went down just after taking off just before midnight Friday.

Take a look at that. That was a hydroplane and it was racing in California there and simply disintegrated during practice, practice run in San Diego after the driver lost control. Amazingly, the driver actually escaped with only minor scrapes. He estimates that he was going 180 miles an hour at that time. Lucky for him, he's all right.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. I will get back to you at 4:00 Eastern for more in the newsroom. Meantime, let's get back to the BALLOT BOWL.

MALVEAUX: Hello, welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We are in Jacksonville, Florida, waiting for Barack Obama. He is going to be starting a rally here momentarily. This is your opportunity this hour to hear the candidates, sometimes live, sometimes on tape. But always unscripted. Joining me this hour, Mary Snow, who is my co-host? She is in Kentucky. Mary.

SNOW: Suzanne, Senator John McCain, on the Republican side, is not on the campaign trail today. He's in Annapolis. He will be attending a football game. But, of course, with the unprecedented money crisis this week, the candidates have been forced to come up with their answers to what they would do to deal with these crises. And on the economy, Senator John McCain is not only trying to bolster his own credentials but to discredit Barack Obama's. At one point yesterday in Blaine, Minnesota, saying that Obama would be in his words dangerous for the economy.

Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have seen a telling moment in this campaign today. Senator Obama saw an economic crises and has found a political opportunity. My friends, this is not a time for political opportunism. This is a time for leadership. [Applause] too often -- too often we hear people say America's in decline. I reject that. I believe America's best days are ahead of us. Governor Palin and I are going to reform Wall Street.

We are going to reform Washington. I'm going to fight for you and I'm going to lead our nation forward in the greatest period of prosperity in its history. And let's have some straight talk. Senator Obama is not interested in the politics of hope. That's why he's hurling in insults and making up facts about his record. Today he claimed the congressional stimulus package was his idea. That's news to those of us in Congress who supported it. Senator Obama didn't even show up to vote. The facts tell a different story. Senator Obama took more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than anyone but the chairman of the committee they answer to.

And he put Fannie Mae's CEO, who helped create this problem, in charge of finding his vice president. That's not change. That's what's broken in Washington. And I talked about siding with the people, talked about siding with the people just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fund-raiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I would rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio. I am going to fight for you. Together we will win in November. Thank you, and god bless you and god bless America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That was Senator John McCain in Blaine, Minnesota, as he has been increasing taking on a populous tone as he talked about the economy. And, Suzanne, certainly some stinging criticism as he points the finger of blame trying to blame Senator Obama for being part of this financial mess.

MALVEAUX: We heard from Barack Obama yesterday in Coral Gables, Florida. That is where he was putting the blame squarely on the Bush administration. But he was also making the case that he believes John McCain will be very much of the same when it comes to economic policy and at least a philosophy of laissez-faire and free market. That being the emphasis. The Barack Obama, he hit back saying he doesn't understand and he thought it was a season of silly politics for John McCain to point the finger at him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now this morning Senator McCain gave a speech in which his big solution to the worldwide economic crisis was to blame me for it. This is a guy who spent nearly three decades in Washington after spending the entire campaign saying I haven't been in Washington long enough, he apparently now is trying to assign me responsibility for all of Washington's failures.

Now, I think it's pretty clear -- I think it's pretty clear that Senator McCain's a little panicked right now. At this point -- at this point he seems to be willing to say anything or do anything or change any position or violate any principle to try to win this election. And I have to say it's kind of sad to see. That's not the politics we need. It's also been disappointing to watch my opponent's reaction to these economic crises. His first reaction on Monday was to stand up and repeat the line he said over and over again throughout this campaign, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong."

The comment was so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it. And this on Tuesday he said government should stand by and let one of the nation's largest insurers collapse, putting the well being of Americans potentially at risk. Then by Wednesday he had changed his mind. He said he would take on the old boys' network, he said. But he seemed to forget that he took seven of the biggest old boys in Washington, lobbyists from Washington, from that network, and put him in charge of his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Barack Obama in Coral Gables, Florida, just yesterday taking some swipes at John McCain. Both of these candidates obviously trying to portray themselves as a stronger steward of the economy during this economic crisis. We are also hearing from Joe Biden right now in Media, Pennsylvania. That is where he is taking on the McCain/Palin team, saying they are simply out of touch with the economy and out of touch with the American people. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Senator McCain -- nowhere has Senator McCain been more out of touch than what you have been watching about on your television the last couple of days. The so-called financial turmoil. Senator McCain at 9:00 a.m. yesterday said, yesterday morning, he stated again, "The fundamentals of this economy are strong." I'm not just saying this to get a boo. I'm saying this to point out just how out of touch John is. At 10:00, as we Catholics say, John had an epiphany. John said that the economy was an economic crisis.

Now what happened in one hour between the economy being sound and an economic crises looming? Well, John had a political realization, not a policy conversion. John McCain -- John McCain, if he actually realized what was going on, he would have been forced to admit that the economic philosophy, one that he shares with George Bush, the economic philosophy of the last eight years is a bankrupt philosophy. He would have to admit -- he would have to admit that we could have used some common sense oversight.

We could have looked out a little bit for the middle class. If we did, we would have made a big difference. John McCain and George Bush have proudly said they are opposed to mostly all government regulation, including regulating what he now calls the greed of Wall Street. Where was he yesterday when he talked about all of these issues? Today he's talking about the greed of Wall Street. Yesterday, the day before, a week before, two years before, he was on Wall Street heralding the facts that he was proudly shredding whatever regulation and oversight that in fact were demanding these markets that he now calls green.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We are listening to Joe Biden. We are still awaiting Barack Obama here in Jacksonville, Florida, to speak momentarily. Mary, I want to let you know, we had a chance to speak to the Democratic Senator Bill Nelson just moments ago. I asked him which particular group does he think will be very influential in this state in perhaps giving Barack Obama a win?

He said he really does not know. He said Florida is a microcosm of the country. He said so many people have moved to the state. He said about four years or so, it will be the third largest state in the country. He said there really is going to be a very, very competitive race here. Mary.

SNOW: Yeah, and Suzanne, we will be talking with Bill Schneider in a few minutes. First we want to hear from Sarah Palin. She was in Blaine, Minnesota, talking about foreign policy. A little bit of a controversy has erupted as she was disinvited to a rally in New York next week that coincides with the U.N. General Assembly.

There had been a rally to protest, in fact, the Iranian President Ahmadinejad would be attending the General Assembly. She was disinvited earlier in the week. Hillary Clinton said she was not going to go because her office said she was blindsided by the fact Palin would be there. Organizers say they didn't want this to turn into a political circus. But Palin talked about it on the stump. Let's take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You may have heard also that I had planned to speak out on the threat posed by Iran next week in New York. I was scheduled to appear at a rally with Senator Clinton, whose commitment to this, I appreciate. This is a critical issue, and it should be an issue that unites all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons period.

Unfortunately, though, some Democrat partisans put politics first and now no elected official will be able to appear at that stop Iran rally. Iran's pursuit of these weapons should concern all Americans. This should not be a matter for partisan politics. John McCain and I are committed to drawing attention to the dangers posed by Iran's nuclear power. And we will not waver in our commitment. I will continue to call for sustained action to prevent Iranian President Ahmadinejad from getting these weapons that he wants for a second holocaust.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: All right, that was Governor Sarah Palin yesterday in Blaine, Minnesota, talking about foreign policy. Next week she is scheduled to be in New York while the U.N. General Assembly meets, and during that time, she is scheduled to meet with the president of Afghanistan. We will have more on that.

But also coming up, we will talk with Bill Schneider and the very latest on the electoral mess. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SNOW: You're looking at Cincinnati, Ohio, on this Saturday afternoon. You're watching CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Mary Snow across the river in Covington, Kentucky. I'm joined by our professor Bill Schneider, political analyst. And although you have the latest, right, on the electoral map. Any changes?

SCHNEIDER: We are seeing some changes on the electoral map. Two important states have shifted in the past week. Missouri, which is a state that has voted for the winner in every race for the last 100 years, and that was 1956 when they voted for Adelaide Stephenson. Missouri is moving from the toss-up category to leaning to John McCain. Very good news for John McCain, if he can carry Missouri. Missouri is a good bellwether state. And the second state that is moving is Wisconsin, Wisconsin was in the leading Obama category and that is now a toss-up state. So the race is getting a little bit closer.

SNOW: And we saw Senator McCain spending time in Wisconsin this week with his running mate. In terms of where do things stand right now?

SCHNEIDER: They were closer than they were before. Right now we have 223 electoral votes, 223 for Obama in the states that are leaning or safe for him. We have 200 electoral votes in states leaning or safe for McCain, which means Obama is still leading by 23 electoral votes. He was leading by 44 but the shifts that we have seen this week make it a little bit closer. But neither one is at the magic number of 270. That's what you need to win. We still have 115 electoral votes in toss-up states. SNOW: Wow. Judging by those polls you were telling me about earlier, how tight they are in some of the states like Ohio, really going to be competitive down to the end.

SCHNEIDER: It will be very competitive.

SNOW: All right. Bill Schneider, thank you very much. We will see you in a little bit.

And don't go away. We will be looking in on Senator Barack Obama. We are expecting him to speak in Jacksonville, Florida, any minute now. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Jacksonville, Florida. Barack Obama just arrived here momentarily. Mary, I have to tell you, the crowd just kind of went crazy, realizing he arrived, many people taking out their cameras, trying to get a quick glimpse at him. There are 12,000 people inside, 6,000 people outside this venue and thousands and thousands of people lining the streets. Certainly a sense of excitement here in anticipation for Barack Obama to speak very shortly. Mary.

SNOW: All right, Suzanne. A little quieter here outside of Cincinnati. We are here with the CNN Election Express, as it makes its way across the country. Senator John McCain is not on the campaign trail today, but he has been hitting the economy pretty hard, going after Senator Barack Obama on the economy. Earlier this week in Grand Rapids, Michigan, of course, the state that's home to the auto industry, which has been so hard hit. He talked about helping middle class voters. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not going to leave the workers of Michigan hung out to dry while the government gives billions in taxpayers' dollars to Wall Street. We are not going to stand for that. We are not going to stand for it any longer. The working people of this great state of Michigan are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, the most productive, the most competitive in the world, and they are the back bone and foundation of our economy, and I'm proud to know every single one of you in this room and I'm grateful you're here.

And I praise you. One of our great presidents, Franklin Roosevelt, expressed this same kind of optimism during a time of historic challenge. He said, this great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. That is my message to America and the state of Michigan. And he made the bold call to action that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. My friends, that's true today. I reject the doom and gloom that says our nation is in decline. America's best days are ahead of us, and with the right leadership, we will restore trust and confidence, and we will restore America. And we will restore this economy.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): USA! USA!

MCCAIN: My friends, as Sarah pointed out; we are going to stop spending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much and some of that money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations. That's unacceptable. We will drill offshore, and we will drill now. And we will have all of the above, all of the above, wind, solar, and all of the automobiles that are flex fuel and hydrogen driven and the leader -- the leader in the world will again be Detroit, Michigan and the great state of Michigan and the best workers in the world. We will make sure that they have what's necessary to do their job.

And, my friends, I don't say that on instinct. I say it because the greatest innovation, the greatest technology, the greatest technical training, and the most productive and best workers reside here in the heartland of America, and so I know -- I know that these new technologies will not bring back the old jobs but they will bring back millions of new jobs to Michigan and America, and we can do it. My friends, I don't want to take too long on this because Sarah and I want to respond to your questions and comments.

But we need nuclear power. I have been to a nuclear power plant here in Michigan, 26 percent of this state's electricity is generated by nuclear power. My friends, we can build 45 new nuclear power plants by the year 2030. It will create 700,000 jobs in America and it's clean and it's safe and we can recycle -- excuse me, reprocess and we can store. My opponent is against nuclear power. He's against offshore drilling, and, my friends, that's not the way you way America energy independent.

So, my friends, now is the time to help our economy. My plan does that. Senator Obama's plans do not. Raising taxes, as nobody knows better than here in the state of Michigan, raising taxes is exactly the wrong approach, and no one knows better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Senator John McCain, expressing his economic plans, earlier this week, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is a state where the latest CNN poll of polls shows that he is behind Senator Obama by four percentage points. So, senator Obama with 47 percent, McCain 43 percent, undecided, unsure, 10 percent. We're going to be hearing from Senator Barack Obama coming up momentarily, live in Jacksonville, Florida. And later on, John McCain and Joe Biden trade attacks over taxes. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHNEIDER: I'm Bill Schneider on the Ohio River across from Cincinnati, Ohio -- major battleground state. Well, John McCain spoke this week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, not too far from here. And he talked about his statements on AIG Insurance Company. Did he reverse himself? Was it a flip-flop? Here's his explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCCAIN: My opponent sees an economic crisis as a political opportunity instead of a time to lead. Senator Obama isn't change, he's part of the problem in Washington.

(APPLAUSE)

When AIG was bailed out, I didn't like it. But I understood it needed to be done to protect hard-working Americans with insurance policies and annuities. Senator Obama didn't take a position. On the biggest issue of the day, he didn't know what to think. He may not realize it, but you don't get to vote present as president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

While Senator Obama and congressional leaders don't know what to think about the current crisis, we know what their plans are for the economy. Today, Senator Obama's running mate said that raising taxes is patriotic.

(BOOING)

Raising taxes in a tough economy isn't patriotic. It's not a badge of honor. It's just plain dumb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Now, our polling shows that by nearly two to one, Americans support an significant increase in government regulation of Wall Street. Here's Joe Biden on Wednesday in Maumee, Ohio describing the Republicans as latecomers to the cause of regulation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ladies and gentlemen, eight years later what are we hearing? We have another Republican nominee, another Republican nominee who's telling us the exact same thing. Folks, he says he's going to change the culture in Washington. He says he's going to reach across the aisle. He said he's going to bring back integrity to the white house. Folks, we have seen this movie before. And what we all know is, the sequel is always worse than the original movie.

(APPLAUSE)

Who was in charge? Who was at the switch, as we say in my neighborhood? Who was -- oh, there was, there was the president of the United States, the Republican Party controlled this outfit for eight years, five of which they controlled the Congress and all of a sudden -- all of a sudden, it's my goodness, there's greed on Wall Street. My goodness, we need common sense regulation. My goodness!

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, this is a simple, simple choice people have. It's a choice between those who think that the marketplace and the corporations and the wealthy of America should go unfettered and have no regulation and those of us who think there should be common sense rules to protect, transparencies so people can see, the ability to know where your dollar is going, how things are changing. Folks...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: In just a minute, we will be hearing from Barack Obama speaking live in Jacksonville, Florida. And we'll also hear from the CNN's "Truth Squad." Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Jacksonville, Florida, this is where we are waiting for Barack Obama to speak momentarily. He has arrived before a very enthusiastic crowd. But, I want to bring you to earlier in the week. We followed him to Elko County, Nevada, it is really rural country and that is one of the critical areas they believe he has to win support if he's going to turn that state around. Take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Everywhere you look, the economic news is trouble. But for so many Americans, this really isn't news at all -- 600,000 workers have lost their jobs since January. Home values are falling, I don't need to tell you folks here Elko that your paychecks don't go as far as they used to. It has never been harder to save or retire to buy gas or to buy groceries. And if you put it on the credit card, they probably raised your rates.

In so many cities and towns across America, it feels as if the dream that so many generations fought for is slowly slipping away. Now, I have every confidence that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. That's who we are. That's what we have always done as Americans. But the one thing I also know is this, we can't fear steer ourselves out of this crisis by heading in the same direction.

(APPLAUSE)

We can't steer ourselves out of this crisis by taking the same disastrous road. And that's what this election is about. Now, this has been an interesting week for John McCain. It's been really interesting to watch him respond to this economic news. His first reaction to this crisis on Monday was to stand up and repeat the line that he said over and over and over again throughout this campaign, I quote: "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."

(BOOING)

Now, his campaign must have realized that probably this wasn't the smartest thing to say on the day of a financial meltdown, so they sent him back a few hours later to clean up his remarks. But, it sounds like he got a little carried away, because yesterday John McCain actually said that if he's president, he will take on, and I quote: "the old boys' network in Washington."

I'm not making this up. This is somebody who's been in Congress for 26 years. Who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign and now he tells us that he's the one who's going to take on the ol' boys' network. The ol' boys' network. In the McCain campaign, that's called a staff meeting.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Barack Obama now here in Jacksonville, Florida, taking the stage to speak before a very enthusiastic group, who obviously will be listening as the speech continues. I want to quickly bring in our own Josh Levs who's doing a fact check on some of the things Obama has been claiming over the week.

Josh, what are you looking at in particular?

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hey, there. Well, this is one of the big topics we have been looking at today and it's perfect timing to jump in right now. This whole idea of seven people who are lobbyists playing major roles in the McCain campaign. Now, we don't have a ton of time, let's get right to it. We have a fact check online and you can see, yeah, it is true.

Let's zoom in on this, actually. It's true there are seven top McCain officials who are lobbyist but the campaign stresses that none is currently registered to lobby Congress. We have a graphic for you that we'll pull up right now, that show you a picture of Rick Davis, who is campaign manager for John McCain. But, I'll tell you while we look at that, that Barack Obama also has people in his camp, including some unpaid advisors who do have histories of lobbying, including some of his registered to lobby, right now.

In a way, the greater reality check is to think about what do they do as legislators and what does that say about them? So, to counterpoint Obama, I'm going to show you this quote, now the next graphic, which comes to us from the president of the Public Citizen. This is an organization that attacks lawmakers when they really go too far in this organization's view.

And this is what they says. She says, "Regardless of how many lobbyists are working on his campaign or raising money for him, John McCain fought for 14 long, hard years for reforms that seriously limit lobbyists' power. He has fought for campaign finance reform, limits on gift and travel from lobbyists and extensive public disclosure of lobbyists' activities."

So, Suzanne, we're looking at that and we're also taking a look at the flipside today where John McCain attacks Barack Obama for allegedly profiting off of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And you'll hear more about that later on today.

MALVEAUX: All right, thanks, Josh, for keeping it all straight for us.

We're going to take a really quick break and then we will bring back Barack Obama, he's doing his thank you. Right after this break, we'll bring his speech to you, live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to CNN's BALLOT BOWL, I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Jacksonville, Florida. Barack Obama just taking the stage, beginning to address this huge crowd. I just learned that he spoke with the Treasury secretary, Paulson, earlier today about the state of the economy. Let take a quick listen.

OBAMA: ...feel as if the dream that so many generations have fought for is slowly slipping away. So, I know these are difficult days, so do you. But, here's what I also know, I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis ourselves out of this crisis. That's who we are. That's what we always do as Americans. Our nation has faced difficult times before and at each of those moments, we've risen to meet the challenge, because we've never forgotten that fundamental truth. Here in America, our destiny is not written for us, it's written by us. We decide. We decide.

With god's grace, we decide the path to follow. But, here's another thing I know we can't steer ourselves out of this crisis by heading in the same disastrous direction. We can't steer ourselves out of this crisis with a driver who wants to go the same way, into the ditch. And that's what this election is all about.

I got to talk about my opponent for a second.

(BOOING)

Because -- because he's been talking about me. The difference is, you know, a...

CROWD: Obama. Obama. Obama. Obama...

OBAMA: You know, there's -- you know, the -- President Abraham Lincoln, from my home state of Illinois, you know, he once had a comment that applies here. He said to one of his opponents: If you don't stop lying about my record, I'm going to have to start telling the truth about yours.

So, yesterday, my opponent, he gave a speech in which his big solution to this worldwide economic crisis, the biggest financial problem that we've had since the Great Depression, his big solution was to blame me for it. That was his answer.

(BOOING)

This is a guy who spent a quarter century in Washington, and after spending the entire campaign saying, the reason you should elect him is because he's got all of this Washington experience and I haven't been in Washington long enough, apparently he's now decided to assign me responsibility for all of the things going on in Washington.

Now, I think it's pretty clear that Senator McCain is a little panicked. And at this point, he's willing to say anything, do anything, change any position, violate any principle to try and win this election. And that's sad to see. That's not what we need. But we do need to clear up the record just so you know what the truth is. So let's be clear. There's only one candidate who just this week said a line he's repeated 16 times on this campaign, and that is that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."

(BOOING)

There's only one candidate who called himself, and I quote, "fundamentally a deregulator," when it was reckless deregulation and lack of oversight that's a big part of the problem on Wall Street right now. And here's the really scary part. Now the "great deregulator" wants to turn his attention to healthcare. He wrote in the current issue of a magazine, current issue, and I quote, "opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition as we've done over the last decade in banking would provide more choices of innovative products, less burdened by the excessive, the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

That's right, John McCain says he wants to do for healthcare what Washington did for banking. Folks, let me tell you, we don't want to go there. That's a risk America can't afford. There's only one candidate in this race whose choice for Treasury secretary is a man who thinks we're going through a "mental recession," that it's all in your head, and has called the United States of America, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

(BOOING)

There's only one candidate whose campaign is being run by seven of Washington's most powerful corporate lobbyists. And let me tell you this one candidate, it ain't me.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can...

OBAMA: I don't -- just so everybody's clear, I don't take a dime from Washington lobbyists and special interests, they don't fund my campaign, they will not run our campaign, they will not run our White House, and they will not drowned out the voices of the American people when I'm president of the United States of America.

So, when John McCain says that lobbyists won't even get past the front gate of his White House, my question is, who's going to stop them? Those seven lobbyists? His campaign manager? His campaign chairman? The economic adviser who got $40 million in golden parachute when she was fired as a CEO? The 26 advisors and fundraisers who lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? I mean, give me a break.

The same day that my opponent accused me of being associated with a Fannie Mae guy who I met once for two minutes in my entire life, the same day, John McCain attacked me for that, the head of the lobbying shop at Fannie Mae turned around and said in a letter, he wrote a letter, he said: Wait a minute, when I see photographs of Senator McCain's staff, it looks to me like the team of lobbyists who used to report to me. MALVEAUX: Barack Obama in Jacksonville, Florida, that is going to wrap it up here for BALLOT BOWL, but you can hear more of Barack Obama on CNN.com. I'm going to through it back to my co-host, Mary Snow in Kentucky -- Mary.

SNOW: All right, thanks, Suzanne, see you next time. That'll do it for here in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stay tuned to CNN NEWSROOM with Fredricka Whitfield coming up next. BALLOT BOWL, tomorrow, Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.