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Sarah Palin's GOP Speech: Lack of Substance?; Interview with Missouri Governor Matt Blunt; Interview With Florida Senator Mel Martinez; Monitoring the African-American Vote
Aired September 04, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome, everybody. Soledad O'Brien, at the CNN Election Center in New York.
It's John McCain's day to seal the deal, and his maverick streak is already on display. Crews remodeled the convention hall stage and floor this morning. Tonight may look more like one of McCain's town hall meetings than a traditional acceptance speech.
Of course, right now, everybody's still talking about Governor Sarah Palin's convention speech. It's been called everything from amazing and well crafted. Some people said shrill and too sarcastic. We'll take a look behind the labels this afternoon, do a little fact- checking.
Also in this hour, Barack Obama talks about issue #1, the economy, during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. Maybe he'll also respond to all the Republican hits on his resume and his record. We'll carry that for you live when it happens.
But first, we begin in St. Paul, which is where CNN's John Roberts is manning the CNN Grill for us today.
Almost sounds like you're cooking for us today. You're at the CNN Grill. Good afternoon to you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's pretty easy to man the CNN Grill, actually, Soledad, because they have very good food here and extraordinary milkshakes. And so after we get off the air here in about an hour's time, we'll take advantage of that.
Quite an evening last night here at the Xcel Center. I was inside as Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech.
You know, the bar, I guess, was pretty low for her because the media had been doing a lot of investigation. There was a lot of talk by the pundits and the media as well about her level of experience. She seemed to do very, very well last evening. Certainly everyone inside the Xcel Center, Republicans, very upbeat about what she said.
Did it reach beyond that, though? That's something that we'll examine this hour.
First of all, though, to the speech itself and how she did, and what we can expect later on tonight when John McCain gives his acceptance speech. CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry is with us.
Good afternoon, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's interesting. As you said, I think clearly expectations were low for Sarah Palin. She more than exceeded them.
What I kept hearing down on the floor there around the Alaska delegation, the Florida delegation, some of the key states, they were all saying the same thing over and over -- homerun, homerun, that she really knocked it out of the park. And I think ironically, it's almost like expectations are being set now really high for tonight for John McCain, because he's not known as much for his public speaking.
She set the bar really high, and I think as Soledad mentioned, the McCain camp is going to be changing the stage a little bit tonight to make John McCain more closer to the people, make it a more intimate setting. But clearly, I think Rudy Giuliani set it up well for Sarah Palin last night by talking about how the media had been hammering her. That got the crowd really fired up and then she fired away at Barack Obama. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they're listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: And obviously, electricity in the air. You can feel it because of also the history that was being made.
The first time the Republicans had a female on the ticket. She's accepting the nomination. And when I was near the Florida delegation, what was interesting is all the male delegates that were there basically gave up their seats on the floor and moved to the back of the hall so they can take female alternate delegates from Florida to fill it up. And they were all wearing these orange scarves to signify the Sunshine State, and waving them in solidarity with Sarah Palin.
I think she clearly fired up the crowd, but the women in the crowd especially.
ROBERTS: Yes. She's going to be going to Florida, as well, to try to -- some of those rural areas of Florida, to try to buttress John McCain's appeal down there, because the race in Florida very close this time around.
She used Barack Obama's words, Barack Obama's history against him, in a very mocking tone. But many people are saying that there wasn't a whole lot of substance in that speech last night.
Does John McCain need to inject more in what he does this evening?
HENRY: I think he clearly does. We were talking the same time yesterday about how there should be a little bit of specificity in Sarah Palin's speech to deal with these questions of experience. You know, give some examples where she really stood up and would show her judgment, the judgment she would take as vice president.
Instead, I think she did the normal tact, which is to sort of introduce herself to the American people, to stick to broader themes. That's understandable, because this is really her first big time on the national stage.
But I do think that John McCain, if he really wants to hammer home the message from now until November, he's really got to lay out what he wants to do if he's president. I would suspect he'd get into a little more substance tonight.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see. We don't have long to wait. Ed Henry, thanks very much.
Of course, experience has been a big question in campaign 2008. How much does Barack Obama have? How much does John McCain have? How much does John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, really have?
She had two terms as the mayor of Wasilla. And as well -- we need to get out of the way here, folks. Sorry about that.
She had two terms as the mayor of Wasilla, and she was in her first term as governor. But certainly she had no questions about the level of experience that Barack Obama brings to the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers, and there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate.
Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things, and then there is the idealism of those leaders like John McCain who actually do great things. They're the ones who are good for more than talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Of course, as you could expect, the Obama campaign shot back today that everything that Governor Palin said last night about Senator Obama was not true, particularly on this idea he has not authored any legislation. In fact, he did author an adjunct to the Nunn/Lugar bill on proliferation, along with Senator Richard Lugar. And they point out that as a state senator he authored a bill regarding racial profiling among police, and also a bill that would require tape recordings of interrogations of people who potentially -- inmates, at least, who would potentially face the death penalty. But let's get more on Sarah Palin's impact not only there in the hall last night, but what she might do for the Republican Party and the John McCain ticket across the country.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt is with us this afternoon.
It's good to see you.
GOV. MATT BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: Good to see you.
ROBERTS: So your wife Melanie was very impressed with the speech last night. What did she tell you?
BLUNT: Absolutely. We had an opportunity to have seats right up there at the front. And Sarah electrified the crowd. You know, in Missouri, we would say it was a homerun.
A hockey mom. You might say it was a hat trick really scoring against Obama, the Democrats, and those elitists that think -- want to dismiss her qualifications for office. But she really connected to my wife as a young mother and somebody that's had to balance family and career and other responsibilities.
ROBERTS: I'm glad to see, Governor, that you've got the metaphors consistent here, that the hockey mom scored a hat trick, because the hockey mom hitting one out of the park, that's a mixed metaphor.
BLUNT: It wouldn't quite work.
ROBERTS: Yes. So what about in the state of Missouri? What can she do for the McCain ticket in the state of Missouri?
BLUNT: You know, I think she really has helped energized the base of our party, but also as a broad appeal to lots of people that see somebody that understands their concerns, understands what it's like to meet a mortgage and to balance the responsibilities of a family with a very demanding and exciting career.
I also think she's somebody that you could take to any part of our state and she would relate to families, working families. Really anybody in Missouri would have some connection, I think, to Sarah Palin.
They were impressed with what they saw last night. And as a governor who's had an opportunity to get to spend time with her and get to know her a little bit, I wasn't surprised that she did such a magnificent job.
ROBERTS: Of course, not just in Missouri, but in states across the country. John McCain has had some problems with conservative voters and religious voters. Does she help to repair those problems? Are conservatives and religious voters more comfortable with John McCain now than they were a week ago?
BLUNT: Absolutely. They've seen one of the first decisions that he's had to make as somebody that's about to become the president of the United States, and they're excited about it. And if this is an indication of what's to come, they're thrilled. We had in Missouri on Sunday evening, about 22,000 Missourians that were there to see Sarah Palin and John McCain, and a lot of the energy with that crowd was a direct result of Sarah Palin's selection.
ROBERTS: Yes. Some states in the state of Missouri have got John McCain up by seven points. And history has shown that no one ever has ever won the White House without winning Missouri first. But could this year be different because there are many different routes to the White House, particularly with so many states in the West now apparently in play?
BLUNT: You know, we're still, I think, a bellwether -- the diversity of our state, the mix of agriculture, large urban centers with lots of rural communities. Really, we're still a bellwether, really reflect the spirit of America. And I believe that Missouri will cast its electoral votes for the winner of this presidential election.
ROBERTS: Governor Matt Blunt, it's good to see you. Thanks very much for coming in this afternoon.
BLUNT: You bet. Thanks a lot.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk more about it with our political panel. CNN political contributor Amy Holmes is with us. She's an independent conservative. Also, Leslie Sanchez -- I'm having a hard time saying your names. It's the end of the week, end of the convention. We're struggling.
Leslie Sanchez, which I've said a hundred time in the last few days, Republican strategist and CNN contributor. Author and journalist, Carl Bernstein.
Nice to have you both back.
A couple of things I want to talk about, starting with her speech. The feedback overall, I think, is fair to say, people loved the speech and thought it was great. Some people talked about it being a low bar, but I actually thought when everybody's watching and there's a lot of things to hit, that could be considered a high bar.
Here's my question. Some sarcastic tone in the speech. I'm going to play a couple little clips and then I want to talk about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.
What exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?
In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Got a lot of feedback from people who are big supporters who said, but the sarcasm was a bit of a turnoff.
What do you think, Leslie?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I thought she had a very tough job in the sense of showing she was strong, showing she was a leader, showing her personal side and personality, but also showing she was not going to engage in a fight, but if they put her in one, she could be tough enough to fight back. I thought it was witty and clever and interesting, and it's the way normal people talk. And I think anybody who's being punched around as much as this woman has in the last week in terms of her introduction to America has the right to go on and say basically what she thought about the other candidacy.
O'BRIEN: Punched around or vetted?
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think after the past five days, I mean, Senator Obama was on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," and Anderson asked him, "What do you make of this charge that you don't have executive experience?" And Senator Obama said, well, I understand that Sarah Palin was a small town mayor, she only had a staff of 50. She's a governor, and the Obama campaign has tried very hard to diminish her, to demote her...
O'BRIEN: Which is kind of the goal of the competing campaign.
HOLMES: ... from her current position. Certainly, but she is a governor, she's not just a small town mayor.
O'BRIEN: But punched around or vetted?
HOLMES: Vetted. Well, you know what? I don't think we found out a lot about Sarah Palin from the press.
We found out that she has a daughter who is pregnant. We found out that she was from a little town called Wasilla. We didn't hear a lot about, what is Alaska, what are the politics, what are the policies?
O'BRIEN: That's not very fair.
HOLMES: I think it is fair, actually.
SANCHEZ: I don't think you can look at this and don't think there was a mark of sexism in here. If she had been a man, I don't think all of the other, you know, kind of references to the mommyhood and the challenges she would have...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Well, we'll talk about that in a moment, because that's been a very interesting...
SANCHEZ: But that was the crowd that was there.
O'BRIEN: But questions about experience, are those sexist questions?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We're really looking at the wrong questions here. I've known John McCain a long, long time, and spent an awful lot of time with him in private, as well as traveled with him. And I have to tell you that this convention we're watching and her speech last night is the kind of thing that John McCain would have rolled his eyes at five years ago.
O'BRIEN: Why?
BERNSTEIN: Because he has for years said we should not be the party that is about cultural warfare. We are here to end cultural warfare as our politics and to try and find a common ground.
What we have seen at this convention, including the pick of Sarah Palin, who incidentally last month, when she was asked about the vice presidency said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me what is it exactly that the vice president does every day?" When she was asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." So there are basic questions...
O'BRIEN: And she went on to say because I've been involved in state government.
HOLMES: Right. I mean, you know...
BERNSTEIN: Yes, but it's a very unusual question -- answer for a candidate for vice president. Let's move away from partisan advocacy here and try to understand what's happening here, that if John McCain, who has never been a creature of the Republican right, has decided that the only way he can win the presidency is to go to the base on the eve of his convention, decided to throw away his original plan, not pick his first two choices for vice president because it wasn't playing. He had to shake things up.
As Leslie said the other night, you don't go there unless the margin isn't there.
SANCHEZ: Right. Right.
BERNSTEIN: And so he made this Hail Mary pass, as some have called it, and look, it's playing well among the base. But we have to recognize it and deal with it as news for what it is.
Yes, she is a great star in this new firmament in which she finds herself. She has great celebrity qualities, of all things. And she's -- look, mission accomplished for last night. O'BRIEN: Now, is that contradictory in and of itself? OK, mom, five kids, the youngest of whom has Down syndrome, and is dealing with a pregnant daughter and her boyfriend, and then also celebrity? I mean, how...
BERNSTEIN: No, no, somebody in her position. Of course she has -- look, she's great in front of the camera, she met her circumstances. Whoever is going to be particularly the first woman on this ticket, the same way Barack Obama, the first African-American on the ticket, is going to be -- have a unique celebrity status in our culture.
O'BRIEN: We have very little time. So I'm going to let Leslie weigh in, and then Amy.
SANCHEZ: Very quickly, there is no candidate...
BERNSTEIN: That's not a putdown, incidentally.
SANCHEZ: It is the kiss of death for candidates to say that they're running for president or running for vice president. I mean, that's the first thing.
O'BRIEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: They're asked numerous times.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You know as well as I do, Leslie. And they say, "I love the job I'm in." They don't say, I'm not really sure what the VP does and I'm not (INAUDIBLE), right? I mean, let's be real on that.
SANCHEZ: I think there are many people that might in their -- you know, in private conversations wonder what the heck the VP does. I think she was a very candid honest answer.
What they're not talking about is her accomplishment, the fact that she's ready. And she speaks to the middle class. We shift this from a general election about age and how different Barack and Senator McCain are to middle class.
O'BRIEN: One final word from you, Amy.
HOLMES: We keep talking about the base. I think Sarah Palin's appeal is far beyond the base. We also know that Barack Obama, he's had troubled getting those blue collar, working class Catholics, for example, who are a big swing vote, and the Catholics who tend to vote Republican are people who agree with a lot of the base.
O'BRIEN: Well, they've nailed down the base. It'll be interesting to see those blue collar workers if that -- if the speech and what McCain says tonight will appeal to those people who are really up for grabs to some degree.
Thank you to our panel. Certainly appreciate it, as always. In 2004, you'll remember, the Republicans had their best year ever with Latino voters. That turned around dramatically in 2006 after the acrimonious debate started over illegal immigration. In just a little minute, John McCain's fellow U.S. senator, Mel Martinez, is going to stop by the CNN Grill to talk about the Latino vote this year and whether McCain's stand on immigration reform will pay off at the ballot box.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This is usually the portion of program where we tell you the schedule for tonight, who to expect on the stage at the convention, at what time. Got one problem, though. Republicans have not yet released their final schedule.
So we know two things for certain. John McCain's going to be delivering his speech in the 10:00 p.m. hour, and CNN, with the best political team on TV, is the only network for the most complete convention coverage.
Let's send it right back to John -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks very much, Soledad.
Of course, a big voting bloc in election 2008 is going to be Hispanic voters, and a big outreach by both the McCain campaign and the Obama campaign to try to register more Hispanic voters and get them out to the polls. In fact, just last week during the Democratic National Convention, the Obama campaign and the DNC announced a new $20 million Hispanic voter registration program to try to get as many Hispanic voters over to their side as possible.
OF course, they lost the Hispanic vote to George Bush in 2004. They're hoping this time they might get it back.
And nowhere is the Hispanic vote of greater importance and a greater issue than in the state of Florida. Florida Senator Mel Martinez joins us now.
Good to see you.
SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), FLORIDA: John, good to be with you.
ROBERTS: Before we talk about the Hispanic vote, let me ask you a little bit about what you thought of last night's speech. Sarah Palin introduced to the convention here, introduced to the world.
Did you know much about her before she appeared on that stage?
MARTINEZ: I really didn't. I really learned about Sarah Palin on Friday like the rest of the world did. But I'm delighted to tell you that she has surpassed my every expectation.
ROBERTS: Did you have questions? MARTINEZ: Well, you know, first you say, who is she, what has she done? And then when you begin to get those questions answered, I warmed up to her immediately. And I thought her speech on Friday was sensational, only to be topped by what she did last night.
I also spoke to a very happy John McCain this morning, who was feeling really good about his pick. And I think last night she really just knocked it out of the park.
ROBERTS: What concerns did you have about the pick?
MARTINEZ: Well, just the fact that I didn't know much about her, and the fact that Alaska is removed and that sort of thing.
ROBERTS: And you can't get farther away from Florida than Alaska and Hawaii.
MARTINEZ: No, that's right. But, you know, I'll tell you, Senator Murkowski, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, she said, you know, do not underestimate this woman, she is capable and competent. And then when you hear her record, her knowledge of the energy business, which is so important to making America more energy secure, she has a good understanding of that.
She's been the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard. You begin to round out a picture of someone that in local government, as well as in the state level, has really led all the way and has always been for change.
ROBERTS: So she's coming to Florida next week.
MARTINEZ: Right.
ROBERTS: You're going to -- she's going to be used mostly, I guess, in the rural areas to try to shore up support among conservatives in Florida.
MARTINEZ: Well, I'm not sure if that's the case or not. I was hearing she might be coming to the Miami area and then Boca, but I don't know exactly the schedule. It may be fluid.
The truth is, I think she can help on two levels. She can help with working moms and with the I-4 corridor swing voters that tend to be Independent, hard-working families. And I think she obviously shores up the conservative vote. My BlackBerry was going crazy Friday afternoon with people excited about this pick.
ROBERTS: And does she do anything with Hispanic voters? And this is, as we said, a very important voting bloc, and it appears as though Hispanic voters are tilting Barack Obama's way fairly significantly -- 66 to 23 percent I think were the latest numbers.
MARTINEZ: Yes.
ROBERTS: And there's also a shift in voting preferences among Cubans. They were solidly Republican, but now a generational split in which younger Cubans seem to be tilting Democratic.
MARTINEZ: Well, it remains to be seen what happens in the election with the Cuban vote. I still think it's solidly Republican.
But on the national level, there's no question that we need to do more work and more outreach, and more needs to be done for McCain to be where President Bush was. I think he can be. His record is compatible with that.
But I think Sarah Palin can help because, you know, she is about family. And I think the Hispanic community is a community that really values family. She's a mom, most of all, and whatever else comes second.
ROBERTS: And she certainly didn't mention the word "immigration" last night in her speech.
MARTINEZ: No.
ROBERTS: And that's a very important issue to Hispanic voters.
MARTINEZ: It undoubtedly is.
ROBERTS: And do you want to hear more about that in this convention? You're speaking tonight. Will you mention that?
MARTINEZ: I'm speaking tonight. No, we'll be talking about national security issues tonight, about the global threat that America faces. I think the immigration issue, frankly, is one where John McCain has a solid record of leadership. Not just talking, but leading on it.
ROBERTS: He's also got a record of changing position on it though.
MARTINEZ: Well, what I think what John McCain has done is that he has understood that until the country felt there was a secure border, that nothing else was going to happen. So we stubbornly went ahead with a global sort of immigration reform. But we understand now that what has to happen is that we have to secure the borders first.
But that doesn't mean that John McCain is not committed to comprehensive immigration reform. He continues to be, and I'm confident of that.
ROBERTS: All right. Senator Mel Martinez, it's good to see you.
MARTINEZ: Good to see you.
ROBERTS: Look forward to you speaking tonight.
MARTINEZ: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
Now let's get back to New York. And here's Soledad. O'BRIEN: All right, John. Thank you.
Breaking it all down is coming up next. We'll take a look at just how effective Sarah Palin's speech was and what we can expect from John McCain tonight.
Back in the CNN Election Center right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back. We're at the CNN Grill here in St. Paul, Minnesota. It's day four of the Republican National Convention.
And John McCain with the big acceptance speech tonight after quite an extraordinary night with Sarah Palin doing the acceptance speech for vice president, really rallying the base inside the Xcel Center last night. It was unbelievably electric. People hanging on her every word. They fell in love with her instantly.
But the question is, will Independent voters across America fall in love with her? Because that's what they need to hit in order for John McCain to become the president.
Joining me now here at the CNN Grill, three members of the best political team on television. Bill Schneider is here, along with Dana Bash and Ed Henry.
First of all, Bill, let's go to you with a little bit of analysis of the entire night last night. A lot of red meat, but analysts are saying not a whole lot of substance on issues of great importance to Americans.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. What we did hear was that red meat. There was mockery of Senator Obama. And sometimes it even verged into bullying.
They were waving the bloody shirt. That's the political phrase for, you know, reviving all the battles of the past -- the war on terror, essentially refighting the 2004 campaign.
And what was missing there was, what are you going to do about the economy? That's issue # 1, that's what this show is all about. What's your plan for turning the economy around? We didn't hear much about that.
ROBERTS: But as we said, it played very well in the hall.
How do you think it played outside of the hall?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's going to be the question. What they're going to try to do inside the McCain campaign is take the message where it will play the best outside the hall, to small towns, to rural America, to places where -- particularly in battleground states like Pennsylvania, like Ohio, and even Missouri, where they feel that she can do well in small settings relating to people that they absolutely need to come out and vote for them.
It's all about having a connection and really basically having somebody who has a human sense on the ticket. On any ticket. And that is something that they say inside the McCain campaign is absolutely invaluable.
ROBERTS: What do you think -- how much more are we going to learn about the governor before that big debate in St. Louis on October 2nd with Joe Biden? Will they put her out there on the Sunday talk shows? Will she do a full Ginsburg and do all five Sunday talk shows? Will they keep her under wraps, just let her do campaign events?
What do you think?
HENRY: If they had to make the decision today, they're not putting her out to all five Sunday shows. At this point, they're pretty sore with the media. They want to sort of just keep her...
ROBERTS: Oh, I heard that's all over with.
HENRY: Yes, right. That was so yesterday.
ROBERTS: Yes. That was so yesterday.
HENRY: I think that they're going to take it day by day. Right now they want to keep her in controlled settings.
Obviously, she was speaking to the converted last night. I mean, it's not surprising that in that hall -- we were all there on the floor -- it was electric on the floor. But these are the people that if she had just said, "I'm for America," they would have been like, "Yes!"
I mean, this is the converted. She was preaching to the choir.
I think what the McCain camp really needs to do now is sort of a one-two punch. She rallied the base last night. John McCain has to try -- and it's likely what he'll try to do -- is restore his maverick image, reach across the aisle, go back and remind people that Joe Lieberman was at this convention Tuesday night, and try to really target Independent voters on the economy and other issues like Bill said. If he doesn't do that, that could be a big problem.
ROBERTS: And Bill, what about these attacks on the media? I mean, were we effectively used as a wedge with the base by the McCain campaign?
SCHNEIDER: We have been used as a wedge since 1964. This is as an old tried and true theme.
It was Dwight Eisenhower in 1964 who made a casual comment about sensation-seeking columnists and commentators, and the delegates at that San Francisco convention roared their anger. They shook their fists at the anchor booths. We saw a little of that last night. That's been the running theme now for almost 50 years. ROBERTS: Quickly, Dana, how much of that did you see last night?
BASH: Oh, well, the one line where she talked about the fact that she had a little news flash for everybody, that she's not somebody who is typical Washington, I was standing in the crowd and I saw them turn and look over to the area where the reporters were sitting by the podium and, you know, basically boo them.
So it's absolutely -- the red meat worked. There's no question about that. And they know that.
ROBERTS: Well I talked to some members of the campaign and they say, it's all over with now. Everything's fine. Back to normal.
Ed Henry, Dana Bash, Bill Schneider, good to see you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, John, earlier, we talked about how John McCain's going to do with his Latino voters this year. Next, we're going to consider his chances with another important group of voters, African- Americans. That's right after this break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: African-Americans have voted overwhelmingly Democratic since the civil rights era. The margin over Republicans is roughly nine to one. So how can Republicans change that? Especially this year when Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee? There could be some ways. Joining me from Los Angeles is radio talk show host Larry Elder, who's endorsed John McCain.
Nice to see you, Larry. Thanks for being with us. Certainly appreciate it.
No surprise to you when you see these numbers, nine to one, Democrats to Republicans. You describe yourself as a fire brand and you're endorsing John McCain. Tell me why.
LARRY ELDER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I am an American first before I'm anything else. And the reason you find these lopsided numbers in favor of Democrats on the part of blacks, Soledad, is because many blacks falsely believe that racism remains a major problem in America. And it does. And many blacks falsely rely on government to do things that people should do for themselves.
You go back 50 years ago and the out of wedlock birthrate for black babies was about 20 percent. Right now it's about 70 percent. So all of this money that both sides have lavished on the so-called underprivileged people have resulted in people marrying the government rather than marrying the fathers of their children. It's been a net negative.
O'BRIEN: So I'm going to stop -- let me just stop you right there because you know as well as I do that there are actually lots of reason behind those numbers, right? It's not just that one reason that you're highlighting, although that is part of it. And I want to go back to the first thing you said, which was, race -- black people erroneously believe that racism is not a major problem in America. What do you mean by that?
ELDER: That's right. Well, come on, how can Barack Obama win primaries in Iowa, in Maine, caucuses in places like Idaho, Wyoming, if racism remains a major problem in America? The deal in America right now is, that work hard, at least graduate from high school, don't have a child before you're the age of 20, and get married before you have that child. And if you follow that formula, Soledad, only about 8 percent of people grow up poor. If you don't follow that formula, almost 80 percent of people grow up poor. So we have come a long way. This is not your grandfather's America anymore.
O'BRIEN: Governor Palin gave a speech that many people who are supportive of her thought she just knocked it out of the park. And some people said they thought it was low expectations going in. And I would disagree with that. I actually thought that, you know, hey, anybody where everybody's watching their speech, that's some pretty high expectation. But listen to a little bit of what she said where she took a swipe at Barack Obama and community organizers kind of all in the same breath. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except if you have actual responsibilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: I heard from a lot of community organizers today on both sides of the aisle, I have to tell you, who were offended by that. They felt that, listen, we're the people who actually work in the trenches and get none of the glory. When the Republicans talk about country first, you know, and service, like, you know, America's about service, that's us. Do you think that that was a misstep or do you think that that was not?
ELDER: I think it was a pretty good shot. I mean Barack Obama touts that as kind of one of the basis for our voting for him for president. And on the other hand, he criticizes her for being a small town mayor without any real experience.
You know, Soledad, one of the things that really bothers me about the Democratic Party is their lack of support for choice in competition in public schools. John McCain has been adamant in his support for vouchers. Vouchers have proved to be working in Washington, D.C. The majority of inner city black parents want them. The majority of inner city Hispanic parents want them. But the Democratic Party, beholden to the union, is adamantly opposed to that.
Now I don't know what's more important than getting a good education for your child. And the Republican Party is on the right side of that issue. The Democratic Party's on the wrong side of that issue. And I would urge black people to take a look at that. O'BRIEN: And yet there are not a lot of black Republicans, like yourself. So what's the feedback that you get when you, an African- American man, say to somebody, I'm supporting John McCain? I think we should divide that into, from black people and from white people, I guess. I'm curious to know.
ELDER: It depends on where I am. At the barber shop, I'm not terribly popular. But, look, again, I'm an American first. I believe that national security is the most important issue in this country. I believe that the war in Iraq was the right thing to do. Barack Obama and Joe Biden were wrong when they said the surge would not work. It is working. They wanted to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. There's no economy unless there's a strong national security.
And then, secondly, I believe that taxing the so-called wealthy, who are the job generators in this country, hurts everybody, including the non-rich. And so these kinds of things, I think, if you think of yourself as a human being, an American first, and not a black person first, would lead you towards the Republican Party.
My 93-year-old dad, Soledad, is a Republican because he believes in hard work, does not believe in race-based preferences and he wants the country to remain strong.
O'BRIEN: You didn't quite answer my question about what people say to you, but I understand.
Larry Elder, always nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us. We appreciate it.
ELDER: Well . . .
O'BRIEN: We're out of time. We could go on forever.
ELDER: Whatever they say, I can handle.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
Just a few minutes from now, we are expecting to hear from Barack Obama. He's going to be speaking at a rally in New York -- rather in York, Pennsylvania, where he's going to surely strike back at Sarah Palin and some of the things that the Republicans have been saying in the wake of her speech. Another member of the best political team on TV, our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, is keeping track of the campaign trail. Joins me from the CNN 2008 Booth at the Xcel Center.
Nice to see you, Paul. What's happening today?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the Obama campaign is responding to all that red meat you heard just behind me here from last night. And they're pointing out that none of the speakers last night, they say, were really talking about the economy and how to fix it.
Today, as you mentioned, Barack Obama will be speaking about the economy again at that power plant in York, Pennsylvania. Yesterday he was in Ohio.
We spoke with his senior adviser, David Axelrod, this morning. He was talking to reporters on the campaign trail. And he said that Barack Obama did watch this speech last night. He said that, "to be very honest with you, I don't think he expected gingerly treatment. I think he understands that they don't really have a record to run on and that is what politicians do when they don't have a record to run on."
So I think today you may hear a little bit from Obama about the speeches last night and about McCain. But he's trying to focus more on the economy.
As for Joe Biden, the running mate, he's in Virginia today. He's in Virginia Beach this morning speaking at a campaign event. And he was pretty gingerly about it too. He had some criticisms of Palin, but overall really not too much on the attacks. He said, hey, don't expect from me those one liners that you heard from her last night when we debate in October -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Setting up expectations there.
Paul Steinhauser for us with an update.
Thanks, Paul. Appreciate it.
Even though the Republicans have one session to go, and it's a biggie, it seems safe to say that both parties had better than expected conventions this year. In a minute, three of the best political analysts in the business look ahead to the rest of the presidential race. Some major milestones include the debates and that's coming up quickly on the horizon. Well talk about that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: So, Sarah Palin's history-making speech last night, history-making day here in St. Paul, Minnesota, as she accepted the mantle of running mate in the Republican ticket. John McCain gives his acceptance speech tonight.
So what do we know about Sarah Palin? Do we know enough yet? Has she closed the deal with voters on the Republican side? And what about those independent voters? Let's check in now with three members of the best political team on television. Tara Wall from "The Washington Times" is here, editorial page editor, Alex Castellanos, who is a Republican strategist, and, as well, Roland Martin, who needs no introduction whatsoever.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey.
ROBERTS: So we were talking off camera. We should say it was a little bit of a preamble here.
Alex, do you know enough about her, did you learn enough about her last night to close the deal with you? ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: As a Republican, yes. As a swing voter -- as a swing voter in this election, no. She turns on Republicans. You know, we have paid a lot of attention to her. We have looked at her record. But, no, the rest of America just got introduced last night.
Now the interesting thing is, of course, the debate this whole week has been this person, little lady step back, you're not really qualified for this big job to even be considered before the job interview. Well, she had her first interview last night and she gets a second one. She passed the test.
You demonstrate. We test our leaders on the campaign trail, don't we? We put them in this crucible where the press bombards them with questions. Where we ask them to perform in big speeches. She performed last night. She went (ph) unflinching. So she gets to round two.
I'll tell you what round two . . .
MARTIN: Oh, big speeches now count? You've all been saying for the last six months big speeches don't count.
TARA WALL, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, regardless of whether, you know, or you're a Republican supporter, a conservative supporter, of course she has support in the room. I think, at the same time, though, many American women looked at her, America in general looked at her as an everyday mom who has a lot of the same problems. She's sending a son off to war, she's dealing with a special needs child, which I thought was pivotal when she talked about this being something she would advocate for in the White House. She talked about lower taxes. She talked about those core conservative values.
ROBERTS: But does that qualify her to be vice president in your mind?
WALL: Well, to qualify her for vice president, number one, is to step into the position. And I still -- I think the jury is out on that. I think there's still questions about that. I think that's -- it's a great question to ask. But at the same time, who says she's not qualified? She is an executive. She has had executive experience. She does -- there are many -- there's much time, you know, that we can sit here and pontificate about whether she's qualified or not. But she already passes the first test of executive experience and whether she'd be able to step up.
Now I think, as we go about . . .
MARTIN: Based upon giving a speech?
WALL: No, not -- based upon what we know about her ideas about reform, about what she's done in the state or the states.
MARTIN: And here's what I see that's very interesting, John. When the Republicans have a candidate who has a weakness, what they go to is, we know that she's a mom. We know that the family that she's raising. She passed the test of giving a speech. The exact same criticism they had of Senator Barack Obama in terms of, he gives great speeches, talks about his personal story.
WALL: No, his speech . . .
MARTIN: Here's -- all I ever want is for Democrats and Republicans to simply own up to . . .
ROBERTS: Then, of course, the McCain campaign says, yes, but he's at the top of the ticket and she's not.
WALL: That's right.
MARTIN: Right. So, but the point is, that they used -- everybody wants to use the exact same narrative to their benefit and then degrade the other person. She -- last night she gave a very strong speech, speaking to the base, laying out who I am, also speaking to America. But she hasn't been on the campaign trail. She does have to answer some questions.
For instance, she will have to answer, wait a minute, you were so against that bridge to nowhere, but you were really for it. You slam lobbyists in Washington, but you . . .
WALL: Roland, you're wrong. Roland . . .
MARTIN: One second. But you hired a lobbying firm to go get money from D.C. So we all know the game. And she did a great job doing it.
WALL: And is Joe Biden going to be asked about his son, who's a lobbyist?
ROBERTS: I asked Biden about that this morning. And he again confirmed that his son has not had any contact with his office. That he has nothing (INAUDIBLE) the lobbying (INAUDIBLE).
WALL: And we're also missing the point, as well, as we're losing focus of who is actually -- of course she's part of the ticket. Of course Biden is part of the ticket.
MARTIN: Well, I'm not losing focus.
WALL: But I think the focus . . .
ROBERTS: Can a guy interrupt here for a second and let me ask this question.
WALL: But I think the focus -- the main (INAUDIBLE) candidate who are running for the top of the ticket.
ROBERTS: Was this a singular opportunity for her last night? Will she get another opportunity like that before the election to sell herself? CASTELLANOS: There is two other big tests that she will have to pass. One is, she's going to get introduced to the press. She's going to go into the meat grinder. And we're going to see, again . . .
ROBERTS: Because our understanding is that the McCain campaign is saying, well, we don't necessarily know that she needs to go in front of the press.
WALL: I have to agree with that.
CASTELLANOS: That may have to -- I think that has to happen (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: You think she shouldn't?
WALL: No, I'm not saying she should not go before the press. I don't think that she should sit out there and be trotted out like she's the candidate and she's just, you know, it's just open fire on Sarah Palin and being treated like -- I mean have we gone -- I think she does select interviews . . .
ROBERTS: But what about sitting down an interview -- sitting to the Sunday morning shows, (INAUDIBLE) interview.
WALL: Absolutely, I think she does select interviews. She's talked a little bit more in her . . .
MARTIN: What does select mean? Like regional papers or local papers?
WALL: That's for the campaign to decide. I think, strategically, she should be . . .
MARTIN: Well, we're talking. Be specific. Who do you think she should talk to?
WALL: Strategically, she should sit down . . .
CASTELLANOS: I Know what the Obama campaign might like. What you would do politically here, really, whether you were a Republican or Democrat, when you're trying to introduce someone like this, what you do is you'd roll them out slowly. First you take the rest of this week to try to introduce her on your terms, and I'm sure that's what the McCain campaign would do.
WALL: And you give her some media training. Some more media training.
CASTELLANOS: And it would be malpractice, political . . .
MARTIN: Why if she's experienced? She's a CEO. She doesn't need any training.
CASTELLANOS: It would be political malpractice to do anything else. WALL: Everyone needs media training.
MARTIN: Oh, just (INAUDIBLE).
WALL: I'm putting on my communication -- my former communications person hat now and thinking about . . .
ROBERTS: This fellow over here does not need any media training.
CASTELLANOS: There were some big things that had to happen last night. We had to get -- the Republicans wanted to get the spotlight back on Barack Obama. We're now talking about whether this community organizer has enough experience. We wanted to . . .
ROBERTS: Uh-oh, you just touched a nerve.
CASTELLANOS: I know. The Republicans (INAUDIBLE) . . . .
MARTIN: But you also allowed (ph) some community organizers too.
CASTELLANOS: You can jump in a couple of minutes.
Republicans, also, I think, were working very hard last night to say, take a look at this woman. She is worthy of being considered. You've got a governor who's got to run a big budget. Twenty-four thousand employees. The biggest energy project in the country. She's . . .
WALL: And after her own party.
ROBERTS: Let me stop you there just for a second.
CASTELLANOS: And the third thing is, this is not the old boys' club. We didn't just hear conservatism last night. We heard bottom up conservatism. It's very different (ph).
ROBERTS: You said something very telling there. You said, worthy of being considered.
CASTELLANOS: Yes.
ROBERTS: By the time you get to this point, shouldn't that basically be a given?
CASTELLANOS: She just, you know, Joe Biden has been around for 30 something years. John McCain's been around forever. Barack Obama's had a year and a half on the campaign trail. We just met Sarah Palin. It would be impetuous for Republicans to say, vote for Sarah Palin tomorrow.
WALL: There are many . . .
CASTELLANOS: She needs -- that's why I think she needs to go through these (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: OK. We're almost out of time. One quick round here between you two.
MARTIN: John McCain, the nominee, is speaking tonight. Nobody's talking about John McCain. John McCain has a significant task tonight, as well. And that is, will he come out and throw darts or is he going to go bipartisan tonight. John McCain also has to step up or otherwise he looks secondary to his own VP. If he doesn't want . . .
ROBERTS: Tara, quick last word. Last word.
WALL: I also think it's ironic that last week we were talking about, during the Democratic Convention, how the Democrats were slow to be on the attack. What was taking so long? Why weren't they attacking it. And here we have Republicans who start right out of the bat, right out of the gate, save the one day that we had to take -- they had to take off, right out of the gate, went on the attack, did what they were supposed to do, did what John McCain is known for and that's being a maverick, that's taking a risk. I think you'll see that continue through the rest of the campaign.
ROBERTS: We've got to go. Tara Wall, of course, as always, Alex Castellanos and Roland Martin.
If you thought there was energy in the Xcel Energy Center last night, nothing compared to what we've got here at the CNN Grill today.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Oh, clearly, clearly.
WALL: (INAUDIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Yes, I heard that, Tara. Clearly.
ROBERTS: Wind them up and let them go.
O'BRIEN: And here, this is one of the best lines too of the week. A southern Baptist leader was comparing John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin to giving the entire Republican base a can of Red Bull energy drink. Kind of sounds like your panel, John.
In a minute, we're going to ask the Republican leader of the Senate if all that newfound political energy is going to translate into a GOP takeover of Congress, ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: After the tidal wave of enthusiasm over Sarah Palin's speech last night, Republicans may start asking themselves the question they never could have imagined, could her coattails help them recapture Congress? Joining me now to talk about that is the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Nice to see you, senator. Thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Glad to be here. O'BRIEN: Thank you. Let me ask you, in your speech, you talked a lot about Senator McCain's P.O.W. days. And so I'm curious to know about what you think of what Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, said about personalities and not issues deciding this election. Do you think he's that right that that's true?
MCCONNELL: Well, I think personalities are important. And I think Senator McCain has been an interesting personality for a long time. A conservative, yet somebody who can reach across the aisle and do important things. And now he's put on the ticket an exciting young governor with a reform agenda. You know, people here in inside of the convention are pretty excited and I think the American people are going to be, as well.
O'BRIEN: We certainly heard that last night and all through the day today.
Let me -- tell me, if you will, a little bit about how you talked to her. And I understand that Senator McCain called you to find out what you thought of Governor Palin and also put you on the phone with her. Tell me a little background on that.
MCCONNELL: Yes. I, like a lot of people, had not met Governor Palin. I had heard about her through Senator Murkowski, one of the Alaska senators, who's a Republican and in our conference. So Senator McCain called me up last Friday, said, what do you think about my pick? And I said, well, as far as I can tell it looks pretty good. And he said, well, here she is and put her on the phone. So we had our first conversation.
So I'm being introduced to her, like everybody else. She's a new face. She's from outside the beltway. I think she underscores John's maverick record. And I'd love to see her carving on the Democratic majority Congress, which has been one of the least accomplished, if not the least accomplished Congress in American history, which is why it has a 14 percent approval rating.
O'BRIEN: I was going to say, the approval ratings for Congress are really low historically pretty much all the time.
You've been quoted as saying . . .
MCCONNELL: Well, they were worse than usual, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You've been quoted as saying, "I'd love to tell you . . .
MCCONNELL: I'm sorry, they're a lot worse than usual.
O'BRIEN: Yes. And they're always pretty bad.
I've got to tell you, this is what you're quoted as saying. "I'd be majority leader next year, but there's virtually no chance we will get the Senate back." Are you being negative? Are you being realistic about the GOP's chances? MCCONNELL: I'm being realistic. We have 23 Republicans up and they only have 12 up. We had a very good year six years ago and now we have a lot of Republican seats up. So just the numbers make it virtually impossible we'd get the majority back.
That's the bad news from our point of view. The good news is, the Senate's the only legislative body in the world where majority's not enough. It takes 60 votes to do most things. I'm very comfortable predicting that we'll be a very relevant minority to support President McCain and his agenda. And hopefully the Democrats will give up the success of partisanship we've seen here in the last two years of the Bush term and work across the aisle and let us do some important things for the country, like opening up offshore and giving us a chance to achieve something in the neighborhood of moving toward energy independence.
O'BRIEN: Senator Mitch McConnell joining us this afternoon.
Nice to see you, senator. Thanks for your time. Certainly appreciate it.
MCCONNELL: Glad to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Coming up next, Senator John Thune of South Dakota's going to be joining us.
You're watching special coverage of the Republican National Convention. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the CNN Election Center. We're back in just a moment.
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