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The Situation Room
America Votes 2006; Interview With Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel
Aired November 07, 2006 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let me just update -- let -- let me just update our viewers on what is going right now, as we wait, about 45 seconds or so from now, the closing of some polls out in the West, including in Montana.
Right now, the Democrats have picked up three seats in the Senate -- three seats. They need six in order to be the majority. If they pick up five, there's a 50/50 split in the Senate. The vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, is the president of the Senate. He breaks the tie. So, nominally, the Republicans would be the majority in the United States Senate.
The Democrats have picked up, as we know, at least three Republican-held seats in the House. They need 15. We're watching all of this very, very carefully. In short, the night is still young -- lots of close races, four, specifically, Senate races that we're watching right now.
We can now project in Utah -- no great surprise here -- Orrin Hatch, the longtime United States senator from Utah, will be reelected. Orrin Hatch has never had much of a problem getting himself reelected in Utah, does that right now.
We cannot project the key Senate race that's closing at this point in Montana, Conrad Burns, Jon Tester. We're watching that race very, very closely.
But there's Rick Santorum, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, with his family. We projected he's been defeated.
Let's listen in briefly.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: ... Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, and wished him my -- all of ours, very best to him in his -- in his new role, pledged to him any support that we can give to make sure that the people of Pennsylvania continue to be served in a seamless way over the next couple of months.
I -- I congratulate him. And I mean that wholeheartedly. I congratulate him. He ran an excellent campaign. And I know he will be -- he is a fine man, and he will do a fine job for Pennsylvania. Please give him a round of applause. Please.
(APPLAUSE) SANTORUM: Come on. Give it up. Give him a round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: The first thing I would like to say -- you know, I was thinking about what the first thing I would say when I came out here. And it -- and it came down to the same thing either way.
Karen and I and the kids just want to thank God...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
SANTORUM: ... for...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: ... for...
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: ... for blessing us...
BLITZER: All right, so, Rick Santorum, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, conceding defeat, graciously congratulating the new senator. He will be the new senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey Jr.
You could see the tears welling up among his young kids, who were there with him. But Rick Santorum will not be reelected to the United States Senate -- Anderson.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Wolf, Bill Bennett earlier was saying, Rick Santorum's political future is still very much alive, possibly even a run for the -- for the president.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think you will see people talk about that -- as Bill noted, very popular among social conservatives as a conviction conservative, some who stands his ground.
And, even if he knows he's unpopular, but believes it's the right thing to do, he says it. And J.C. is absolutely right, too. And the Democrats do give Rick Santorum give a ton of credit for working on AIDS, poverty, and other issues. They worked very hard against him in this campaign, because they want the majority, but they do give him credit on those issues.
Another interesting choice for him could be -- it looks like Ed Rendell will be reelected governor of Pennsylvania tonight. I'm not sure if we have projected that race or not, but he was way ahead for most of trace. Rick Santorum could -- Ed Rendell -- I talked to him the other day -- says this is his last campaign. Maybe Rick Santorum could work for four years, rehabilitate his image, and run for governor in a few years as well, too -- a young man and very popular among conservatives. COOPER: How does this change the balance of power among Republicans in the Senate?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, it leaves an opening in the leadership.
I mean, what is going to be really interesting is to, see when Republicans come back, whether they're in the minority or the majority, they are going to have leadership openings. One of them is Rick Santorum.
COOPER: He was the third most powerful Republican.
CROWLEY: Republican on the Senate side.
And you have Bill Frist retiring. So, you have these huge openings for leadership. So, when -- when they look at the makeup of who is coming back in the Senate, they are going to have to make their choices on who is going to actually lead them. And that always sends a powerful signal as to whether the Republican Party has learned anything, if they are defeated, or whether they are staying the course policy-wise, or even philosophy-wise.
So, it's going to be very interesting, with this -- this vacancy and the Frist vacancy, to see how they begin to shape who they are for 2008.
COOPER: You agree with that, Marcus?
MARCUS MABRY, CHIEF OF CORRESPONDENTS, "NEWSWEEK": I think that's exactly the question.
I think, while we have heard some laudatory things tonight about the bipartisanship on occasion of the senator from Pennsylvania, who only has another two months in office now, we have to remember, this was an incredibly politicized, divisive partisan, both on the floor of the United States Senate, but also back in Pennsylvania.
And that's one reason he's been turned out tonight. So, while he reached across the aisle on occasion, he -- his rhetoric is amongst the most heated of the U.S. Senate.
The question now is, what will this new Republican -- if the Republicans keep the Senate, and Democrats win the House, as many prognosticators were prognosticating, the question is going to be, what is that Republican Senate like? It's the upper house of the U.S. government. Are they going to work with the Democratic House? Are they going to make sure the Democrats get nothing done?
If a partisan like Rick -- a firebrand partisan like Rick Santorum is not returned to the Senate, maybe that -- the American people are sending a message to the Republican senators.
KING: And -- and one of the challenges in that Senate, you have a number running for president, one of them John McCain, considered the front-runner right now. His presidential campaign began a few hours ago, if not a few months ago.
And, so, how the internal Senate dynamic works is very important, whether the Republicans are in the majority or not. The man in line right now to be leader -- and there needs to be an election first -- is Mitch McConnell, someone with whom John McCain has been like this over the years on campaign finance and other issues. So, the internal Senate dynamic, as Candy noted, win or lose, will be quite fascinating.
COOPER: Let's talk about that with some of our analysts back here a little bit.
J.C. Watts, Bill Bennett, in particular, how do Republicans in the Senate change, with Rick Santorum gone, Bill Frist retiring?
J.C. WATTS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I -- I have not thought about that, other than Mitch McConnell being the majority leader, if we hang on, which I -- I think we will.
Mitch is...
COOPER: I mean, is there a lesson in this for Republicans, that a Rick Santorum goes down?
WATTS: You know, I -- I think -- I think it is this, Anderson.
I will tell you a story I heard about a football team losing a game 177-0. And the coach is trying to figure out, what do I say to my players? And he said: You know what? I know what I will do. We will go back to basics. He took a football and held it up, and he said, guys, we're going back to basics. This is a football.
And I think that's where we are. You know, we have -- we have gotten away from who we are as Republicans over the last, you know, three or four years. And now we have seen Democrat candidates come along, like the guy in Indiana. I think Bob Casey is -- I think that's who Bob Casey is.
But I think we're seeing those type of candidates that's coming along and kind of, you know, looking like Republicans. And, in this environment, you know, the edge have gone to them. So, I -- I think Republicans need to get back to basics, and -- and -- and try to broaden the base a little bit, and -- and look at some of those issues that I think the evangelical community is concerned about. And we talked about those a little earlier.
COOPER: There have been some conservatives who have said, look, this may not be a bad thing for the Republican Party, kind of a shot in the arm, a wakeup call.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
I think there will be a bigger shift, if there is one, in the Republican Party in the House leadership. I think you could see a real shakeup here.
COOPER: How so?
BENNETT: And it will be generational. I think you will see guys like Pence, who I see as winning big, people like John Shadegg and others, people who have not had their way on limitations on spending, really -- really urge their will here upon the -- upon the majority.
And I think you will see them rise up and maybe replace a lot of the leadership. I agree. I think Mitch McConnell probably becomes the majority leader, if -- if we hold the Senate.
And I don't think so. I mean, unless you see Jon Kyl thrown out, your -- and a -- and a host of other conservatives across the land, I don't -- I don't think there's any kind of sea change for the party.
COOPER: From -- from the Democratic perspective, should there be a message to the Republicans?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, yes...
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: ... there ought to be.
I mean, let's hope they don't learn it. But I think that...
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: ... that, when you see...
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: When you see somebody who is their -- your number-three leader in the Senate go down in -- in a landslide, right, against a guy that I think he kind of denigrated in the campaign, that -- that tells you something.
And I think it's what Marcus was talking about, the sort of overheated rhetoric -- fine for a guy like me -- not very good for a guy who is the number-three person in the United States Senate.
The really bitter, divisive partisanship, the -- the -- the really remarkable attack that Senator Santorum made on -- on gay Americans, when he compared them to people who commit bestiality, I mean, that sort of thing is so over the top. And I think Republicans will want to correct back from that. And they will have ample opportunity to do it in a closely divided Senate, no matter who is in the majority. I mean, that place has to work on bipartisanship.
COOPER: Bill?
BENNETT: Well, again, this was a comment, I think, taken out of context. We don't need to argue that.
Look at Rick Santorum in the totality of his actions. And, again, in the state of Pennsylvania, this is not -- this not a red state. You have got conservative stars in this party in the Senate, guys like Norm Coleman, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, and others. Jon Kyl remains one. And I -- I -- I don't think this is any kind of ideological sea change.
You are right. Rick Santorum is a tough -- he's a slashing debater. And he made people really angry. And he was targeted. And, you know, Pennsylvania is no -- is no gimme state for Republicans.
COOPER: What's the lesson for Republicans in this?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I -- I think Santorum probably lost touch with the state.
He was busy raising money on K Street. You know, he was the chairman of the K Street Project, which was, of course, conveniently being disregarded here.
He was also a huge supporter of the Iraq war. I think the combination of K Street and Iraq probably did him not a lot of good in a state like Pennsylvania. It's a blue state, but Republicans have traditionally done sort of pretty -- pretty well there.
And, you know, I think that J.C. is right. To some extent, the -- the Republicans and the Democrats now have a chance. I think people want their political parties to reconnect with them in -- in sort -- and I think the message here is -- is too much hyper- partisanship, that's probably not what people are looking for.
BEGALA: The Bush-Rove strategy has always been a base strategy. Well, the base is always the most partisan folks.
The Clinton-Democratic strategy was always find the center and the middle. It looks like the beginning signs tonight are that this sort of centrist strategy is -- is going to be the smarter one tonight.
COOPER: I got to go to Wolf, though, who is watching some races -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks, Anderson. Thanks, guys, very much.
We want to take a closer look right now at Virginia. This is a key battleground state -- the Republicans and the Democrats fiercely fighting for the state.
Here's what the actual votes show right now, with 88 percent of the precincts reporting -- 50 percent for Allen, 49 percent for Jim Webb, the Democratic challenger. Take a look at the actual number. That's about, what, 25,000 out -- out of more -- of almost two million votes cast, which is not a whole lot, still 12 percent left to be counted, Jeff Greenfield.
So, it is still very, very close, could go either way.
And I want to show our viewers these two maps that we have put together, because they are significant. This is what has been reported so far. The red is Republican. The blue is Democrat. Then there are different shades, depending on what's coming on. The white is clearly precincts that have not yet reported. But compare that, Jeff, to the -- the current Senate contest vs. the presidential race in 2004.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Wolf, you look over at the presidential map.
George W. Bush handily defeated John Kerry. People describe the North as Democratic and the South as Republican. It is more complicated than that. But Kerry, except for carrying the area right around the -- the northern suburbs of Washington, and the strip down the southeast, couple areas west and south of Roanoke, basically, Bush carried almost every county.
If you look at 2006, James -- James Webb is doing much stronger in the northern suburbs. He is carrying Arlington by -- by -- I think it's 30 or even 40 points. And he has extended his reach into counties that George Bush carried two years earlier.
There's been talk that Virginia in the north, particularly, has had an infusion of more Democratic voters. I think you can see that in the map in and around Fairfax, where Arlington and where a lot of folks who work in Washington live. And you can also see that he's won a couple counties by bigger margins in the center of the state -- that's why that blue is deeper -- than Kerry did in losing to -- in -- to Bush two years ago.
That's why this race is so close.
Our colleague Lou Dobbs has pointed out that gay marriage is on the ballot in Virginia. And it may be that, if George Allen ekes out a victory, when all these votes are counted -- you're right; he's 25,000 point -- votes ahead -- maybe that will be the determining factor. I hope our exit polls show...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But, if you take a look at that one county outside of Richmond, which is still white, that -- that suggests that that -- the precincts have not yet reported; is that right?
GREENFIELD: I believe that's right.
BLITZER: Because, if you look at that same county in the presidential contest in 2004, that was about as blue as blue can be right there. So, presumably, that county near Richmond is a Democratic county, which would perhaps be good news for Webb, if they still have to count that county right there.
GREENFIELD: As we said earlier, we are going to have to wait and watch these votes come out.
But, clearly James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran, a man who is no cultural liberal, is running a lot stronger race in Virginia than John Kerry did two years ago.
BLITZER: Fifty/forty-nine, with 89 percent of the vote already counted.
Paula, this is getting very, very tight in Virginia, as we suspected it would.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It is getting very, very tight, and getting very, very interesting.
It appears as though we have a battle of the sexes going on tonight in Virginia.
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: I want you to take a -- a look at -- at these numbers. When we ask the men who they voted for, 55 percent said Allen, 44 percent Webb. All right. We kind of expected that.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Football. One word. Allen's father was a famous football coach of the Washington Redskins. Men -- despite Webb's standing as a military hero, secretary of the Navy, men are voting for Allen.
ZAHN: Now, let's see how women voted: 46 percent for Senator Allen, to Webb's 53 percent.
So, it would appear as though, every time that -- that Mr. Allen characterized Mr. Webb as a misogynist, a woman -- a man who didn't respect women, that didn't stick with these women who voted...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHNEIDER: It did not stick.
And we actually asked people in the exit poll: Does Jim Webb respect women? Sixty percent said yes.
He tried to make an issue, also, of George Allen's statements about minorities, the famous macaca. The voters of Virginia, 56 percent said George Allen does respect minorities.
So, neither one of those charges really stuck. But I will tell you, if you had to say what -- to sum up these two charts, Virginia, men voting for Allen, that's football. Women voting for Webb, that is Iraq.
ZAHN: And that -- it appears as though that vote is -- is breaking in Webb's favor. The folks who are opposed to the war seem to be voting for Mr. Webb -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Paula, thanks very much.
Ned Lamont, the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate, is conceding in Connecticut.
Let's listen in briefly to hear what he has to say.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS) (APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ned, you won!
NED LAMONT (D), CONNECTICUT SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We can be proud. We made a difference. We made a difference.
(APPLAUSE)
LAMONT: You can't do anything in life without your family. I'm here with my family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
(APPLAUSE)
LAMONT: My wife, Annie.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LAMONT: Lindsay, Teddy, Emily.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LAMONT: My mom and my dad.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LAMONT: My parents told me, you're only on this Earth to serve time. Do your best to make a difference. And just do your best. And that's what we did for the last 10 months. And that's what we do again starting tomorrow.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: All right.
Ned Lamont, who beat Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary -- Joe Lieberman now beating Ned Lamont in Connecticut -- Lieberman, as an independent, reelected to the United States Senate.
We're still watching several key battleground states, including in Virginia, in Missouri, in Montana -- in Tennessee, still uncertainty.
We are going to continue our special coverage from CNN election headquarters here in New York. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There's a huge fight going on in the United States Senate right now.
The Democrats have picked up three Republican seats so far. If they want to be the majority, they, though, have to pick up six. And there are still battles going on in several of those states, at least four where Democrats theoretically have some opportunity. They have managed to hold on, based on our projections, to Maryland and New Jersey, two states where the Republicans thought they perhaps could make some inroads.
In the House of Representatives, it is turning out to be a real slugfest.
Up here, we have got, Jeff Greenfield, some of the major races, about 36 of the races that were projected to be real battlefield -- battlegrounds. And it is certainly turning out to be the case in several of them.
Let's talk about a few of them, while we have these numbers coming in, specifically here.
GREENFIELD: OK.
Well, let's go over my shoulder in Kentucky 4, where Democrats are hoping that former Congressman Ken Lucas could beat Geoff Davis. Eighty-two percent of the vote in, Davis has a slight lead.
In Indiana 9, this third straight match between Baron Hill and Sodrel, the in -- the incumbent is trailing Baron Hill by -- by just two percentage points -- way too -- way too close to call.
BLITZER: With -- with 83 percent of the vote in.
GREENFIELD: Right.
And if we -- we're -- we are just looking at races where we can actually say something about -- about numbers.
BLITZER: Two of the pickups we have already made in Indiana 2 and Indiana 8 and Kentucky 3.
GREENFIELD: Now, in Ohio 15 -- this is Deborah Pryce, who was considered a -- a very endangered Republican, running against Mary Jo Kilroy, 83 percent of the vote in -- 50/50. Six hundred votes separate them.
Let's go over to Illinois 6. This is one of the most...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: You know, before you go over there, I want you to go down to Florida 16, because this is Mark Foley's seat.
GREENFIELD: Right.
BLITZER: His name is there, even though he's in rehab.
GREENFIELD: That's right.
Joe Negron, the Republican, who is actually -- would take the seat, has the burden of telling people, please vote for Mark Foley, who resigned in disgrace, if you want to vote for me. That race was considered lost by Republicans. They have had -- they have been more optimistic. Eighty-four percent of the vote in, and they are, you know, one percentage point apart.
But I would like to go to Illinois 6.
BLITZER: Well, hold -- before you go back, we have just been able to make a projection over here in Kentucky 4, the Davis-Lucas race.
We project that the Republican will in fact hold on to his seat. And the Democrat, Lucas, will not able to overcome that challenge.
GREENFIELD: Look, that is a spark of good news for Republicans, because that was a seat that Democrats had definitely targeted.
But it's the seat in Illinois. This is Illinois 6 -- Henry Hyde, the legendary Republican, retiring, after, I think, 16 terms in the House. The -- the Democrats put up what they call one of the fighting Democrats, Tammy Duckworth, who had lost both legs in Iraq. She is trailing the Republican...
BLITZER: Peter Roskam.
GREENFIELD: ... Peter Roskam.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But -- but it is only 14 percent...
GREENFIELD: Right.
BLITZER: ... of the precincts reporting right -- right now.
I'm -- I'm very interested in Florida House 22, Clay Shaw. He is the longtime Republican incumbent. Seventy-six percent of the precincts reporting -- this is the Fort Lauderdale area down there -- and his opponent seems to be slightly ahead, 51-47 percent.
GREENFIELD: Clearly too early to call.
Let -- let's move on a little bit. Now, Connecticut 2, we have talked about endangered moderate Republicans. Rob Simmons, a very popular incumbent, who fought for submarine base in New London -- but Connecticut is a blue state -- he is holding his own with -- with 41 percent of the vote in, running 50/50.
Let's look at Pennsylvania.
BLITZER: We are going to take a break right now from this. We're going to continue to look at these races. It's fascinating.
Come on. Follow me back there, because Lou Dobbs has got a special guest that he is going to talk to.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, Wolf. Thank you very much. Thank you.
We're going turn to Democratic headquarters again on this night of hotly contested races in the House and the Senate, and turn to Rahm Emanuel. He's the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Ron, good to see you.
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: Nice to see you, Lou.
DOBBS: The evening, with three pickups in the Senate, you have got to feel pretty good about that. It looks like a real contest under way in the House at this point.
How do you feel there?
EMANUEL: Well, based -- I mean, I was -- based on some of the results, like in Connecticut 5...
DOBBS: Right.
EMANUEL: ... in the Indiana 2 and 8 -- we have some different numbers in Indiana 9 -- but also in New Hampshire, we count here plus- seven already. So, I feel very, very good that we are -- you know, at least -- the evening is early.
DOBBS: Absolutely.
EMANUEL: But we're halfway around the bend already.
DOBBS: Halfway around the bend.
You said a couple days ago that you certainly would rather be you than the other guys. Give us a sense of how you feel right now tonight about picking up a majority in the House.
EMANUEL: Ready? I'm going to be consistent. I would rather be us than them.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: I tried to take that away from you, but you -- you just wouldn't...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
EMANUEL: No way, Lou.
Here's the -- look, here's the deal. We are -- we're getting a lot of results in that you guys have yet to post. If you look at places, like in Pennsylvania, you look at Connecticut, you look at New Hampshire, you look at Indiana, you look at Kentucky, you look at even Kansas, you look at the Florida 22, it is -- Democrats are poised. And I don't -- you know, we have -- we have yet to get west of the Mississippi.
I feel very good about the numbers we're starting to see across both Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Upstate New York.
DOBBS: And referring to the New Hampshire race, we're -- we're projecting Hodes beating Charlie Bass at this point. We're...
EMANUEL: Right. And that...
DOBBS: He's a CNN projected winner.
EMANUEL: And, Lou, what -- what's consistent, though, is what -- look at this.
What people are saying is, we need a change. Washington just isn't getting it anymore. And that race was not even on anybody's screen for about four -- until about three weeks ago. I have talked to Paul three times tonight. And that is a big victory over Charlie Bass.
But, again, what was the central issue there? The war. What was the central intro -- issue -- in the Nancy Johnson-Chris Murphy race? Nancy Johnson is the author of the prescription drug bill. And she ran against a state senator who ran -- had a record on health care issues. She lost.
What's the number-one issues for the Democrats? We are going to have direct negotiations for prescription drug prices, lowering those prices.
DOBBS: All right.
EMANUEL: That is a big bellwether race.
DOBBS: A big bellwether race.
You're feeling still like you would rather be you than the other guys tonight.
EMANUEL: Right.
DOBBS: We will take that as your -- your best...
(LAUGHTER)
EMANUEL: That's all you're going to get from a middle kid.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: You have got it.
Rahm Emanuel, chair of the...
EMANUEL: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: ... Democratic Campaign Committee, we appreciate it -- Anderson, over to you.
COOPER: Lou, thanks.
One of Rahm Emanuel's strategies this year has been to get Iraq war veterans to run, Tammy Duckworth probably most notably.
You were out there, covering that campaign. At this point, not many of the precincts have reported in, in that race. A wise strategy, it seems?
CROWLEY: It -- look, she was not just -- and -- and she didn't really run on the war. She didn't have to.
This is a woman that lost both legs in an a -- an attack, a grenade attack. So, she didn't ever really have to bring up the war. She said, look: What we need is a plan. I'm not a cut-and-run, but I really want to see a plan.
She said, from her hospital bed, she looked up and realized that only two members of Congress had a child that was over there. So, there was a lot going on in this race. But, if you asked both of candidates what it was about, they would tell you health care. They would tell you the economy.
They didn't see the war as a big factor. But she was a living symbol of the cost of this war.
COOPER: James Carville said earlier he sees the war as a big factor. He called it the -- the elephant not only in this room, but probably in a lot of the voting booths around the country.
You see that being borne out tonight?
BEGALA: Oh, yes, absolutely. I think Candy is right.
Tammy Duckworth didn't have to raise the war as an issue. It is a very conservative district currently held by Henry Hyde, one of the most conservative members of the House. But her whole bearing brings it out.
In Pennsylvania, Patrick Murphy, a young Army captain who served in Iraq, and also taught at West Point, is running a strong race in the Philadelphia suburbs. And just north of there, Joe Sestak, who is a three-star admiral, is running. These are not your grandfather's Democrats, right?
These are -- as Marcus was saying about the Republicans, this is a different type of Democrat. And Rahm Emanuel did a terrific job of going around the country, and finding these young heroes, and recruiting them to run for the Democratic Party.
COOPER: Critics of the Democrats' response on the war are -- are saying, look, all the Democrats are talking about is -- is criticizing the president; they don't have a strategy of their own.
BENNETT: Well, two things. It's -- it is early. I may regret this.
But if the -- if -- if the 800-pound gorilla, as James said, is the war, and George Bush, I do not see this overwhelming wave of anger against George Bush. It looks to me like the Democrats are crawling to what will probably be a majority.
But, you know, six years, a six-year term -- after the six-year -- six-year itch, you almost always get 20, 25 seats. I do not see this overwhelming rejection of the president or what he's doing or what he stands for.
Now, the question is...
COOPER: And -- and -- I'm sorry -- do you say that based on the tight races that are still going on in...
BENNETT: Yes.
COOPER: ... in Virginia, in Tennessee?
BENNETT: These things are -- these things are very tight.
Look, we -- we lost Rick Santorum. Obviously, he was a strong defender of the war. We lost Anne Northup. These are body blows, no doubt about it.
But some people were predicting a kind of tidal wave, that the country was so angry with George Bush and so angry with the war, that this thing would just sweep from the east to the west. We're certainly not seeing that.
However, I mean, the -- the responsible point to make is this. If you do you see a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives, then, we want to see what it is they propose. Will they propose cutting off appropriations for the war, other resolutions, other actions? Howard Dean said no.
Now, look, nobody is happy with the situation in Iraq. But what do you do? I heard Howard Dean say earlier -- and this -- I don't think I had heard him before say it -- well, we're not saying we should leave. So, with -- with the power will come responsibility.
But I do not see this massive rejection. I would congratulate Rahm Emanuel, your -- your buddy. He has done a very good job of recruiting people. And I'm delighted to see these soldiers running for office. I think it's great. I would like to know how the soldier vote is going in these districts.
We do men. We do women. I would like to know where soldiers are voting.
COOPER: It would be interesting.
And do you see a wave, James Carville?
CARVILLE: Well, I see -- I see two -- two countries. The South, the Republicans are doing quite well. Outside of the South, they're doing quite poorly.
And if you -- you -- you look here, I think the big story at the end of this night, is, is that there was some kind of a tide, or a wave, or whatever you want to call it, in places like Indiana, obviously, going to probably see it in Ohio. You're going to see it in -- in Pennsylvania.
You are not seeing it in -- in the Southern states. And -- and that's going to mean that the Republican Party is going to be much, much more of a Southern-based political party after tonight. The Democrats have not traditionally done well in the South. And it doesn't look like they're doing very well in the South tonight. So, I think that's the -- the big regional story that's coming out this election, at least at -- at -- at this juncture.
COOPER: What do Democrats do about Iraq if they take the House?
BEGALA: Well, I -- I...
COOPER: What then?
BEGALA: I think Bill Bennett is right. They don't defund the war.
That's ultimately how we wound up getting out of Vietnam. But that was after 20 years. I don't think that is going to happen. It's not in the cards. You will have a few people calling for things like that.
But I think what they are going to do, if they're wise, is, first and foremost, try to -- just to hold oversight. It's the one thing that the president needs most from the Congress that they haven't given him. Hold -- hold the Pentagon's feet to the fire. Hold Donald Rumsfeld's feet to the fire.
Most Democrats would like to see the president fire Mr. Rumsfeld. There's a lot of stuff like that they could do. Nobody wants 535 secretaries of defense. But I think, collectively, the House and the Senate ought to get together, and -- and really press the president to make a change at the Pentagon. I think that will be enough.
Nobody wants, as I say, the Democratic majority to say, OK, here is how many troops should be in Basra vs. Baghdad. That's the job for the chief executive.
COOPER: You think that will be enough? Because if that's all they do, then don't they get criticized for just kind of allowing this thing to fester on?
BENNETT: The political lynch mob after Rumsfeld may be satisfied viscerally by getting after him and sacking him, but everything that's been said has been predicated, it seems to me, on the notion that action has to be taken. Things have to be done. We have to change course. We have to do what Murtha is saying or something else.
So I just don't think it will do to say now we're going to have oversight hearings. You've got people dying in Iraq. You've got this terrible struggle for power. You've got people saying let's get this thing resolved. To have oversight looks a little bit, still, like continuing to second-guess and not to have a plan for winning the thing or whatever else is stood. I don't think that will work. I don't think it's enough.
WATTS: And I think and again, I've said before that I think when the benchmark is Americans' lives being lost on a weekly basis and more money being spent on a weekly basis, if that's the benchmark, we lose. Republicans lose. The president loses. Americans lose.
There has to be a plan, and I think the administration has failed to talk about their plan every day to win. The American people want to us win.
And I think this is a challenge for the Democrats. OK, if you're the majority now, if you're in charge, what is your plan to win? And your plan to win can't be just being against the president's plan. And to this point, that's pretty much what we -- what we've heard. I think American people are saying to Republicans, Democrats, what's your plan to win?
COOPER: Is oversight enough for Democrats?
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, I had no idea that by Thanksgiving we would have been in Iraq longer than in World War II. If we defeated imperial Japan and Nazi Germany and, by everybody's estimation, anyway. If the president has a plan to win, no one has seen it. All right?
And secondly, I think what the Democrats are going to wisely do is they have to beg the Hamilton Commission that I think if they're going to wait for recommendations to come in. Obviously, they're not going to recommend the president's plan. And I think you're going to have a Democratic congressional majority and strength in Democratic presence in the Senate. And it looks like now it may not be a majority. We'll have to wait and see.
And that's going to put the president alone against the congressional Democrats, the Baker people and a lot of Republicans, who have a very serious problem with the lack of strategy that we have in Iraq right now.
COOPER: We're going to talk a lot more about Iraq in the hours ahead. Right now, though, Senator John Kerry is introducing Deval Patrick, the new governor of Massachusetts.
Let's listen in.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We made history tonight because we have re-elected, for an unprecedented ninth time, the greatest senator in the history of the United States Senate, Ted Kennedy.
And we have made history not just here but across the country, because it is clear from those who are winning in America that Americans are voting not just for Democrats or for Republicans. They are voting to end the politics of smear and fear. They want a change.
And today -- and today, especially important to all of us, is the fact that Massachusetts has kept faith with the most important of all American dreams and promises.
Whether you're the son of a school teacher in Worcester or a kid from the south side of Chicago, whether you're black or white, whether you're rich or poor, America is a place where hard work and vision and dreams become a reality, and right here in Massachusetts.
For Tim Murray, for Deval Patrick, for Democrats, independents and yes, even for some Republicans across the state of Massachusetts, that is exactly what happened today. That dream became real. They won big, and so did Massachusetts.
Now, I know...
COOPER: Obviously, we are projecting Lieberman the winner in Connecticut. A very closely watched race. Let's listen in.
KERRY: ... lieutenant governor. Let me tell you, we have a proven leader who knows what it takes to build community.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Well, I love you. I'm Joe Lieberman, and I approve of this election. And not only that -- and not only that I deeply appreciate this election.
Thank you, Jim Eamon (ph). Thank you, Mike Gargero (ph). That you John Picard (ph), Devitt Van Dam (ph), Mike Crawfy (ph) and Herb Graham (ph) and the group from the Merlock (ph) Common Council and so many others from public life who are up here. Dear friends, thanks to the labor leaders who are with me. And the firefighters.
COOPER: Joe Lieberman speaking in Connecticut, thanking the many people who supported him and got him to where he is now.
We're going to take a short break. And our coverage, "America Votes 2006", continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton re-elected tonight in New York state. She's speaking right now. Let's listen in briefly.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: ... corruption and the dominance of special interests and a new beginning for our beloved country.
So I thank all of you. I thank you for walking the precincts, for phoning your friends, for e-mailing everyone you know, for driving voters to the polls, for making this wonderful victory possible.
But I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and get to work with our next governor, Eliot Spitzer, and our next lieutenant governor, David Paterson, and our wonderful attorney general. BLITZER: All right. Hillary Rodham Clinton reelected. No great surprise there. She did spend millions and millions of dollars to get herself reelected.
There are two more pickups. We can now report -- project in the U.S. House of Representatives for the Democrats.
First of all, in Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania, the Seventh District of Pennsylvania, longtime Republican Curt Weldon goes down, goes down to defeat. Joe Sestak, who is his Democratic challenger, will become the next United States congressman from the Seventh District of Pennsylvania. This is a pickup for the Democrats.
Another pickup, Jeff, is in Ohio, in the 18th District there. Zack Space, the Democratic challenger beating Joy Padgett, the Republican incumbent. This is another pickup right now for the Democrats.
GREENFIELD: And what do these two have in common? The issue of corruption. Curt Weldon's offices were raided by federal authorities looking for evidence of financial chicanery, earmarks. His daughter was a lobbyist.
In Ohio 18, that was Bob Ney's seat, the congressman who is an involuntary guest of the federal government for his involvement with the Jack Abramoff scandal. That was a reliably Republican district. But as you can see, Zack Space is winning that seat handily.
Joe Sestak also is a retired admiral, vice admiral. So I guess you could call him one of the fighting Democrats that we've been talking about all night. A lot of the Democratic candidates of the House have military backgrounds, making the national security issue more on their side.
BLITZER: And this is at least six pickups for the Democrats in the House of Representatives.
We can now project the winner in the race for the governor of Florida. Charlie Crist, the Republican, will succeed Jeb Bush as the United -- as the next governor from the state of Florida.
Charlie Crist, who had effectively snubbed the president in the final day of campaigning by not going to the president's rally in Pensacola. He goes on to win the state of Florida.
GREENFIELD: Succeeding Jeb Bush, a very popular two-term governor, who if his name weren't Bush might be a contender for '08. But this is -- this is, I guess where I think a lot of people raised their eyebrows, including people on the White House staff, when Mr. Crist decided that he could be better be used elsewhere.
BLITZER: Maybe that -- maybe that strategy worked for him. Because we are projecting that Charlie Crist beats Jim Davis and will be the next governor from the state of Florida. The Republicans hold their own. GREENFIELD: One very quick note. When we talk about a tie or a non-tie, we need to remember that many of the endangered Republican districts in New York, in Ohio, some in Pennsylvania, have not yet been called one way or the other, not yet been projected. And we have not yet crossed the Mississippi, as Rahm Emanuel reminded us.
So we really have no notion of the dimensions of what's going to happen tonight until some of these races are finally decided.
BLITZER: All right. Curt Weldon goes down, and Bob Ney's seat, which was Republican, will now turn Democratic.
We're going to update our viewers right now. It's about 10:43 p.m. on the East Coast on this election night, where polls now closed in 44 states. CNN projects Democrats will take GOP held Senate seats in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island and will successfully defend their own seats in New Jersey and Maryland. Both of those seats heavily targeted by the Republicans.
That puts them at this point halfway to the net gain of six seats they need to capture a majority in the United States Senate. It's by no means an easy chore, because these other four seats, at least, are very, very close right now. The Republican candidates and the Democratic candidates all doing very, very well. They're both hovering around the 50 percent Mark.
We're watching very closely Virginia, Tennessee, Montana, and Missouri. We're also watching all of the other states that were -- that are very, very close. In the House of Representatives the Democrats, have not yet, by our count, picked up their 15 seats.
Lou has got a special guest -- Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Wolf.
We want to turn now to Senator Barack Obama. Senator Obama, good to have you here. You've been out working very hard for your candidates. And it appears that, in large measure this early, we can say that your work is being rewarded.
Still three Senate seats needed for the Democrats to take control of the Senate. What is your thought right now?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Well, look, I think it is clear that voters are looking for change. And that is what I -- is what I think this election has been about.
Where Democrats have successfully made the case for change, I think they're going to win. I think that the pickups that we had indicate some deep concern on the part of the American people that we haven't been pursuing practical, common sense solutions on the issues that affect their lives, issues like the minimum wage, issues like making sure our kids are prepared for math and science, rising health care costs, rising tuition costs.
And most of all Iraq, a sense that it's been a little too ideologically driven, not enough driven by the facts on the ground.
And so I think this is probably going to -- to be an opportunity for Democrats to help forge a different direction, and hopefully we're going to seize it tonight.
DOBBS: Virginia, Tennessee, two races far too close to call. Harold Ford Jr., considered to be one of the best candidates, if not the best candidate, in terms of his campaign skills and his record. Are you surprised at the performance at this point?
OBAMA: Well, look, the -- Harold Ford Jr. is the best campaigner that I've seen in a long time. And it's a testament to his skills that this race is even close. Tennessee historically has been a very Republican state. And I think that he has performed magnificently.
I'm hoping that, as the results carry forward at the end of it that he will be one of my colleagues in the United States Senate.
DOBBS: And amongst your colleagues in the United States Senate, no matter how these last three seats are decided, the issue of Iraq, the Democratic Party in this campaign has succeeded in putting it to the forefront for public choice.
Do you think that this election, irrespective of whether or not you take control of the Senate, irrespective of whether you take control of the House, that the focus on Iraq will result in a new policy direction?
OBAMA: Well, look, I think the American people voted for a change of course in Iraq.
I don't think we have great options in Iraq. I think we've got bad options and worse options. And part of that has to do with mistakes of the past.
But moving forward I hope that we've got the Baker-Hamilton Commission that's going to be putting a report forward.
DOBBS: Right.
OBAMA: I hope that gives Republicans who have started to recognize the enormous problems with the president's strategy a place to land. I think Democrats have to be constructive in trying to find a way to change the dynamic there.
I personally believe that the only way we can get Iraqis to take more responsibility is to begin a phased withdrawal. But I think that's something that can only be discussed in the context of something that keeps our troops secure and prevents a complete collapse of the country.
So it can't be precipitous. And I think that the joint chiefs of staff and, in particular, the military who are actually in Iraq have to be part of that decision making.
DOBBS: Barack Obama, the -- we thank you very much for being here. Senator Barack Obama. Thank you, sir.
We're going to turn now to Anderson Cooper -- Anderson.
COOPER: Lou, thanks very much.
We can project, actually, another race right now, the 11th District in North Carolina. We can project that Heath Shuler has won that race, a Democrat. He ran against Charles Taylor, eight-term Republican incumbent.
Candy Crowley traveled to North Carolina, profiled Heath Shuler in the "Broken Government" series.
Surprised?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. I mean, this is -- you know, he's young. He's energetic. Used to play in the NFL, quarterback. Returning to Washington, where he wasn't that popular of a quarterback.
So -- but he's -- he's one of those that we were talking about as the southern template. He is -- he was virtually indistinguishable from his Republican opponent on the social issues. He was very strong on the military.
The fact of the matter is in this district there are more Democrats registered than there are Republicans, but the district kept voting Republican because it is so conservative.
And he came. He gave them -- he took the social issues off the table: gun, God, gays. This is a man who doesn't drink coffee or tea. He wouldn't debate on a Sunday, because he wanted to go to church with his family.
So he took all those issues that have removed Democrats from the South largely and went ahead with the other issues, and strong on defense and that kind of thing, and ousted an eight-term Republican.
COOPER: We should also just remind our viewers that this is the seventh pickup for the Democrats in the House. They need eight more in order to take control of the House. Those are numbers we're watching very carefully.
Obviously, three more pickups needed in the Senate side. This race -- it was a very interesting race. There are some -- how pleased can liberal Democrats be tonight? So many of the Democrats who seem to be doing well are far more conservative than -- than the liberals.
KING: Well, they will be happy if they take power in the House, and Nancy Pelosi is speaker, because then they will control the House. They will control the committee. Most of the chairmen of those committees, those Democrats waiting to be chairmen, most of them I think you would classify as liberals.
But I'm sure they will also realize they need to heed the message of this. So far, though, Heath Shuler is an anomaly. We're seeing it's the first one in which we're waiting for a number of Southern states to come in. In the Southern and the border states, a few Democratic pickups. Most of the Republican losses so far have been in the northeast. And I think it's -- the mid-Atlantic.
I think what James was saying earlier is a very significant dynamic. If you have a Northeast, Midwest center Democratic Party, a Southern dominated Republican Party, it affects the politics in Congress because they vote different on guns. They vote different on gods and gays. They vote different on energy issues. So the regional divide may become a big subplot in our politics going forward.
COOPER: The -- the ballot initiatives. There have been eight ballot in eight states this time around to ban same-sex marriage. How have they -- has that generated as much excitement as it did among conservative voters that it did two years ago?
CROWLEY: It always gets them out to vote, I think. And we'll see what happens in Virginia. We'll see what happens in -- I mean, to me, the one that, as far as we can see traveling the country, that generated the most excitement was, I believe, stem cell. That seems to be the new issue. And it breaks, really, more for moderate Republicans and Democrats, who tend to be for it.
And in fact, it was what Jim Talent, the incumbent Republican senator in Missouri, who is in quite a race with Claire McCaskill for his seat, was sort of stuck, because he had moderate Republicans who favored the stem cell. And then he had his conservative Christians who didn't. So he was sort of -- it tends to be the perfect issue for Democrats to put out there, because in fact, it tends to divide Republicans.
So I think in terms of gay marriage, yes, it still brings evangelicals out, but the more -- the more scintillating sort of fiery debate this time around was about stem cell research.
COOPER: And we continue to -- to watch the ballot initiative in Missouri for the final results on that. We'll bring you that to you, of course, when it happens.
Let's go to Wolf right now.
BLITZER: Anderson, thanks very much.
I want to pay attention to what's happening in Florida right now. There's Joe Negron. He's the Republican candidate to fill the seat of Mark Foley, who is in rehab right now, the congressional page scandal.
Right now, with 91 percent of the votes counted, we have his opponent, Tim Mahoney, with 49 percent. To Negron, even though you see the name Foley, that vote for Foley was really a vote for Joe Negron.
It looks like he was just conceding there in that statement. Joe Negron, the -- the Republican candidate for Mark Foley's seat. It was an uphill struggle for him. If it turns up as close as this -- let's listen briefly. JOE NEGRON (R), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Before I do that, I want to introduce my parents and in-laws. My parents came down here from Marietta, Georgia, to campaign. Joe and Pat Negron. And Joe and Sandy Horn (ph).
And the other person that I want to thank because she was the architect of this entire campaign, I want to ask her to come up, and that's Sherry Van Peer (ph).
BLITZER: All right. In his statement that he just made, he called to congratulate his opponent, Tim Mahoney, to congratulate him on his win. We have not yet projected a winner. It's 91 percent of the precincts reporting. He has projected that Tim Mahoney, his opponent, will win. I suspect we're about to project it, as well.
But this is the Mark Foley seat in West Palm. Of course, it really goes across much of the middle part of Florida right there. It was a major, major struggle for the Republicans.
If Mark Foley -- if that scandal would not have erupted, it was almost a sure win for him. He had an easy road ahead of him, but clearly Mark Foley had a serious problem, had to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives, and as of last word we're told he's still in rehab. He says for alcohol abuse.
But Joe Negron, who had to run with Mark Foley's name on the ballot, conceding defeat, congratulating Tim Mahoney, the Democrat.
That's another pickup for the Democrats right now. And slowly but surely they seem to be getting closer and closer to that magic number of 15. They need 15 of those Republican seats. They have to take those 15 Republican seats in order to be the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
That would make Nancy Pelosi the next speaker of the House, the first woman ever to be speaker of the House of Representatives. Hasn't happened yet. They're still not there at that magic number of 15.
And remember, if they pick up 15, they can't lose any of their Democratic House seats right now.
So we're watching all of this very closely. But we're getting another pickup right now for the Democrats. Take a look at this. Don Sherwood, the Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, the Tenth District, he will lose to his challenger over here, Carney, the 54 percent to 46 percent.
Don Sherwood ran an extraordinary campaign, acknowledging an extramarital affair, apologizing to his district, also being sued by his ex-mistress for some abuse, paying her off with some sort of legal settlement. Clearly, that's not what the people in the Tenth -- the Tenth District in Pennsylvania wanted.
And Don Sherwood, longtime Republican incumbent, losing according to our projection. This is another pickup for the Democrats right now.
Jeff, let's talk a little bit about this extraordinary race in Pennsylvania.
GREENFIELD: You know, it is hardly a national trend. But I can't remember a campaign when so many incumbents have gotten in trouble on domestic issues. And by domestic issues, I don't mean health care or tax policy but problems ranging from domestic abuse charges to infidelity to the ingestion of various products to the Mark Foley case.
And I think it's really -- even if it doesn't show up in the polls, because people don't like to answer that they care about such matters, I think this whole aura has really contributed if the Democrats take over the House tonight to a feeling that it's time to change leadership.
BLITZER: Chris Carney, his Democratic opponent, ran obviously, a very good campaign. It's never easy to beat an incumbent, and in this particular case Don Sherwood certainly helped the Democrat a lot.
GREENFIELD: When you open up your campaign with a TV commercial that you paid for, saying, "I'm really sorry I cheated on my wife, but I really didn't choke that woman." This is not how you want to start your reelection campaign. I think we can both agree as trained professionals, this is not a good way to launch a bid for reelection. I think the voters have responded.
BLITZER: It's almost 11 p.m. on the East Coast. More states will be closing their voting in a few minutes, in about three minutes from now. What should we be looking for?
GREENFIELD: Question one: Arnold? Arnold? Arnold? The governor of California, left for politically dead a year ago, when his attempts at reform flopped. Made his peace with the Democratic state legislature and appears, if the pre-election polls are right, on his way to victory.
He wasn't born in the United States, so he can't think about the White House.
Glitches, recounts, voter chaos. Maybe in the next hour or two we'll be able to learn whether or not the introduction of all these new voting machines has produced chaos or not and whether or not there are races that are so close it's going to be days before we can decide them.
Question three, did the exit polls work? We have not heard anything like we had in 2000 and 2002 and 2004. Maybe they finally figured this one out.
And the last question I have is who is looking good or bad for '08? I think we've all taken a vow not to start talking about this tonight, but clearly, whether it's George Allen, who is probably not going to run for president, and John Kerry with his botched joke, Mitt Romney, who might be saying, "You know what? The Republicans may be looking for a non-Washington face."
We're going to be assessing in the next few days who came out of this campaign in better or worse shape.
BLITZER: Those are good questions that we're going to be assessing, obviously, throughout the night.
Anderson Cooper, as we watch all of this, and we're going to go back to some of these races at 11 p.m., in a few minutes, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington state. We'll watch those very closely. It looks like the Democrats are getting increasingly closer and closer to that magic number of 15.
COOPER: It certainly does. Our poll here -- our group here has been watching very closely. What do you make of these latest developments?
KING: Well, they're inching, inching and inching. The question is will you have a Democratic majority, which I think if you had to make a guess tonight, based on trends we're seeing, it looks like they will get there.
COOPER: In the House.
KING: In the House -- in the House. In the Senate, we're going to have the Republican firewall holding at the moment.
What does that mean? It means divided government. We had divided government back in the Clinton years, when the Republicans ran the Congress and you had a Democratic president.
If we have divided government again it will be a big change for the psychology of George W. Bush, who has had Republican majorities that have largely gone his way. Lately, some rumblings about Iraq, but it will be a very different President Bush waking up the White House tomorrow, having to make some decisions.
Could make some progress on issues like immigration, might have to conceded on the minimum wage to the Democrats. But what happens with Iraq? A very new dynamic, a big test for this president.
COOPER: And less than one minute before the polls close. Marcus Mabry, what are you going to be watching for in this hour?
MARCUS MABRY, CNN ANALYST: Well, in this next hour, we're going to be watching the state of California, see how big that victory is on the part of the Republican governor. One of the few Republicans to win big tonight is going to be Schwarzenegger.
But I'm also interested to see what's happening in Montana, because it's going to be an interesting question that what's happened so far has actually been bad for conservative Republicans, because conservative -- running against conservative Democrats. And that's what we have in Jon Tester and Conrad Burns.
COOPER: Let's go back to Wolf for the poll -- for the results. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
