Hillary Clinton's Final Push; Huckabee Borrows From Reagan
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Happening now: Hillary Clinton getting personal. She's trying to reconnect with Iowa voters and rebound from some setbacks before time runs out. Also, Mike Huckabee in the big leagues. Will a Reagan-era campaign strategist help him go seal up his new status as the front- runner? The best political team on television is standing by. And Glenn Beck predicting an implosion in the GOP presidential race. He's not necessarily mincing any words about his one-on-one time with Mike Huckabee. We will explain. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Less than three weeks before the first presidential contest, Hillary Clinton is trying to reclaim her tattered image as the inevitable Democratic nominee. She's sending a message to voters that she's above the fray, undaunted by polls, and best positioned to win the White House. Let's go to CNN's Jessica Yellin. She's in Iowa -- Jessica.</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, after a few bad weeks of stumbles, Senator Clinton kicked off this last push to the Iowa caucuses by driving home the message that she is the Democrat who can win in November.</s>YELLIN (voice over): Over and over, Senator Clinton made the case that she is the most electable Democrat.</s>SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have an opportunity here in Iowa, and then in the succeeding contest, to nominate the person we think is best able to win. I'm battle- tested, I can withstand what is going to inevitably be the Republican attacks on whoever we nominate.</s>YELLIN: From the same stage, a key Des Moines congressman endorsed her, echoing that message.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We endorse Hillary because we want to win.</s>YELLIN: It's an appeal to frustrated Democrats whose desire to take back the White House might override their urge to choose the candidate they like the best, and a new ad works to soften her image, portraying her as a warm person who understands voters' problems.</s>CLINTON: My mom taught me to stand up for myself and to stand up for those who can't do it on their own.</s>YELLIN: Clinton aggressively distanced herself from a former campaign official's comments about Barack Obama's past drug use, but she also insisted if she's the nominee, there will be no surprises.</s>CLINTON: I'm a known quantity, I am tested and vetted.</s>YELLIN: She insists that's not a veiled criticism of Senator Obama.</s>YELLIN: Senator Clinton brought with her two farmers from New York State who are going to travel Iowa on her behalf. It's part of a new effort by the campaign to bring out real people, including the senator's family members, to testify about the difference Senator Clinton has worked to make in their lives -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jessica Yellin in Des Moines for us, thank you. Let's go to the first Southern battleground. That would be South Carolina. Our brand-new poll shows Hillary Clinton losing some ground there with African-American voters and Republican Mike Huckabee skyrocketing to the head of the Republican pack. Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is in South Carolina. He's watching this. Bill, what's happening as far as we can tell right now?</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, things are changing here, too, at a stately Southern pace.</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): South Carolina is all abut the base, African-American Democrats, conservative Republicans. Mike Huckabee has surged into the lead among South Carolina Republicans. Rudy Giuliani is slipping. Huckabee hopes the base vote in South Carolina will nail the nomination.</s>MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because, when the South Carolina primary comes, we need to be able to nail something down after coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire with great success.</s>SCHNEIDER: In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton's lead over Barack Obama has been cut in half, 16 points in July, eight points now. Obama's biggest gains have been among black voters. Oprah Winfrey's Obama rally was a major cultural event for African- Americans.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I remember some quotes saying, oh, no, a black man can't win. I remember that. But, you know, when people tell me I can't do something, that's when I like to do it.</s>SCHNEIDER: But Hillary Clinton also has a way to reach out to Southerners.</s>BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be here with a lot of my friends who are supporting my wife for president.</s>SCHNEIDER: Right now black voters in South Carolina are split. If Obama wins Iowa and New Hampshire, there could be a wave of excitement among African-Americans.</s>SCOTT HUFFMON, PROFESSOR, WINTHROP UNIVERSITY: So, if he can pull a surprise in Iowa, show a lot of momentum, suddenly, he's in the forefront of people's minds because of big appearances like Oprah Winfrey.</s>SCHNEIDER: Could Huckabee's surge have something to do with Hillary Clinton's problems?</s>HUFFMON: He wasn't getting a full look before because people were thinking, who's most likely to beat Hillary? But now that Hillary is seeing a challenge within her own party, they are more willing to look at a Mike Huckabee.</s>SCHNEIDER: We're seeing the same pattern in South Carolina that we're seeing in other states. Voters say Obama and Huckabee sound the least like typical politicians. But Clinton and Giuliani are the most likely to win the election. Their heads are with Clinton and Giuliani. Their hearts are with Obama and Huckabee -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Bill Schneider in Columbia, South Carolina, thank you. Bill is going to be joining us later with the best political team on television. The overnight sensation in the GOP presidential race now has a new campaign chief. Mike Huckabee calling the veteran strategist Ed Rollins a good fit with his team. And it doesn't hurt that Rollins invokes memories of Ronald Reagan, the president Republican candidates can't mention enough. Our Dana Bash is out on the campaign trail in Iowa -- Dana.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Mike Huckabee has been relying on a small, loyal group of aides befitting an insurgent campaign, not one that is surging here in Iowa and in South Carolina. He had constantly downplayed the challenge of getting to the next step, until today.</s>BASH (voice over): Bolting from asterisk to front-runner in key early contest states brings as much strain as it does excitement. And Mike Huckabee is turning to an old hand from the Reagan years for help.</s>MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today I would like to make an announcement that I believe will help fill in many of the gaps that we have had up until this point and will help us in that vast national infrastructure and movement.</s>BASH: Ed Rollins is best known as an architect of Ronald Reagan's historic 49-state landslide reelection in 1984 and sees parallels.</s>ED ROLLINS, NATIONAL CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN, MIKE HUCKABEE: I was with Ronald Reagan from the day he couldn't win as governor to the day he couldn't win as president. Democrats were lined up, please, please, God, give us Ronald Reagan so that we can beat him like a drum. At the end of the day, he had an ability to connect with people. Mike Huckabee has that ability to connect with people.</s>BASH: Tapping Rollins as his national campaign chairman is not a choice without risks. He has also overseen presidential campaigns that have not fared well, like Jack Kemp's 1988 run and Ross Perot's 1992 Independent bid.</s>ROLLINS: And obviously, as you know by my reputation in the past, I have sometimes been too candid.</s>BASH: Several GOP strategists say Rollins' strong-willed, outspoken style has been known to cause internal campaign turmoil.</s>SCOTT REED, FMR. DOLE CAMPAIGN MANAGER: He ran President Reagan's reelection. It was the Cadillac of all operations and quite successful. Since then he's had a different track record, where history shows he's ended up turning on most of his candidates when they don't agree with him 100 percent.</s>BASH: Some differences between Rollins and the former Baptist preacher were on display immediately -- stylistic ones.</s>ROLLINS: And this is going to be a unique campaign for me. This is the only campaign I have ever been in where there are no doughnuts and no booze. So it's going to be a real, real struggle for me to basically, you know...</s>BASH: All jokes aside, picking a hardball GOP veteran strategist like Ed Rollins tells us something new about Mike Huckabee, that beyond his nice guy, man of God image, he is also a candidate willing to engage in a good, old-fashioned campaign street fight -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Dana, thank you. Dana is out on the campaign trail. Let's go to Jack. He's in New York with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: So, what if, once upon a time, President Bush had turned Saddam Hussein into a pen pal? It looks like his recent letter to North Korea's Kim Jong Il might have been a strike of diplomacy, of all things. In that letter, addressed to "Mr. Chairman," the president said a critical juncture had been reached in the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Mr. Bush urged Pyongyang to follow through on their agreement and declare and dismantle their nuclear weapons program. Well, North Korea came back with a verbal response today to Mr. Bush's letter. They said they appreciated the president's message and they planned to hold up their end of the bargain and expect the U.S. to do the same. The president told reporters -- quote -- "I got his attention with the letter and he can get my attention by fully disclosing his programs" -- unquote. North Korea began disabling its plutonium-producing reactor last month. In exchange, the United States agreed to move toward normalizing relations with North Korea and removing that country from terrorism and trade sanctions blacklists. Maybe they will even get off the axis of evil list, too. Here's the question. Does anything change because North Korea responded to President Bush's letter to Kim Jong Il? E-mail your thoughts to caffertyfile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile, where you can post a comment on my blog. You can go and write on my blog.</s>BLITZER: Do you say, "Dear Jack," or do you have to say...</s>CAFFERTY: I don't even know how it works, but they tell me it's a wonderful thing.</s>BLITZER: It's a very popular feature, and it's only been days up. Thanks. We will see you in a few moments with the best political team on television.</s>BLITZER: An outspoken talk show host predicting one presidential candidate will simply have a meltdown.</s>GLENN BECK, HOST, "GLENN BECK": And, if he doesn't implode, he gets the Republican nomination, I think the Republicans might as well just write it off.</s>BLITZER: The always provocative Glenn Beck, part of our own CNN family, who does he think could sink Republican chances for the White House? Glenn Beck is here. In a season of good tidings, is there a mood of good cheer between the White House and the Congress? There's a surprising shift in tone between them. And look at this, Ron Paul's campaign reaching new heights in the air, though support for the Republican presidential campaign remains near the ground. We will tell you what is happening with Ron Paul. Stick around. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.