Obama Addresses Supporters in Missouri
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The marathon is now a sprint, just five days to go, the candidates scrambling to close the deal in a handful of key states. We're waiting for two live events to start some time in this hour. Just minutes from now, Barack Obama is superdelegates to take the stage at the University of Missouri in Columbia. That is a live picture there. As you can see, the crowd waiting. We will bring his comments live in their entirety. Now, with just days to go, we want you to hear from both candidates live as much as possible, because the energy and the excitement for both candidates is palpable. There's also a crowd waiting at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where former President Bill Clinton will be speaking shortly. Right now, they're watching former Vice President Al Gore on satellite. He was Florida last night with Senator Obama, Clinton was. We are going to bring you some comments of the former president's comment live later on in this program. We will also hear John McCain and Sarah Palin on the trail today honing their attacks, trying to close the gap. In CNN's new national poll of polls, you see it there, Obama leading McCain by seven points, 50 percent to 43 percent. Obama had a seven-point lead yesterday as well. On the trail today, two pieces of economic news gave both candidates plenty of ammunition. Consumer spending took its biggest dive in 20 years in the third quarter. And ExxonMobil reported a record-breaking quarterly profit nearly $15 billion. In the battle for votes, it was a day of finger-pointing. Candy Crowley is on the trail.</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama has the schedule of a man looking for a blowout, campaigning in Republican counties inside Republican states, Sarasota, Florida, Virginia Beach, and swing spots like Boone County, Missouri. And even if he cannot win in these spots, Obama could tamp down the McCain vote.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If you want to know where John McCain will drive this economy, just look in the rear- view mirror, because, when it comes to our economic policies, John McCain has been right next to George Bush. He's been sitting there in the passenger seat ready to take over every step of the way.</s>CROWLEY: Whatever else, this is a campaign in syndicated columnist. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD) NARRATOR: Wonder where John McCain would take the economy? Look behind you.</s>CROWLEY: He brushes off old and new charges pushed by the McCain campaign, his associations with a '60s radical, a Palestinian scholar, and the new robocalls about Tony Rezko, a donor and real estate developer convicted of fraud who had business dealings with Obama.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama needs to come clean on this deal before the election, so that the voters can judge whether Obama received monetary benefits from these Rezko favors.</s>CROWLEY: That's a call being automatically dialed into Arizona, where Republicans are increasingly worried about McCain's home state. It is a rough road for McCain, facing major electoral hurdles and minor campaign screwups, say, the failure of the campaign confirm an appearance by Joe the plumber.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe's with us today. Joe, where are you? Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today? Joe, I thought you were here today. All right. Well, you're all Joe the plumbers.</s>CROWLEY: Touted by the McCain campaign as a working-class symbol, Joe did show up for the next two events and probably proved himself a better plumber than politician.</s>JOE WURZELBACHER, RESIDENT OF OHIO: I'm going to go vote for a real American, John McCain.</s>CROWLEY: Joe pretty much became the third person on the McCain ticket when Obama told him he would tax people making over $250,000 to -- quote -- "spread the wealth around." McCain will take that issue to the finish line.</s>MCCAIN: This business of -- quote -- "spreading the wealth around," spreading your income around, that's been tried before by far-left liberals. That's been tried in other countries.</s>CROWLEY: McCain has drawn some big, raucous crowds, but, as he hurries through Bush-won states, trying to blunt Obama's aggressive schedule, the loudest sound is surely the ticking of the clock.</s>COOPER: Candy, we saw Joe the plumber there calling John McCain -- saying a real American, I guess implying that Barack Obama is somehow not a real American. Does the McCain campaign control what Joe the plumber says?</s>CROWLEY: No, I don't think anybody has any control over Joe the plumber, and pretty much the beauty of him, I think. Look, he has been taken up as this symbol of working-class Americans. He has been very free in what he says. And, you know, it's America. And, you know, John McCain can't control even what some people inside his campaign say, much less those outside his campaign. I think Joe the plumber is going to say anything he wants to.</s>COOPER: Well, I think, also, anything maybe his agent and also his public relations has, because I understand he has now got quite a team around him.</s>CROWLEY: Hey, you know, if you have got it, use it.</s>COOPER: It's America, exactly.</s>CROWLEY: It is. It is.</s>COOPER: Fifteen minutes, the clock ticks fast. Candy, thanks. We will talk to you throughout this hour. As we said, CNN's latest national poll of polls shows Obama holding his seven-point lead over McCain. It's a lead he has held since mid-September. Take a look. You can see in this animation that, days after both conventions ended, McCain pulled ahead of Obama and held that lead for about a week. Obama's lead peaked last week, but it has pretty steady, losing a point here and a point there, and then gaining it back. Remember, that's the macropicture. Now, the -- that's the national level. The election is going to be won state by state. And today Obama's lead in another state has widened. CNN's John King is at the magic wall with that. John, what's the latest?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Anderson, we do go state by state. And that's very important, as people watch the polls. I also would say, as we show you our latest update, don't spend too much time on the polls, but they do help us make decisions about where things stand going into the final weekend. So, where they stand is, advantage Obama, to a significant and growing degree. Today, based on polling and other data -- we don't do this just based on polling -- we do it based on other data, including conversations with the campaigns -- we have moved Nevada from a tossup state to now leaning blue. And what that does is, that is what gives Barack Obama those five more electoral votes, that gives him that big lead. Now, let's go to the other map and show how we do this. One of the factors is the polling. Now, we do have a new poll in the state of Nevada today. Let me bring up those numbers for you -- 52 percent for Obama, 45 percent for McCain, so, a seven-point lead there for Barack Obama. That's not the only reason. I was out there this week, Anderson. We have also talked to the campaigns. So, it's not just the polling we rely on, for those who say why do you spend so much time on the polls, but Nevada now advantage Obama. Look at this. This is John McCain's home state of Arizona. Candy just alluded to this. This is too close for comfort. McCain is ahead, but 53 percent to 46 percent. Remember how much we have talked about the Latino vote. And it's going for Obama in big numbers. That is a factor out in Arizona. Let's move over to the more traditional battlegrounds, Ohio, a must-win for the Republicans. George Bush carried it twice. Look at this. This is a statistical dead heat, more or less, but a light advantage for Barack Obama in a state John McCain simply cannot lose, 51-47 percent. Not just the African-American vote helping Barack Obama there -- he is doing better among white voters, especially white women. Let's move over to Pennsylvania. How many times have we said the McCain campaign has said it has to turn this state, somehow turn it red? Well, going into the last few days, that is a big turnaround John McCain is going to have to pull off, advantage Obama 55 percent to 43 percent. The McCain campaign insists its polls are a bit closer there. Anderson, one last look at a new poll today. Down here in the state of North Carolina, again, this is a state McCain cannot afford to lose. And look at that, 52-46 percent advantage Obama in the polling. This is a place we will watch, Anderson, early on in the night, because this is African-American vote, but also college students, a lot of college campuses in North Carolina. If Obama can turn these voters out, like they're expressing in the poll, pretty hard to see John McCain win if he doesn't win North Carolina.</s>COOPER: It certainly looks tough, especially on the electoral map. But there are still ways for John McCain to win, right?</s>KING: There are ways. And let's show you the way. It's very difficult. But this race is not over. McCain, though, has to be perfect, plus, in the final few days. And let me show you what I mean by that. Remember, we have Obama now already clinching the presidency if he keeps what he has right now. So, here's what McCain has to do. Number one, he has to win Florida. All these tossup states are Bush states, the gold states. Florida, he has to win. He has to somehow win North Carolina, despite the numbers we just showed you, same with Ohio, 20 electoral votes. Indiana has to stay red in the McCain scenario, as does the state of Missouri our here, 11 electoral votes. Now, look, if we gave McCain all the tossups left, look what we have. Obama is still winning the presidency. So, John McCain has to turn something. And, as we have noted, if it stays the way it is right now, and McCain can somehow turn Pennsylvania, 21 electoral votes, if he can turn that one red, look what happens. Obama still wins now, Anderson, because of the pickup of Nevada. So, even if he wins Pennsylvania, a big challenge for John McCain, he still has to find something else. How would he get it? Somehow reverse Nevada. Those five would make John McCain the president, in a remarkable comeback. But even his own campaign advisers now think Nevada is drifting away. So, find them somewhere else? Remember, what was the state that brought John McCain back from the dead? That was New Hampshire, again, a big challenge there. But, if he could switch that, that would do it as well -- so, not impossible, but, as you can tell by looking at the map, very, very, very difficult.</s>COOPER: All right. We will have more with John throughout this hour. Let us know -- let us know about the state of the race in your state. Join our live chat, AC360.com. I have already logged on. Check out our live Webcast also during the break. Erica is off, so, tonight, our stage manager, Kevin, is holding the mike. And it's kind of a dangerous thing to have Kevin holding the mike, let me tell you. We will see what he says. Plus, breaking news: two live events we're waiting on. Barack Obama will take the stage at a rally in Missouri and Bill Clinton at a rally in Minnesota. We are going to take you there as soon as either man starts speaking.