Ballot Bowl: Bill Clinton Stumps for Meek; Tea Party Favorites Give Opponents Strong Competition
JESSICA YELLIN, CO-HOST: Hi. I'm Jessica Yellin in Orlando, Florida. Welcome to CNN's special BALLOT BOWL coverage, our final run to the 2010 midterm elections. I'm here at a Republican fundraising rally and Sarah Palin is about to take the stage just a short time from now behind me. We're going to bring it to you live. But first, I'm going to send it over to my friend Ed Henry in Las Vegas who had a big interview today -- Ed.</s>ED HENRY, CO-HOST: That's right. I'm Ed Henry in Las Vegas. President Obama was here with a big rally 9,000 people here in Las Vegas for the embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. So much as stake here. This is really one of the premiere Senate battles. Fact of the matter that this, who wins this, whether it's Harry Reid or Sharron Angle, the Republican and a Tea Party favorite that could determine the control of the Senate next year. There's also a lot on the line for the president. Harry Reid has been one of his chief lieutenants on Capitol Hill, helped pass health care reform, Wall Street reform, a lot on the line, a lot at stake for sure. We've got a little bit of new information, breaking political news. I spoke to two senior Democratic sources this morning who are telling me that Senator Reid's private internal poll numbers have him up six points in this race. That contradicts the public polling that has it at a dead heat. I got a caveat that these poll numbers change a lot. Just spoke to a top Republican source who insists that their numbers do not back that up. They believe it is a dead heat. That there is -- this is still a struggle. It's going down to the wire, just 10 days to go. I had an interview earlier today with Senator Reid. We're going to get to that later. We also have a lot to get to all around the country. There's a lot happening. Next hour, later this hour, first hear from Sarah Palin in Florida as Jessica mentioned, but next hour we're going to hear from President Obama in Minnesota. He'll be doing a rally for Mark Dayton, the gubernatorial candidate. There's going to be a fundraiser he's doing as well for Democrats. We'll also take you to Southern Ohio. You've got Ted Strickland, the governor there. He's in a tight re-election battle. But right now, we're going to start with the Republicans that's where Jessica is in Orlando, Florida. Sarah Palin, a lot of big names there. So much as stake there, Jessica.</s>YELLIN: There is a lot at stake, Ed. Unlike the state where you are, as you say, it's a neck and neck race so close, too close to call. Here the Senate race, the Republicans have a healthy lead. It is Marco Rubio. He is a Tea Party favorite. He'll be taking the stage behind me as well. He'll be speaking here shortly. He has made this a national message about taking over and changing Washington. But putting up the poll numbers, Marco Rubio ahead 46 percent, again, it's three-way race, Charlie Crist, the Republican governor is running as an independents trailing in second place and then behind both of them is Kendrick Meek, the Democrat in this race. He continuous to fight hard to get ahead, but has trailed consistently throughout. Sarah Palin is coming here not only to support Marco Rubio, but because it's such an important presidential battleground. The Republicans want to take control the state ahead of the 2012 election. There's another person who wants to make sure that they have a firm plant in this state ahead of the 2012 election that is Bill Clinton. The former president has been here more times than you can count. He's been campaigning for his good friend, the Democrat, Kendrick Meek. Again, trailing, but he has a long history with Kendrick Meek. It goes back to the days when Meek was a state trooper and he knew then Governor Clinton. Let's listen for a moment as we wait for Sarah Palin to sum up what Bill Clinton has said when he's been here with the top running Democrat Kendrick Meek.</s>BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Let's pretend that this election is just like something that really is important to us. Like football. No, really. Bear with me here. When we really care about something, like football, and people in Florida really care about it, I've seen your team on television. I like it. I'm home alone a lot. I watch a lot of college football. But here's the deal. If it's really important to us, the facts matter. Don't they? So what's first thing after a Saturday game that the coaching staff does before they go out to practice? They look at the game film. Don't they? They see what they did right. What they did wrong. What they can do better next week. What's the second thing they do? They look at the competition's game film. They see what they did right. What they did wrong, and then based on the facts, they develop a strategy and they go play the game. And if you've got good athletes and they're living in the real world, and they get a few breaks, they win, because they are interested in the facts. Now, when it's not very important to us -- like the future of our children, the health of our economy, what kind of country we're living in, we get all of these people say, don't bother me with the facts. I got my mind made up. I know what's right. In this environment where people are angry and anxiety ridden, what you have in every state. I have done more than 90 events now, and I didn't mean to, but I don't want to see my country make a mistake. And I'm old enough to remember that when you make an important decision, never mind politics about anything. When you're really mad, there's about an 80 percent chance you're going to make a mistake, and you will get the result you don't want. And every person in this audience who is old enough has made enough decisions when you were mad that you know I am telling you the truth. Isn't that right? OK. So -- let's look at the game film. First of all, this election is a tale of dueling stories. The Republican story goes something like this. Hey, they had 21 months to get America out of the hole, the Democrats did, and they failed. They're not out of the hole, and in failing they spent too much money, and had too much government regulation, and we better stop them now before they just swallow the country up in government and debt. Isn't that about it? That's about their story. The Democrats' story is, it's true that we didn't get you out of this hole in 21 months, but it was a very deep hole. And -- and -- unlike our opponents, at least we stopped digging. And -- we do have plans that will not only get us out of the hole, but will put America back in the lead in the race for the 21st century, rebuild the middle class, give our children a brighter future. Give us two more year togs prove it to you. You gave them eight years to dig the hole. Give us half as much time, four year, to get out of it, and we will prove it.</s>YELLIN: And that's Bill Clinton with his Democratic stump speech. I heard him calling Republicans the other day, the digging brigade. It works with that crowd. It wouldn't work in this crowd. Sarah Palin is coming up here pretty shortly. We'll bring it to everyone, but first back to you in Las Vegas, Ed.</s>HENRY: Thanks, Jessica. And you're right. There are certain areas where former President Clinton can go that President Obama can't. President Obama focusing his energy, I've been with him in the last four days, out west here, places like Washington, Oregon where he's pretty popular. He woke up this morning here in Las Vegas trying to help Harry Reid. We're going to hear from President Obama next hour in Minnesota. He's going to be doing a rally there for gubernatorial candidate, Mark Dayton. I also had an exclusive one on one with Senator Reid earlier this morning in Las Vegas. He fires back at Sharron Angle who in that debate now infamously says man up, Harry Reid. He has some strong comeback there. We'll have that's later in the hour right after this break.