Crunch Time for Senators Clinton and Obama
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, crunch time for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama just days before a pair of make-or-break primaries. We have got new evidence that Democrats know who the winner will be, but aren't sure if they like the answer. Also, a shocker -- a high-powered superdelegate switching sides from Clinton to Obama. He now equates support for Hillary Clinton with support for John McCain. We will talk about that. And, later, we will look at, where is Bill Clinton, the most gifted campaigner of his time? So, why isn't he front and center? Why is he standing in the back of a pickup truck talking to a tiny crowd? Tonight, we track down the president on the campaign trail, but far away from the national media spotlight. And, also, a smiley face on a wall, is that the calling card of a team of serial killers? A pair of retired cops say they have got the evidence to prove it and connect it to dozens of murders -- "Crime and Punishment" tonight. We begin, though, with new signs the Democratic Party is split right down the middle over who should be their nominee, with new signs as well that the race could be at a tipping point, and a new call to end it now, before the party tears itself to pieces. First, take a look at this. Democrats, by a 20-point margin, say they believe Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee, that according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Yet, ask registered Democrats who they want to get the nomination, and it's 46- 45 Obama, a statistical tie, and serious erosion from his earlier numbers -- a dead heat, with Indiana and perhaps even North Carolina now growing tighter. Yet, somehow, he keeps racking up more superdelegates, even taking today one away from her. Why is that? And where do the candidates stand just days away from two more crucial primaries? CNN's Candy Crowley has the "Raw Politics."</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A psychological boost and a superdelegate for a beleaguered campaign.</s>JOE ANDREW, FORMER DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I'm changing my support from Senator Clinton to Senator Obama.</s>CROWLEY: Joe Andrew is not just another switch-hitter. He's an Indiana native who Bill Clinton once picked to lead the Democratic National Committee. Andrew says Obama's opposition to temporarily lifting the federal tax on gas is emblematic of a guy who really could change Washington.</s>ANDREW: Barack Obama took on the heavy and difficult political task of doing what is right on an energy policy and an environmental policy, and not what is politically expedient in order to give a quick pander to Hoosier voters.</s>CROWLEY: Not that anyone needs a road map, but he was talking about Hillary Clinton, who does support a summer holiday from the gas tax.</s>SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama says we shouldn't do it, and it's a gimmick. And Senator McCain says we should do it, but we shouldn't pay for it. I sometimes feel like the Goldilocks of this campaign. Not too much, not too little, just right.</s>CROWLEY: The gas price debate has emerged as part of the competition for the working-class vote. Obama argues, lifting taxes, even for a short period of time, would drain an enormous amount of money from the fund that fixes roads and bridges, while the average consumer would save just $30 over the summer. A number of leading economists agree with Obama, adding that the tax holiday could encourage Americans to drive more, increasing demand, decreasing supply, driving up prices. On the politics of it, he's trying to use the issue to paint her as just another politician, say anything, do anything to get elected.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: After John McCain made the proposal, I guess, Senator Clinton thought it was going to poll well, so she said, me too. I will do the same thing. And, so, now it's the McCain/Clinton proposal.</s>CROWLEY: Clinton says her program doesn't touch the money set aside for Highway repairs and any relief is better than no relief. Politically, she sees this as a way to frame him as an out-of-touch elitist.</s>H. CLINTON: But I find it frankly a little offensive that people who don't have to worry about filling up their gas tank or what they buy when they go to the supermarket think that it's somehow illegitimate to provide relief for the millions and millions of Americans who are on the brink of losing their jobs, unable to keep up with their daily expenses.</s>CROWLEY: The only problem is, neither one of them is going to be president this summer. This is not about reality. It's about politics.</s>COOPER: Well, imagine that, all about politics. How big of a deal is this, Joe Andrew changing sides?</s>CROWLEY: Listen, he's one superdelegate. His vote matters as much as anyone else's, but no more so. But, listen -- look at the poll numbers today, where you see that Barack Obama is slipping. We have gone with Reverend Wright for the last six days. This is a good kind of, you know, tearing up the headline and having one of your own. Obviously, this is someone who was with Clinton, someone who knows the Clintons, someone who was appointed by a Clinton or selected, at least, to head the Democratic Party. So, there is a real boost here in terms of perception. And, as you know, as we have talked about before, there's a lot of perception in politics.</s>COOPER: There sure is. Candy, stick around. We're going to talk to you more with our panel later. In addition to Joe Andrew, at least 11 superdelegates have pledged allegiance to one candidate or the other this week. They are picking up the pace. And, as CNN's Tom Foreman reports, they are being courted like never before. Take a look.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the superdelegates who have declared a choice have not been moving much lately, a little bit, but not much. They started out this year favoring Hillary Clinton massively. Now, however, her lead is down to about 20 people and sticking pretty much around there. So, the number that really matters is this one, the undeclared. And this group actually contains two subgroups with different motivations guiding their decision. The first is all the Democratic governors, representatives and senators. Eighty of those folks are undeclared. We don't know which way they are going to go. So far, members of this group have favored Obama, just barely. Look at the numbers right there. The rest are expected to follow this trend, because many serve in states that Obama has won, and they don't want to go against the will of the voters, because, frankly, those are the voters that they will need for their own reelections. So, Clinton's main target is the other group, superdelegates who have a vote because the party considers them important Democratic activists at the state or national level. About 200 of these people are undeclared at this point. And when you look at those who have declared, you can see that she was winning that group quite handily. They are more likely to be concerned about this question of electability, which candidate can beat John McCain in November. And this is the group Clinton is pounding on over Obama's preacher problems. Now, all of that said, however, you have to know that, undeniably, this remains an uphill battle for Clinton. Remember, Obama is ahead in the popular vote, the delegate count, and states won. So, many experienced political analysts and reporters believe the bulk of the undeclared superdelegates are leaning his way, and they are just waiting for him to win a couple more states, so they can say the voters have spoken, and now we will, too -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: All right, Tom Foreman watching the superdelegates -- thanks, Tom. A lot more politics ahead. As always, we're blogging throughout the hour, Erica and I. To join the conversation, go to cnn/360. Up next: new numbers on what voters think of Bill Clinton. That may explain why he's not exactly front and center in this campaign. We're up close on the stump with him. And we're digging deeper with our panel as well, Candy Crowley, John King, and David Gergen. Later tonight, 40 people dead in 11 states, police want to know if they are all linked to a serial killing spree where the murderer leaves behind a very bizarre sign, a smiley face. That's the theory. We will check the facts -- "Crime and Punishment" tonight on 360.