Candidates Focus on Ohio and Other Swing States as Election Nears
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's a look at the stories now in the news. The candidates made a beeline to battleground states this weekend. President Bush live this hour in West Palm Beach, Florida. He has three rallies planned today in a state crucial to his reelection. As for Democratic challenger, Senator Kerry, he's focusing on had Ohio today. Our CNN electoral analysis concludes Ohio has shifted into the Kerry column this week. Live reports from both campaigns at the top of the next hour. In Iraq, an American soldier assigned to task force Olympia died from wounds in a car bomb attack in Mosul. And in Qaim, a town near the Syrian border, three American troops were killed in a suicide car bombing Friday night. Explosions rock five churches in Baghdad today. The homemade bombs caused damage but no casualties are reported. The sectarian violence came at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Around 3/4 of a million Iraqis are Christian. In Afghanistan, a roadside bomb kills two American soldiers. Three wounded men were evacuated to Germany for treatment. One of them is in critical condition. And finally, residents of northern Gaza came out today to survey the damage, comparing a 17-day crackdown by the Israeli military to an earthquake. Israel pulled its troops yesterday saying the Gaza offensive put a stop to rocket fire into southern Israel. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in the operation. I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. More news at the bottom of the hour. IN THE MONEY begins right now.</s>ANNOUNCER: From New York City America's financial capital. This is</s>IN THE MONEY. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR, IN THE MONEY: Welcome to the program. I'm Jack Cafferty. Coming up on today's edition of IN THE MONEY, Buckeyes in the bull's eye. Ohio a prime target for the campaign. Election Day moves ever closer, see where the crucial swing state is leaning now. Plus, defending the pump. We'll talk with a professor who says the U.S. military is playing a new big role in bringing us cheap oil. Plus, small fry with big demands. Advertisers can play a kid like a cheap violin. And you know who picks up the tab, mom and dad, don't you? Find out if the consumer culture is killing off childhood. Joining me today, a couple of the IN THE MONEY veterans, CNN correspondent Susan Lisovicz, "Fortune" magazine editor at large Andy Serwer. Far and away the greatest number of e-mails we ever received on American morning was last Friday yesterday, when we posed the question, was it right for Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards to discuss the sexual orientation of Vice President Cheney's daughter, 2,100 people felt strongly enough to sit down and send us a note.</s>ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And I got egg on my face, because I said in the beginning of the program, no one cared about this issue. I guess, and if I may flip-flop here for a minute, that people do care. But what I guess I mean to say here is, I don't know if it's going to change anyone's vote. People love to get on their soapbox and yell about this stuff, but what's it going to lead to in the end.</s>SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think these are very emotional issues. That's why you got so many responses. It's so complicated to talk about job creation, to talk about the war in Iraq, establishing peace. Those kind of things, you can't get an easy answer on. I do think that Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards were very deliberate in bringing up Mary Cheney because of the schism that exists between the vice president and president. Having said that, the vice president himself first raised the issue publicly in August. There will be a lot of people who say, she's fair game. She's one of his closest advisers.</s>SERWER: But it's crazy. It's like I'm going to talk about your gay daughter. Don't you talk about my gay daughter. What's happened to this campaign? I mean what are we talking about here?</s>LISOVICZ: It's a diversion from other more important issues, I think.</s>CAFFERTY: Obviously you can see there are absolutely no opinions on this subject. Thank you, Susan and Andy. All the experts agree that Ohio is a key swing state, if not the key swing state in this upcoming election. We noticed this several months ago and instead of talking to the pollsters, we went to a man who talks to Ohioans every single day. Bill Wills of the Wills and Coleman show in Cleveland, Ohio, gave us a pretty good feel for what was happening then. We said at the time we wanted to have him back and he was kind enough to join us today for an update. Bill, it's nice to have you on the program. Thanks.</s>BILL WILLS, RADIO HOST, OHIO: Jack, thank you. Good to be here.</s>CAFFERTY: The last time we talked, you said it wasn't clear if the citizens of Ohio were ready to fire the nation's chief executive. Has that sentiment changed since we talked last? Not really Jack. I mean two weeks out, to mention the polls at first, Bush has had a pretty good lead outside the margin of error in Ohio most weeks, even through the debates. Turnout will be a key on Election Day and the Kerry campaign, as much as they're here, I don't think they've painted a picture for the future that Ohio voters are willing to go with yet.</s>LISOVICZ: One of the things that you've been intrigued by is some of the trends that have occurred in Toledo. Why is that significant?</s>WILLS: Susan, the state breaks down this way. Northern Ohio where we are in Cleveland, heavily Democratic, the valley through Youngstown and Akron. Southern Ohio heavy Republican. The president held a rally near Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago, 50,000 people were there. Towards the western part of the state, the northwestern part, Toledo near Detroit, that's an area, as well as Columbus, that could be pivotal. Our station conducted some polling in the last week or two after the first debate. Both Columbus and Toledo were leaning towards the president. That's good news for the Bush campaign.</s>SERWER: Toledo in the cross hairs, Bill. What's going to make undecided voters in Ohio make up their mind? First of all, are there still undecided voters in the Buckeye state and what's going to make them go one way or the other?</s>WILLS: Andy, I think there are two or three left. And the campaigns would love to know where they live. I think they would track them down. You know, I think what you're starting to see a lot from the national pundits is that this race historically, if you look at past races, will probably start to open up a little. And my sense would be those undecideds may want to eventually vote for the winner. Although other surveys also will tell you that undecideds normally go with the challenger, so that's still an open question, I think.</s>CAFFERTY: How did your listeners respond to the debates?</s>WILLS: Interestingly, if you were a Kerry supporter going in, you're still a Kerry supporter. If you're a Bush supporter, the same thing. Even the way the state broke down, there was one poll where we were asking about the debate, people in the southern part of the state thought Bush did a great job all three times, where in the northern part of the state,</s>SERWER: You could make the argument that he did pretty well the second debate. There was pretty much of a consensus that it was not his finest hour during that first debate. But I guess if you're a Bush guy, you're a Bush guy, right?</s>WILLS: I think you're right.</s>LISOVICZ: Bill, what is it like living in Ohio right now? I mean, tell us about the bombardment that residents are just subjected to, whether it's the radio airwaves or television, the placards, the billboards?</s>WILLS: Susan, I spoke to a television exec this week. I asked him the question I thought you may ask me about media dollars. Although they wouldn't be specific, I heard the phrase, record level. And they're expecting even more buys in the next couple of weeks. You watch the news here, or watch any television show, every break you're seeing two or three ads.</s>LISOVICZ: That's good for the economy though, right and in a perverse way, it's helping out Ohio.</s>WILLS: Exactly. We're in the spotlight. Even this week, just to give you an example on my little old radio show, I was able to interview the Treasury Secretary Snow, happened to be in Cleveland, would love to be on, the majority leader Frist happened to be in Cleveland and gave me a call. And even the national security advisor Condoleezza Rice was in Friday and she spent 20 minutes with us.</s>SERWER: All right. Hey, Bill, you ready to go on the record? What do you think?</s>WILLS: I think -- right now, the Buckeye state, I think, is going to be a Bush state.</s>SERWER: That's good news for the president, of course, because traditionally the Republicans have to win that state to win, of course.</s>WILLS: You are correct. No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio.</s>SERWER: Right. All right. My thanks to Bill Wills, WTM (ph) morning talk show host, joining us from the state of Ohio. And Bill, we might check with you after the election and see if it came out the way you thought it was going to.</s>WILLS: I'll be here, Jack. Enjoy Chicago, by the way.</s>SERWER: We're looking forward to it. Thanks very much. Coming up on IN THE MONEY, fighting for your right to burn rubber. America's getting more for its oil from risky places. We'll look at what that means for the U.S. military as the price of a barrel of crude continues to rise out of sight. Plus how Halloween can scare your wallet. It used to be about cutting holes in a sheet and carving a pumpkin. See why the holiday has gone big budget. And monkey see, monkey don't. We'll show you what one car dealer is hiding in his trunk.