Public: Things are Going Badly
BLITZER: The candidates are pouring it on, this, the final weekend before Tuesday's Indiana-North Carolina Democratic primaries. It's been a particularly rough week for Barack Obama, who appears to have lost some of his comfortable edge over Hillary Clinton. Can he bounce back? What's going on? Let's discuss in our "Strategy Session." Democratic strategist Donna Brazile is joining us. And Republican strategist Kevin Madden is here as well. And, guys, thanks very much for coming in.</s>BLITZER: A bad week, relatively speaking, for Barack Obama. What's going to happen Tuesday, you think, Donna?</s>DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, I think it was a challenging week, because, once again, he had to denounce and condemn and distance himself from his former pastor. That clearly was a distraction. But I think Senator Obama is regaining his sea legs. He has a great deal of support in those two states. I think he will get out his vote. It's about get-out-the-vote. Senator Clinton has momentum, on the other hand.</s>BLITZER: What do you think about the -- obviously, the get-out- the-vote is really, really important. And it's going to be -- at least the polls show -- very close in Indiana. He's got a slight advantage in North Carolina.</s>KEVIN MADDEN, FORMER ROMNEY CAMPAIGN NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: Well, it's about the expectations. Barack Obama couldn't have had a worse week going into this, into the final run. But he's also done the right things since the Reverend Wright controversy has taken over the last two days. But it's about the expectations. Hillary Clinton has to get this down into single digits. The closer she gets to 5 percent in North Carolina, the better. And, then, Indiana becomes a big jump ball. Indiana will decide where the momentum goes from here.</s>BLITZER: So, if she wins in North Carolina, and he wins in -- excuse me. If she wins in Indiana and he wins in North Carolina, then we just, what, go on to the next contest?</s>MADDEN: It's perfect for Republicans.</s>BLITZER: We go to West Virginia a week later.</s>BRAZILE: Absolutely. Then we will go on to Kentucky and Oregon and all the other states. Look, Wolf, this will not end until June 3 or some time right after it. Obama continues to maintain a lead in some of the national polls, some of the key states. Senator Clinton has a lead as well in some key states. This race will not end next week.</s>BLITZER: So, we're -- we have at least got another month to go?</s>BRAZILE: Well...</s>MADDEN: It's perfect for us Republicans. We want to watch this. We want to see everybody split on Tuesday and then go on to West Virginia.</s>BRAZILE: You know, what's not good for Republicans is that Democratic registration is up, Democratic turnout is up, the fact that Democrats are raising money, and Democrats are out there now taking on John McCain. So, it's not so good for Republicans.</s>BLITZER: You know, the...</s>BRAZILE: Don't count your blessings too quick.</s>MADDEN: I mean, I do believe that the fundamentals are there. You're right. There's a certain level of excitement on the Democrats' side that we have to take into account. But the fact that you're tearing apart the Democrat coalitions, and you have essentially a Republican nominee who is the Democrats' favorite Republican, that does work to our favor in a general election.</s>BLITZER: How worried are you, though, about the fact that, on this right track/wrong track numbers, it's almost a record wrong track? The mood of the American people is that things are bad in the country. And, usually, when that mood is that bad, whether it was in 1992 or 1980, the incumbent party in the White House suffers.</s>MADDEN: Well, we have, in John McCain, a Republican nominee who's always had a brand or a reputation for running against the status quo of Washington. And people aren't going to have a choice on whether or not this administration -- it's not going to be a referendum on this administration. But, instead, it's going to be a choice between John McCain and whoever the Democrats nominee -- nominate. And then it's going to essentially be about whether or not that candidate is the real candidate of change, and are they going to challenge that status quo in Washington? People are angry at Washington.</s>BLITZER: You expect that he will try to distance himself very aggressively from the Bush/Cheney economic policies?</s>MADDEN: On some -- I believe, on some issues, like spending, like the way that Katrina was handled by this administration, John McCain is going to make a very clear break from that. And I think that's going to probably be rewarded at the polls by a lot of conservative Democrats, a lot of independents, and a lot of like-minded Republicans.</s>BLITZER: He's got this response -- and I will play it for you -- when he was asked about this whole right track/wrong track, the high disapproval numbers, record high disapproval numbers for President Bush right now.</s>MCCAIN: Have you seen the approval ratings of Congress lately, my friends? We talk about the low approval rating of the president. When you get down as low as the approval ratings of Congress today, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.</s>BLITZER: That's a pretty good line.</s>BRAZILE: And a couple dogs and cats, throw them in as well.</s>BRAZILE: Look, the fact is, is that John McCain has to run the kind of campaign that reaches out to independents, reaches out to moderates, because the Republican brand itself is in bad shape. That's one of the reasons why John McCain is out there on the forgotten America tour. I haven't forgotten you, too. And who knows with next week, forget-me-not tour.</s>BLITZER: But the more he reaches out, let's say, to moderate Democrats, independents, how concerned should he be with that conservative base, simply, a lot of them saying, you know what, he's not my cup of tea; I'm going to sit on my hands and not go out and aggressively work for him?</s>MADDEN: Well, he has to work very hard to get those conservatives. And he did very well in the primaries. He was very competitive among conservative voters. He didn't necessarily win them all the time, but he was very competitive there. But this race -- and I believe John McCain's path to victory -- is going to be built around winning what a lot of people call the big middle. He has to build this right-of-center coalition that's going to essentially bring in those conservative Democrats and independents, along with all those like-minded Republicans. It's the only way he can do it, with -- given the fact that there are a lot of structural advantages that the Democrats have.</s>BLITZER: And, Donna, while -- while the Democrats are fighting still amongst themselves, he's going on to Pennsylvania, to Ohio, to Florida, to Colorado, the states that will be the battlegrounds in the Electoral College run-up. He's spending a lot of time in those states already.</s>BRAZILE: He's trying to reintroduce himself. And that's one of the reasons why the Democratic National Committee is running these ads right now to remind voters that John McCain has a record. He has a record of supporting George Bush on the war, a record of supporting George Bush on the economy. If you want four more, eight more years of George Bush, vote for John McCain. That's what Democrats are saying.</s>BLITZER: All the polls show it could be very, very tight, could be very competitive. And that's what we should expect.</s>BLITZER: All right, guys, thanks very much for coming in. Things -- there are things you never necessarily heard about Barack Obama, sort of. You are going to find out what's on Obama's top 10 list of surprising facts. Also, so many voters to convince, so little time. You will go on a unique journey with Bill Clinton, as he campaigns for his wife. And one on one with Arianna Huffington -- I will ask the outspoken columnist and author what she thinks about the Democrats, what she thinks about John McCain, and the man they hope to replace. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.