Democrats Battle For Indiana and North Carolina
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, guys. Happening now, a big race day for the Democrats. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama compete in another important round of primaries. Will Indiana and North Carolina throw a late curve into this campaign? We're standing by to bring you early word of what the voters are saying. The first exit poll information and the first real voting results, those will be coming up here soon. And John McCain sets a bar for choosing Supreme Court justices. He's sending a message to the Republican right and drawing a dividing line with the Democrats. I'm Wolf Blitzer at the CNN Election Center. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Just two hours from now, the first polling places close in Indiana and the Democrats' latest primary drama will begin to play out in a big way. Heading into today's contests, Hillary Clinton was four points ahead of Barack Obama in Indiana when you average the latest state polls. And Obama led Clinton by 10 points in North Carolina. Up for grabs, 72 pledged delegates in Indiana and 115 in North Carolina. Expect a lot of action over the next several hours. The first real results, the vote results, will be coming in as polls close across Indiana and North Carolina. And we're about an hour or so away from bringing you the first exit poll information. The best political team on television is standing by to bring you up-to-the-minute coverage. Let's begin with our Suzanne Malveaux. She's in Indiana, watching this story unfold. All right, Suzanne, set the stage for us. What happened?</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, essentially, Clinton's message is that she is still in the game. The Clinton camp expects to win Indiana, but the hope -- the hope is, Wolf, is it's by double digits, like Pennsylvania. That is what they are keeping their fingers crossed. When they look at North Carolina, a good night for Clinton would be if she loses perhaps five percentage points or less. That is what they are hoping for on that end. But what's even more important here, Wolf, is that they are going to be looking at those groups. Can she hold on to the older voters, female, working-class white voters? Does Barack Obama make some kind of inroads in those groups? If he does not, she can go to the superdelegates and say that she's got a legitimate case to stay in the race.</s>MALVEAUX (voice-over): Rev up your engines. Today is going to be a hell of a ride -- Hillary Clinton itching to take that victory lap at the Indy Racetrack today.</s>SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to get on the track in America, and get toward the finish line and change this country.</s>MALVEAUX: She says her campaign is going full-throttle, no matter what happens when polls close tonight.</s>CLINTON: It's going to be the rest of these contests which are very significant. And then, in June, if we haven't done it already, we're going to have to resolve Florida and Michigan.</s>MALVEAUX: But some close to her concede she must win Indiana, and can't lose by more than five points in North Carolina to justify staying in. Facing that reality, Clinton is also cautious.</s>CLINTON: Life is unpredictable. Racing is unpredictable. Politics is unpredictable. So, I'm just going to wait and see what the voters have to say.</s>MALVEAUX: After two weeks of pounding the pavement across the state...</s>SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: She's been to Hammond. She's been to Whiting. She's been to Hobart. She's been to Crown Point. She's been to Merrillville. She's been to Valparaiso. How about that?</s>MALVEAUX: ... she's courting those voters most loyal, older, white, working-class, trying to prove she is trustworthy and stands with the working people she says she will fight for, promising to bring mandated universal health care, gas tax relief, and home foreclosure aid.</s>CLINTON: Some people say I'm tough. Well, I think you have got to be tough to go after the oil companies and the oil countries and get...</s>MALVEAUX: Now, Wolf, there's no one who I have spoken to who believes that this is going to go to the August convention. They do believe that, whatever happens with Florida and Michigan, it will be resolved in June, along with the remaining contests. There's still a sense, Wolf, of optimism, of hope here. But there are some inside her camp who also believe that, perhaps, she's peaked too late -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Suzanne, thanks very much. Suzanne is in Indianapolis. Barack Obama says he feels good with about his chances today. North Carolina is his best bet to score another primary win and to shore up his image as the front-runner. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is in Raleigh watching all of this for us. We heard about what Senator Clinton was up to today, Candy. What about Senator Obama?</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a steady-as-she-goes campaign. Obviously, they are looking for a win in North Carolina tonight. They are looking at Indiana -- that, of course, much more iffy. In the end, what they would really like out of this evening going forward is a change in the conversation.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How's it going, guys? How are you?</s>CROWLEY: Past midnight in Indianapolis, Barack Obama reached out to the night shift as they left an auto parts plant scheduled to shut down in 2010. Half the UAW workers will be out of a job.</s>OBAMA: Love to have your support tomorrow. Thank you.</s>CROWLEY: He's been trying to connect in places like this, the plant he visited last night, the diner he visited in the early morning.</s>OBAMA: Nice to see you. What kind of business you guys in?</s>CROWLEY: He wants to break Clinton's hold on working-class voters.</s>OBAMA: People are much more familiar with Senator Clinton and President Clinton and their track record. You have got to give them credit. They have been on the scene for 20 years. And, so, you know, they're not going to go down easy.</s>CROWLEY: A brutal eight weeks has not helped, losing Ohio and Pennsylvania, and then Jeremiah Wright, followed by Obama's own words about bitter voters in small towns. It has all sown doubt.</s>OBAMA: Any people still undecided here? Because I want to work on you.</s>CROWLEY: Despite his turbulent two months, Obama has maintained a lead in delegates. So, what he needs tonight is not so much a game- changer. He badly needs a mood-changer.</s>CROWLEY: And, while the Obama camp is fully prepared to hear more about the demographics and about the white working-class vote, you can imagine, Wolf, that from, here on out, there will be a very hard push by the Obama campaign about the mathematics. They still believe -- and they have every reason to believe -- that, by the end of this process, on June 3, he will still be ahead in pledged delegates -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Thanks, Candy, for that. The Democrats are pulling out the stops on the campaign trail in Indiana and North Carolina, as well as on the airwaves. Let's bring in our chief national correspondent, John King. He is here. How are these ads playing out? What are we seeing?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, let's start out in Indiana. It's a largely white state, only 9 percent African-American. So, as we have talked about in recent days, the keys for Barack Obama up here, some African-Americans in the Chicago suburbs, especially the city of Gary, Indianapolis down here. For Senator Clinton, we will find out about the Catholic vote right in this area here, and we will find out if she does as well with blue-collar voters, like she did in Ohio and Pennsylvania, right along here. The debate, as you note, has been about the economy, Barack Obama trying to prove he can win the support of white, rural, working-class Democrats. So, he's had an ad up on the economy down here in Evansville. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD) OBAMA: Folks know we desperately need change, gas near $4, jobs leaving, health care you can't afford. But the truth is...</s>KING: So, you hear Barack Obama talking about gas near $4, health care you can't afford. Hillary Clinton counters by saying, sure, the economy is the number-one issue, but Barack Obama is not on your side. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CLINTON CAMPAIGN AD) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, we're living paycheck to paycheck.</s>NARRATOR: He's attacking Hillary's plan to give you a break on gas prices because he doesn't have one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The price of gas going up.</s>KING: So, Senator Clinton there, Wolf, clearly hoping that the gas tax holiday she has proposed, along with Senator John McCain, helps her out in this state, Indiana a very white state, about 9 percent African-American. We will learn very early on if Barack Obama is getting the advantage of being a neighbor and doing better among the white working-class Democrats. He has struggled, of course, in other states. Over in North Carolina, it's a very different story here. What you're -- what Senator Clinton is trying to do here is get the white rural vote out here, get the white rural vote down here. The biggest challenge for her, cut Barack Obama's margins among African-Americans. You remember Maya Angelou, the poet laureate in the Clinton administration? She's on TV for Senator Clinton here. Now, that's about cutting his margins, Barack Obama's margins, among African-Americans. That's one targeting effort by the Clinton campaign. Another is right up around Raleigh here, you have a modest, but potentially significant, in a close election, Latino population. So, Spanish-language ads playing a role in the campaign here in North Carolina as well. We will learn a lot about this state, Wolf, by what happens right in this area here. This is the Research Triangle. You have a lot of people with postgraduate degrees, a significant African-American population as well. Barack Obama should not only do well with African-Americans throughout here, but right here in the center of the state. If he's having any troubles in North Carolina, we will learn right there.</s>BLITZER: We will learn relatively early, too. All right, John, let's talk a little bit about Senator Clinton's effort to convince superdelegates, the undecided superdelegates, maybe those who have already decided, but still could change their minds, that she is better positioned in November to win the Electoral College against John McCain. We have a new way of looking at this.</s>KING: We do. And, now, certainly, an upset in North Carolina tonight would help her make that case, Wolf. But what Senator Clinton wants to tell the superdelegates is that you want me to go up against John McCain in the fall, not Barack Obama. This is the map of the last election, 2004. The red is George W. Bush. The blue is John Kerry. I want to go with a side-by-side look here. This is the map of 2004. What Senator Clinton wants you to believe is that, if she is the Democratic nominee, she can do this, that she will keep Pennsylvania. She says Barack Obama probably won't. She believes she can turn Ohio, like her husband did, back to the Democratic column. She believes she can turn West Virginia, like her husband did, back to the Democratic column. She believes she can be competitive down here in the state of Florida. If all that held true, Hillary Clinton says, look at me. I'm a much stronger November candidate than Barack Obama. But, if we switch back to the map, the Obama camp will counter. They say, you know what? We are strong out here, and we can do some business against John McCain out in Colorado. We could take a place like that away. He believes he can hold on to Pennsylvania. And Barack Obama as well believes he could keep Florida and perhaps, perhaps, compete in Virginia and some of these other states because of the African- American vote. So, Wolf, increasingly, you're fighting for Indiana, you're fighting for North Carolina, on to West Virginia and Kentucky. But, to the superdelegates, both campaigns are arguing, you want me to be up against John McCain in November. At this moment, Hillary Clinton says she has the edge when it comes to the big states. Barack Obama, though, Wolf, says, look at the national polls. We're both running about the same on John McCain. I can be just fine come November once I get the nomination.</s>BLITZER: We will be spending a lot of time with John over the next several hours. Thank you. Let's check in with Jack Cafferty right now. He's got "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: What are the chances that 200 economists might know more about the gas tax holiday proposal than John McCain and Hillary Clinton do? Clinton and McCain would like to buy your vote for somewhere between $28 and $70, which is how much you will save if their idea ever happens, which it won't. And, if it does, I will eat an Exxon station. The economists, all 200 of them, include four Nobel Prize winners, advisers to past presidents, and Republicans, as well as Democrats -- Democrats, some of whom are Clinton supporters. They all signed a letter rejecting the candidates' plans for the summertime tax relief. They say it would simply generate more profits for the oil companies, instead of significantly lowering prices for consumers. They also say it would encourage people to keep buying expensive imported oil, instead of conserving. And they think such a tax holiday would not provide much relief for families who are squeezed by current economic conditions. Barack Obama said all along this is nothing more than a political gimmick. Top House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chairman of the Financial Services Committee Barney Frank, have also come out against these ideas. But Clinton and McCain don't seem to be paying too much attention to the critics. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs was out with a report this morning that crude oil could rise to $200 a barrel within the next 24 months. Where are Clinton and McCain on that? The answer is nowhere. They're trying to buy your vote for 18 cents a gallon for three months. Here's the question: What does it mean when more than 200 economists say the McCain/Clinton gas tax holiday is a bad idea? Go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. You can post a comment on my blog.</s>BLITZER: Jack, thank you. There's new speculation under way right now that the Senate majority leader is a secret supporter of Hillary Clinton. Up next, I will ask Harry Reid about that and where he stands in the debate over a gas tax holiday. Also coming up, we're standing by for the first results from our exit polling in North Carolina and Indiana. We're going to be giving you an early sense of what the primary voters are actually thinking on this day. And John McCain often shies away from the subject. So, why is he suddenly talking about the way he would choose judges? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.