CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

MR. SCHIEFFER: Today on "Face the Nation," the presidential campaign and the Wall Street meltdown. Twenty-three days and counting until Election Day, and Barack Obama has opened the lead over John McCain. What's next? Will the campaign turn even nastier? Are voters worried about the economy even listening? All questions out in battleground states for Doug Wilder, the Democratic mayor of Richmond, Virginia; Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Republican Congressman Adam Putnam of Florida and one of John McCain's closets advisers South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

We'll try to sort out the economic news with Dr. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Then I'll have a final word on the search for good news. Actually, I found a little. But first, the battleground states of Campaign '08 on "Face the Nation."

(Announcements.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. Well, it is still a close race, but any way you cut it, the news for Barack Obama this morning is good news. Two polls, the Hotline and Newsweek, now show Obama with a double-digit lead nationally, and he is leading by smaller margins in the other national polls.

The news from the battleground states is also good for Obama. He leads in Florida, in Virginia and Colorado, all states that went Republican last time. And he is in the margin of error in North Carolina which also went for Bush last time.

Among the key states that John Kerry won for the Democrats last time, Obama has opened what one poll says is a double-digit lead in Pennsylvania. McCain is still up by a little in the key state of Ohio. No Republican, of course, has won the presidency without Ohio. And McCain is still up in Missouri.

To talk about where it all goes from here, first let's go to Lindsey Graham, one of Senator McCain's closest advisers.

Senator, the good news for Senator McCain today -- well, there doesn't seem to be very much of it. Is there some good news out there for him?

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. I think we're going to have a debate Wednesday where John can be able to show the public where he will take this economy that's hurting by keeping your taxes low and not increasing spending and compare the records of Senator Obama when it comes to taxing and spending and use the debate with you to make sure that America knows that this candidate, Senator Obama, who's masquerading as a centrist, is anything but a centrist when it comes to taxing, spending and social policy. And at the end of the day, I think we're going to be choosing between two candidates who have a different view of where to take America.

And the one thing I would like to say about this week is I think the campaign hit an all-time low, from my point of view, when you have a statement issued by John Lewis from Georgia saying that Senator McCain and Sarah Palin are conducting themselves in a way like George Wallace, inspiring hatred. It's an absolute offense to people like me who are close friends of John McCain, to all of his supporters, and we're not going to be intimidated by this playing the race card simply because Senator Obama's record has been attacked in a very fair way. The rhetoric and the record don't match when it comes to Senator Obama. And this is not going to work. It may have worked with the Clintons, but it's not going to work with us.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, I think, Senator, you'd have to admit that in some of these rallies, the campaign, the mood has turned rather sour. Some people would say quite mean. Just Friday when Senator McCain was at one rally, one man got up and said he was scared of an Obama presidency. Senator McCain had to tell him no, you don't need to be scared. And when he said that, people booed. And then -- then -- there was this. Listen to this.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't trust Obama. I have read about him, and he's a -- (inaudible). He is not --

SEN. MCCAIN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No?

SEN. MCCAIN: No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that's what this campaign is all about. He's not. Thank you. (Applause.)

(End videotaped segment.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: So Senator Graham, apparently, even John McCain thinks this thing may have gotten over the line.

SEN. GRAHAM: Well, let me tell you about being over the line. Millions of dollars of money have been spent by Obama against Senator McCain attacking stem cell research or our proposals that are, quite frankly, a lie. His campaign is awash with money because he broke his word. He opted out of public funding. We can't be responsible for what one person says at a rally surrounded by 1,000.

But John McCain has never conducted himself in any way to incite hatred. He has compared his record to that of Senator Obama in a fair way and a firm way and will keep doing it. But the idea that John McCain and Sarah Palin are conducting themselves like George Wallace is just incredibly offensive to me and all those who support Senator McCain. And we're not going to take this. We're going to challenge Senator Obama's record versus his rhetoric.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, let's get another point of view here.

Doug Wilder, former governor of Virginia, now the mayor of Richmond, has the McCain campaign gone over the line?

MAYOR WILDER: You know, when you hear Senator Graham say that they can't be responsible for one person putting the cover all over the McCain campaign, yet he just put Obama down because of what John Lewis had to say. This campaign is about change. It's about bringing the American people in to be a part of what's going on. And I think a lot of people see it.

You mentioned at the first, outside of this program, that things aren't going too well for the McCain campaign. And why? They are not talking about issues. They are not talking about resolving those issues. They are not talking about making life better for the American people.

They are not talking about what to do with the economy, to rebuild our infrastructure, to build roads and bridges and how to put people together rather than to divide them.

I don't think it's important to determine who went over, who didn't go under. The American people are really concerned with who is with them.

It's amazing when you look at what's going on and the young people who are involved. Driving up here from Richmond today, I see all of the bumper stickers on people, and I look to see who's driving those vehicles. They're not African Americans. They're not necessarily minority groups. People recognize that this country has not gone in the right direction in the last seven and a half years.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, let's go down to Florida, Tampa, Congressman Adam Putnam is down there. He's part of the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, a Republican.

Congressman, is this about the economy, or is it about some of these other things?

REP. PUTNAM: Well, you know, clearly here in Florida, this is virtually ground zero for the economic and housing anxiety that's out there. And there is a deep well of support for John McCain. John McCain is the only man who went to the last debate with specific proposals to relieve some of the anxiety on the average homeowner. John McCain has deep support among the military retirees who settled here in Florida. He has great support in southeast Florida among the pro-Israel community.

And here in the I-4 corridor which is my congressional district, the swing district of a swing state, he is polling a number of points ahead of Barack Obama. And this is an area, this area between Tampa and Orlando, that he has to win to win the state. And he continues to do well.

MR. SCHIEFFER: He doesn't seem to be leading in the Florida polls overall. I mean, it's my understanding that Obama has opened a small lead down there.

REP. PUTNAM: Obama has had a good couple of weeks and has opened up a small lead. But we have a long way to go, and I think John McCain is going to retake that momentum with this upcoming debate. He's going to retake the momentum in Florida because of his specific proposals that will improve the economy, that will support small businesses.

Barack Obama thinks that we need to increase taxes on small businesses in order to save small businesses. This is a state that's very dependent on mom-and-pop operations, and they understand that that's just not going to work.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, out to Colorado now and Governor Bill Ritter. He is a Democrat, of course.

Governor, the Republican party chair out there, I understand, Dick Wadhams, says that Senator McCain shouldn't let up on Barack Obama and his associations with people like Reverend Wright and this fellow Ayers, the anti-Vietnam protester. What's your sense of it because I know that Obama does seem to have a small lead out there?

GOV. RITTER: Yeah. I think he has about a 4-point lead in most of the polls. That's a nice trend for him in the last few weeks. And really, that would be, I think, typical of Dick Wadhams to think that that kind of negative campaigning would set well.

The fact of the matter in Colorado, this is going to be decided by independent voters, and independent voters care about the economy. They've watched McCain over the last few weeks behave erratically where the economy was concerned and where his response is concerned.

Obama, on the other hand, has shown just this steady, consistent way of responding. He's thoughtful. He is specific. And I think that's really not just in Colorado but around the country where you see these swing states trending for Obama. It's because of the great contrast and their different styles of leadership as they campaign about the economy.

MR. SCHIEFFER: How long has it been since a Democrat has actually carried Colorado?

GOV. RITTER: In 1992, Bill Clinton carried it. I think it was maybe 40 years before that when another Democrat carried it. So it's only been a couple of Democrats in the last 50 years and Clinton in '92, not in '96, though.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, we're going to take a break here. We'll come back and talk about all of this and more after one minute.

(Announcements.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: And we're back again with our people in key states.

Senator Graham, Mike Allen of Politico says that Senator McCain is considering unveiling some new economic proposals. Do you know anything about that?

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, we're going to talk this afternoon. But I think it goes along the lines that now is the time to lower tax rates for investors, capital gains tax, dividend tax rates, to make sure that we can get the economy jump started. The worst thing we could now, Bob, is to increase federal spending and increase taxes on small business, like Senator Obama proposed, or mandate from the federal government health care requirements on individuals and business with fines if you don't comply. So it will be a very comprehensive approach to jump start the economy by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes.

MR. SCHIEFFER: But no more bailouts.

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. The $700 billion that will be interjected into the economy needs to go to Main Street, not just Wall Street. So if you're in a home now where you owe more on the home than the home is worth -- adjustable rate mortgages are coming into play now -- we'd give people a chance for a primary residence to refinance your home at the actual value so that you would not owe more than the home is worth, and give you a fixed rate to help you make the payments and help our economy. I think that's a very wise move at this time.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, we'll wait and see what this turns out to be.

I want to go back to you, Governor Wilder. You know, Barack Obama has this lead. But a lot of people say that when a minority candidate is on the ballot that voters don't always tell the truth to the pollsters, that sometimes they do in the booth after that curtain is closed what they have not told the pollster that they're going to do. Do you see any of that effect here at play?

MAYOR WILDER: I see it diminishing. And the reason that I pointed to the people that I see supporting Senator Obama and how they identify the numbers of people who have contributed, it happened in my election. I had double-digit poll numbers. But I want to point to you that in my election, my internal polls had me no higher than plus or minus 2 (points) all throughout. I knew it was going to be close.

The one caution that the Obama people ought to have today is not to be overconfident and not to believe that anything is won. It is not won. To dispel the myths about him being able to raise taxes on the back of small businesses when particularly only 95 percent of the people won't be taxed at all -- to the contrary, they'll be having some relief. When you look at what his plan is, if you're making $250,000, you won't be taxed a penny. And so I think he needs to stay with the issues. He needs to let people know.

And I say it's diminished. A great number of people have seen differences because, one, they've seen African Americans in positions of leadership. They've seen what they could do after they got there. They've seen people at secretary of State levels, at governor levels and judicial levels. We are in an experiment of democracy in this country. And people are beginning now to say, can we do it? Yes! Is America ready? Yes! And that can be shown if we work.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Adam Putnam, down there in Florida, you say it's about the economy down there.

Is Sarah Palin any kind of a factor one way or another down there in Florida?

REP. PUTNAM: Sarah Palin has been a huge, energizing force in Florida. We have seen record crowds in the tens of thousands going into large cities, large retirement communities, people of all ages willing to stand in the hot Florida sun for hours on end to catch a glimpse and to hear from a remarkable governor and someone who can be a remarkable vice president. So she is a very powerful, motivating force down here. We just can't get enough of her.

MR. SCHIEFFER: So you'd like to see her come back.

REP. PUTNAM: Absolutely. She is, from one end of the state to the other, from the diverse communities in southeast Florida around Miami to the panhandle of Florida, she can draw an unbelievable crowd and has been a huge momentum builder for the McCain campaign.

MR. SCHIEFFER: I want to ask Governor Ritter the same question. What kind of an impact is she having out there?

GOV. RITTER: Well, I think she had an early impact. Actually, Sarah Palin and I are both your freshmen governors. We came in at the same time, 2007, and inaugurated in the same month. So I think early on there was an impact actually, and that kind of leveled the playing field for a little while. And this distancing we've seen between Obama and McCain and Obama going ahead, I think, is some sign that the sheen has come off a little bit, the gloss has come off of Sarah Palin. And people are really paying attention to the economy.

I just want to say one thing about small businesses because in Colorado it's an economic driver. And Senator Graham is absolutely wrong. Senator Obama has a plan around small businesses, and it's really about how you ensure that they continue to be an economic driver, how you look at tax policy to give them tax breaks, but also how you energize the Small Business Administration to going back to doing things we did after 9/11 specific to places that 9/11 impacted and say nationwide we're going to utilize that same means for really rescuing small businesses.

MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, I want to thank all of you --

REP. PUTNAM: Governor, you undoubtedly --

MR. SCHIEFFER: -- for a very enlightening discussion this morning. We're simply out of time, Congressman. We're simply out of time. Sorry, Congressman.

REP. PUTNAM: (Laughs.)

MR. SCHIEFFER: We'll be back in a minute to talk with an expert on this whole economic situation.

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