CNN - Situation Room and Lou Dobbs Tonight - Election Day 2006

Name: CNN - Situation Room and Lou Dobbs Tonight - Election Day 2006
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Channel: malgent

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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] We will see you guys. You have a

[0:01] fantastic afternoon. That's it for the

[0:02] close. No more records today. 12,155

[0:05] point 12,155 50 points higher on the Dow

[0:08] Jones. Markets are all up across the

[0:10] board in anticipation of a big election

[0:12] night. Let's take it over to New York

[0:13] where Wolf Blitzer is standing by.

[0:16] Thanks Ally. And to our viewers, you're

[0:18] in the situation room where new pictures

[0:20] and information are arriving all the

[0:22] time. Standing by CNN reporters across

[0:25] the United States and around the world

[0:27] to bring you today's top stories.

[0:29] Happening now, America votes. The

[0:31] balance of power on Capitol Hill is on

[0:33] the line. Your voice, your future, your

[0:36] country, the issues you care about

[0:38] hanging in the balance as well. We're

[0:40] watching all the election day activity

[0:43] right now. On our radar, a rash of

[0:45] voting problems as well as the races

[0:48] that matter most. how uh the best

[0:50] political team on television uh will

[0:52] share with us what's going on, keep all

[0:54] of us up to the minute on the dramatic

[0:57] decision day events. Plus, this is where

[1:00] you'll get the very first word on the

[1:02] exit polls. Our voters sending a

[1:05] powerful message about President Bush

[1:07] and the war in Iraq. The information in

[1:09] a virtual lockbox right now, but we're

[1:12] only about an hour away from bringing

[1:14] you some early glimpses of the big

[1:16] picture. I'm Will Blitzer at CNN

[1:19] election headquarters in New York.

[1:21] You're in the situation room.

[1:39] This is it. The ultimate test of our

[1:40] political system and America's office

[1:42] holders. Election day. All 435 seats in

[1:46] the House, 33 in the Senate, are up for

[1:48] grabs. Democrats have high hopes of

[1:51] picking up at least the 15 seats they

[1:53] need to seize control of the House. A

[1:55] much iffier prospect. Can they gain six

[1:58] Senate seats and reclaim the majority in

[2:00] that chamber? We'll be watching makeorb

[2:03] breakak battlegrounds in the hours

[2:04] ahead. Polls close at 700 p.m. Eastern

[2:07] in Virginia, where Republican Senator

[2:10] George Allen is trying to beat back a

[2:12] strong challenge by Democrat Jim Webb.

[2:14] At 7:30 p.m. Eastern, polls close in

[2:17] Ohio, where Republican incumbent Mike

[2:19] DeWine is on the ropes against

[2:21] Democratic challenger Sherid Brown. At

[2:24] 8:00 p.m. Eastern, a flood of

[2:26] potentially decisive races. One of the

[2:28] closest is in Missouri. Republican

[2:31] Senator Jim Talent and Democrat Clare

[2:33] McCascal are duking it out. In

[2:35] Pennsylvania, Republican incumbent Rick

[2:37] Santorum fighting for political survival

[2:40] against Democrat Bob Casey Jr. In

[2:43] Maryland, Ben Carden hoping to keep an

[2:45] open Senate seat in Democratic hands,

[2:47] but Republican Michael Steele has other

[2:49] ideas. In Tennessee, Bob Corker trying

[2:52] to keep an open se Senate seat in the

[2:55] Republican column against Democrat

[2:57] Harold Ford Jr. And in New Jersey, a

[3:00] Democrat on the defensive. Incumbent Bob

[3:03] Anendez versus Republican Tom Kaine Jr.

[3:06] Rhode Island also in our sights at 900

[3:08] p.m. Eastern. Republican moderate

[3:10] Lincoln Chaffy trying to hold on against

[3:13] Democratic challenger Sheldon White

[3:14] House. And at 10 p.m. Eastern, the key

[3:17] Western battleground, Montana.

[3:20] Republican Senator Conrad Burns is in a

[3:22] brawl with Democratic challenger John

[3:25] Tester. Our correspondents are in all of

[3:27] those critical battle battleground

[3:29] states all across America. We're going

[3:31] to be hearing from them through this uh

[3:33] day and well into the night this hour.

[3:36] Chris Lawrence standing by in Montana,

[3:39] Dia Gallagher in Missouri, Joe John's in

[3:41] Tennessee, Ed Henry in Virginia. But

[3:44] first, first, new problems uh emerging

[3:47] uh at some polling places across the

[3:50] country. Let's check in with our Ally

[3:52] Veli. is keeping tabs on these reports

[3:54] that are coming in. Ally,

[3:56] >> this is just in right now. Wolf, uh,

[3:58] Denver District Court Judge Sheila

[3:59] Rapaore is now hearing a request by the

[4:02] Colorado Democratic Party to extend

[4:04] voting in Col in Denver County uh, until

[4:07] 9:00 p.m. Mountain time. I should tell

[4:09] you this hearing started at 12:00 p.m.

[4:11] Mountain time. This has been going on

[4:13] for some time. Look at those lines. Our

[4:15] Sean Calebs is in Denver. He has been

[4:18] right there and he is saying that the

[4:20] lines uh last I heard from him it was

[4:22] three or four uh city blocks that's the

[4:24] botanical garden place uh and the the

[4:27] the lines there are causing a lot of

[4:28] problems for voters. They didn't have

[4:30] information uh to start those polling

[4:32] booths on time this morning. Now that's

[4:33] not the only county where we're looking

[4:35] at delays in Indiana in Delaware County

[4:37] around Muny a 2hour and 45minut

[4:40] extension to voting there because of

[4:42] electronic voting machines that didn't

[4:44] work properly at the beginning of the

[4:45] day. another problem where there are

[4:47] delays. We're also looking at delays in

[4:49] Pennsylvania. At least one county,

[4:51] Lebanon County, has had its polls

[4:53] extended by 1 hour and we are covering

[4:56] reported report reports of uh lots of

[4:59] problems, voting problems in

[5:00] Pennsylvania. We're looking into all of

[5:02] those. New Jersey also has electronic

[5:05] voting problems and allegations of uh

[5:07] intimidation and uh and tricks going on

[5:10] by both sides. And uh in Illinois, we

[5:12] have reports confirmed of at least two

[5:14] precincts in Cook County that have had

[5:17] uh extensions because they didn't get

[5:18] started on time. We're also uh tracking

[5:21] down reports of at least uh a couple

[5:23] more in another county. So, we do have

[5:25] delays, voting delays in some of those

[5:27] cases, uh particularly in Colorado or in

[5:29] New Jersey or Pennsylvania. These may

[5:31] have some effect on uh on decisions

[5:33] tonight. Uh we do not have any delays

[5:35] reported yet in New Jersey, but we have

[5:37] reports of several problems. I should

[5:38] also tell you, Wolf, that in Virginia,

[5:41] there were phone calls made yesterday.

[5:42] There were at least 50 calls reported

[5:44] before polls opened this morning uh of

[5:47] people getting misleading information

[5:48] about where to vote, how to vote, and

[5:50] whether they're properly registered. Uh

[5:52] the board of electors has looked into

[5:54] this. They did try and inform

[5:56] Virginiaians that there isn't a problem,

[5:57] but the FBI is now taking on that

[6:00] investigation to uh to see whether any

[6:02] damage has been done, whether people who

[6:03] actually should have been voting didn't

[6:05] go out and vote or got wrong information

[6:06] about their ballot. So Wolf, it's going

[6:08] to be a long night on a lot of levels,

[6:10] but there are lawyers across this

[6:11] country now trying to figure out whether

[6:13] voting needs to go on for longer than it

[6:15] was scheduled.

[6:16] >> Some 10,000 lawyers have already been uh

[6:18] put in place by both political parties

[6:20] ready to deal with this. Ally, we're

[6:22] going to continue to check back with

[6:23] you, our other team of reporters. We've

[6:25] got extensive reporting going on on all

[6:28] these glitches, all these problems

[6:30] across the United States right now.

[6:31] We'll watch this story. Ally, thank you.

[6:34] Let's get to the nailbiter battle for

[6:36] control of the Senate right now to our

[6:38] reporters in some of the battleground

[6:40] states that will help decide if

[6:42] Democrats sees the day. Let's go to

[6:44] Virginia for CNN's Ed Henry is joining

[6:47] us with the latest from there. Ed

[6:49] Wolf, after months of bitterness,

[6:51] Republican Senator George Allen and

[6:53] Democratic challenger Jim Webb have

[6:55] finally found something they can agree

[6:57] on. Turnout in this red-hot Senate race

[6:59] may reach historic p proportions for a

[7:02] midterm election. both sides getting

[7:04] reports from the field that it's turnout

[7:06] approaching presidential election year

[7:08] levels which you just never hear of all

[7:10] the way from Fairfax in the north which

[7:12] would be Democratic turf down to the

[7:14] southwestern portion of the state which

[7:15] would be Republican turf. Uh also

[7:18] absentee ballots in the last midterm

[7:19] election 2002 there were 44,000 cast

[7:23] this time 131,000 absentee ballots

[7:27] requested. The question is going to be

[7:29] who does this benefit? The web campaign

[7:31] is confident that they will get more

[7:33] turnout for a combination of factors.

[7:35] Number one, Senator Allen's miscues like

[7:37] that Macakaco moment. Also,

[7:39] anti-incumbent mood, his ties to the

[7:41] White House, and the issue of Iraq,

[7:42] which has been front and center here.

[7:44] The Allen camp, though, believes that

[7:46] the fact that a ban on same-sex

[7:48] marriage, the constitutional amendment

[7:50] banning that is on the state ballot that

[7:52] will drive more conservatives to the

[7:54] polls. The bottom line is we may get an

[7:56] early answer because the polls close

[7:57] here 7 o'clock Eastern time.

[8:00] Ed, thanks very much Henry in Virginia.

[8:02] Let's move over to Tennessee right now.

[8:04] The heated battle for the Senate seat

[8:07] now held by the majority leader Bill

[8:08] Frist who's retiring. Covering the Ford

[8:11] Corker contest for us is Joe John's.

[8:13] Joe's joining us now live. Joe

[8:16] Wolf, this is the Peabody Hotel in

[8:18] Memphis, Tennessee. That's where we're

[8:20] expecting the Democrat Harold Ford to

[8:22] end up tonight. He is in the Memphis

[8:25] area. We started out with him today at a

[8:27] polling place. It's interesting here in

[8:29] Tennessee, there are some projections

[8:31] probably about half of the people who

[8:34] will have voted in this election already

[8:36] voted in early voting. So, they're

[8:38] describing the people turning up at the

[8:40] polls so far as steady. Uh there has

[8:43] been rain here, which is always an issue

[8:46] as to turnout, but both sides are

[8:48] thinking they're going to see a lot of

[8:50] people voting in this election. 1.8 1.9

[8:52] million. And uh and and so it goes here

[8:55] in Tennessee. The candidate, the

[8:57] Democratic candidate was out today, as I

[9:00] said, at the polls speaking to people,

[9:02] not getting too close because there are

[9:04] rules against that. He's been talking a

[9:06] lot about his faith in this final day,

[9:09] this voting day. Uh meanwhile, Bob

[9:11] Corker over in Chattanooga, that's where

[9:14] he's expected to end up tonight. Of

[9:15] course, uh this is a very close race. A

[9:18] lot of people think, at least according

[9:19] to the last USA Today Gallup poll. Back

[9:22] to you, Wolf.

[9:22] >> All right, thanks very much, Joe, for

[9:24] that. Let's move over to Missouri right

[9:25] now. Now, the Senate battle between Jim

[9:27] Talent and Clara McKascal could hinge on

[9:29] a red-hot social issue, embryionic stem

[9:32] cell research. Our Faith and Values

[9:34] correspondent Dileia Gallagher is

[9:36] joining us now from St. Louis with more

[9:38] on that. Dileia,

[9:40] >> good evening to you, Willful. Embryionic

[9:42] stem cell research is an issue that

[9:44] states have been grappling with for the

[9:46] past two years. From California, which

[9:48] funds it, to South Dakota that bans it.

[9:50] And tonight, it's Missouri's turn to

[9:52] decide.

[9:56] It's down to the wire, but there's still

[9:58] time for Brian Curry to try to convince

[10:01] one more voter on the Missouri stem cell

[10:03] issue. Five pages of dense scientific

[10:06] terms obscured by even more campaign

[10:08] rhetoric boils down to this. Changing

[10:11] Missouri's constitution to prevent

[10:13] future restrictions on embryionic stem

[10:16] cell research. The opposition says it

[10:19] opens the door to cloning. Supporters

[10:21] say it's about cures. It says bans

[10:24] cloning cures for everybody. This is

[10:27] going to be great.

[10:29] But then when you read the actual

[10:31] amendment, it does allow cloning.

[10:34] >> I believe in research and I don't think

[10:36] it's about cloning at all. I think it's

[10:37] all about research and and helping

[10:40] people and everything.

[10:41] >> Whether you believe the amendment would

[10:42] lead to cloning depends in part on when

[10:44] you believe life begins. It's a tall

[10:47] order. Voters must weigh moral values

[10:49] and cutting edge science. I think they

[10:52] can get the stem cells from other places

[10:54] from what I understand. So, I'm going to

[10:56] vote no.

[10:56] >> I'm leaning toward voting for a stem

[10:58] cell because of the endorsements by the

[11:02] African-Ameans in the medical

[11:04] profession.

[11:05] >> It's been the subject of millions of

[11:07] dollars of advertising divided members

[11:09] of the same party and even members of

[11:11] the same family.

[11:12] >> I was going to say I can't answer this

[11:14] cuz if my family's watching, they're

[11:15] very split on this. So, I know how I'm

[11:17] voting.

[11:20] And the big question, Wolf, is how much

[11:22] this issue will affect the very tight

[11:24] Senate race here in Missouri. Wolf.

[11:26] >> All right, Dia. Dileia is in Missouri

[11:28] for us. Let's move over now to Montana

[11:31] and another Republican senator in peril.

[11:33] It's Conrad Burns versus John Tester.

[11:36] Our Chris Lawrence is right in the

[11:38] middle of all of this. He's joining us

[11:40] live from Billings. Chris.

[11:43] >> Wolf. There's no one issue that is

[11:45] driving voters to the polls here in

[11:47] Montana. One voter told me he voted for

[11:49] Conrad Burns because he was afraid John

[11:51] Tester was going to raise his taxes.

[11:53] Another told me he voted for Tester

[11:55] because he thought Burns had sold out to

[11:57] big oil companies. Now, the last poll

[11:59] taken before the election had Tester

[12:01] leading Burns, but Burns said that

[12:04] Republicans were going to turn out in

[12:05] big numbers and put him over the top. He

[12:07] did his part today by casting his own

[12:09] vote for himself. His opponent, John

[12:11] Tester, voted an absentee ballot. And he

[12:14] wasn't alone. Nearly one out of every

[12:17] six registered voters here in Montana

[12:19] asked for a asked for an absentee

[12:21] ballot. Most of them got turned in days

[12:23] ago. So, in some ways, this race was

[12:25] well on its way to being decided before

[12:27] the polls even opened today, Wolf.

[12:29] >> All right, Chris, thanks very much.

[12:30] We're going to watch all of these races.

[12:32] Something else that's often

[12:33] controversial on election day, exit

[12:35] polls. They're a very valuable tool for

[12:38] predicting races. This year, we in the

[12:40] news media have gone to new lengths to

[12:42] try to keep the data secret as long as

[12:45] possible. Let's bring in our senior

[12:47] political analyst, Bill Schneider. He's

[12:49] our expert on exit exit polls. Bill,

[12:51] tell our viewers what's going on. Wolf,

[12:54] in the immortal words of Sergeant

[12:55] Schultz from Hogan's Heroes, I know

[12:59] nothing. That's because all exit poll

[13:01] results are in quarantine until 5:00

[13:04] p.m. Eastern. Two years ago, we were

[13:06] shocked. Shocked to discover that early

[13:08] and incomplete exit poll information was

[13:11] being leaked. On election day, it spread

[13:13] instantly over the web and around the

[13:15] world. That information was unverified

[13:17] and misleading. Well, this year,

[13:20] representatives of five networks and the

[13:22] Associated Press are meeting in a

[13:24] secure, undisclosed location to review

[13:27] the exit poll results. They are sworn to

[13:29] secrecy. No cell phones, no pagers, no

[13:32] smoke signals, no contact with the

[13:34] outside world, and hall monitors like in

[13:37] second grade. At 5 Eastern, we'll see

[13:39] the results and begin to share them with

[13:41] you. As always, everything in an exit

[13:44] poll must be taken with proper caution.

[13:46] It's a poll, a sample of voters

[13:49] interviewed at polling places, plus

[13:51] early and absentee voters interviewed by

[13:53] telephone. It's a piece of information.

[13:56] You'll hear me say a lot this evening uh

[13:58] about that. It is not a final result.

[14:01] It's also CNN's policy not to reveal

[14:03] anything about whom we may project as

[14:05] the winner of a specific race until all

[14:08] the polls are closed in that state. So

[14:11] stay tuned to CNN at 5:00 p.m. when the

[14:14] quarantine lifts. Then I will know

[14:17] something and I'll share it with you.

[14:19] Wolf.

[14:20] >> All right. Thanks very much, Bill

[14:21] Schneider for that. Uh Jack Caerty is

[14:23] here with the Caferty file. Jack,

[14:25] >> thank you Wolf. However, today's

[14:27] election turns out, uh, it's a safe bet

[14:30] it's going to be a good long while

[14:31] before anybody successfully pedals a

[14:33] neoonservative agenda to the American

[14:35] electorate again. George Bush was

[14:37] elected twice by the thinnest of

[14:39] margins, if in fact he was elected at

[14:42] all. And from the start, what we saw

[14:44] wasn't what we got. President Bush, I

[14:47] don't think our troops ought to be used

[14:49] for what's called nation building.

[14:51] That's exactly what we're doing in Iraq,

[14:53] and it's not working. Administration

[14:55] officials told us the war in Iraq's not

[14:57] about the oil. Three and a half years

[14:59] and 3,000 American combat deaths later,

[15:02] we're told it's about the oil. The

[15:05] president pledged to restore honor and

[15:07] integrity to the Oval Office. And then

[15:09] along came Abu Grabb, secret prisons,

[15:12] outsourcing interrogations, NSA spying,

[15:15] torture, and a decline in the reputation

[15:18] of this country worldwide that is

[15:20] unprecedented in our history. These

[15:22] midterm elections could be a tsunami of

[15:24] rejection for the Bush White House and

[15:26] its policies. But even if it's not, it's

[15:28] likely the neoconservative vision is

[15:31] toast, at least for a good long while.

[15:34] Here's the question. How much damage has

[15:36] the Bush administration's agenda done to

[15:38] the Republican party in this country?

[15:40] Email your thoughts to CaffertyFile at

[15:42] CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile.

[15:47] And Jack, throughout the night, you're

[15:48] going to be reading our viewers email

[15:50] and getting some input from them and

[15:52] sharing that with our viewers.

[15:54] >> That's correct.

[15:55] >> Excellent. Thanks very much, Jack. To

[15:56] that, Jack Caferty, Bill Schneider,

[15:59] Chris Lawrence, Dia Gallagher, Joe John,

[16:01] Ed Henry, Ally Veli, they are all part

[16:03] of the best political team on

[16:05] television. Plus, for the latest

[16:06] campaign news at any time, check out our

[16:09] political ticker. CNN.com/ticker.

[16:12] And remember, Anderson Cooper, Paul

[16:14] Lazison, Lou Dos. They'll join me

[16:16] tonight for our prime time coverage of

[16:18] America Votes 2006. It all starts at 700

[16:22] p.m. Eastern. Coming up, the

[16:25] non-candidate who may be influencing

[16:27] voters uh a lot right now. We'll have a

[16:30] live report on President Bush waiting

[16:31] out the results and what his Democratic

[16:33] rivals are saying about their prospects.

[16:36] Plus, if the Republicans fortunes fall,

[16:38] the party chairman Ken Melman may have a

[16:40] lot of explaining to do. The RNC chief

[16:43] joins us with his predictions. And we'll

[16:45] take you live to an internet cafe in

[16:48] Washington DC for our big blogger party.

[16:50] It's a first in our superized coverage

[16:53] of the vote. We're live from CNN

[16:55] election headquarters in New York. And

[16:57] you're in the situation room.

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[18:39] >> 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Be right

[18:41] back here at CNN for American Morning.

[18:43] Election night's best moments and

[18:45] biggest surprises. American Morning. 5

[18:47] a.m.

[18:59] Monday Night Football coming this season

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[19:16] Attention

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[19:50] >> The best political team on television

[19:51] tells it like it really is. CNN Tonight,

[19:54] 7 Eastern.

[19:58] >> President Bush is at the White House

[19:59] after casting his ballot in Texas

[20:01] earlier this morning. Now he's waiting

[20:03] for the election results to come in

[20:05] along with the voters verdict on him and

[20:07] his party. The suspense also building on

[20:09] Capitol Hill as Democrats try to avoid

[20:12] any irrational exuberance. For some,

[20:14] that's easier said than done. Our White

[20:17] House correspondent, Suzan Malvo, is

[20:18] standing by. But let's go to Capitol

[20:20] Hill. Our congressional correspondent,

[20:21] Dana Bash, is joining us with the latest

[20:23] from there. Dana.

[20:24] >> Wolf. Easier said than done is very

[20:26] true. Nancy Pelosi came into the capital

[20:28] this afternoon. Our producer, Ted

[20:30] Barrett, bumped into her and jokingly

[20:32] said, "How are you, Madam Speaker?" She

[20:34] smiled ear to ear and said, "I like the

[20:36] title." But quickly caught herself and

[20:38] said, "Not yet." Now, in public, Pelosi

[20:41] may be cautious, but we understand that

[20:42] in private, uh, she and her staff were

[20:44] already talking about whether or not

[20:46] they should move their office suite into

[20:47] the bigger space now occupied by the

[20:50] Republican House Speaker, Dennis

[20:51] Hastard. And there was not a lot of

[20:53] caution in a briefing just a short while

[20:55] ago from the two chairman of the

[20:57] Democratic House and Senate campaign

[21:00] committees. They were actually bubbling

[21:02] with optimism, Wolf. In fact, Rahm

[21:04] Emanuel, the the Democrat in charge of

[21:06] the House, uh, essentially said that he

[21:08] thinks that this is going to be a

[21:09] historic midterm election. They talked

[21:11] on and on about how voter turnup turnout

[21:13] is up, especially in key Democratic

[21:15] areas. Meanwhile, on the Republican

[21:17] side, we understand that the Republican

[21:19] National Committee chairman Ken Melman

[21:20] just did a a private conference call

[21:22] with friends and allies of the

[21:23] Republican party, also trying to make

[21:25] the point that turnout is up that will

[21:27] benefit Republicans. But I can tell you

[21:29] that talking to Republicans in private

[21:32] uh here on Capitol Hill and elsewhere,

[21:33] it's not a question of how many seats

[21:35] they think they're going to lose. Excuse

[21:36] me, if they they think they're going to

[21:37] lose seats. It's a question of how many.

[21:39] And as a matter of fact, the mood, I can

[21:41] tell you, is kind of a mixture of

[21:42] depression and resignation. I talked to

[21:45] one GOP House leadership aid earlier

[21:47] today who said, "I feel like I did in

[21:49] ninth grade when I was just about to go

[21:51] take a chemistry test I didn't study

[21:52] for." He said, "I know I'm going to fail

[21:54] and there's nothing I can do about it."

[21:56] Wolf.

[21:57] >> All right, Dana. Thanks very much. From

[21:58] one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the

[22:00] other. Let's go to the White House. Our

[22:01] correspondent Suzan Malvo with more from

[22:03] there. Suzanne.

[22:04] >> Well, Wolf, earlier today we saw the

[22:06] president and the first lady casting

[22:07] their ballot in Crawford, Texas. And the

[22:09] president making brief remarks uh

[22:11] decidedly nonpartisan, saying, "Look,

[22:13] all Americans should go out and vote.

[22:14] It's their civic duty." But it's very

[22:16] clear that Bush administration officials

[22:18] know that the Iraq war is the number one

[22:20] issue. that this election is going to be

[22:22] a referendum on the Iraq war and the

[22:25] president and that if the Republicans

[22:27] lose the House or the Senate, it is

[22:28] going to dramatically weaken the

[22:30] president's ability to push forward with

[22:32] his agenda for the next couple of years.

[22:35] But White House insiders I talked to

[22:36] today say there is no talk of that here

[22:39] at the White House. They believe uh that

[22:41] they are not going to get into the

[22:43] whatif game. If there is any hint of

[22:45] doubt, they believe that ultimately uh

[22:47] voters will not go to the polls and so

[22:50] they believe they cannot uh cannot

[22:52] actually uh concede at this point.

[22:54] Another White House insider I spoke to

[22:56] as well said this is going to be a very

[22:58] bad day for Republicans, but he said

[23:00] that Carl Roven company do believe in

[23:03] some encouraging news. They believe that

[23:05] there are more voters that are coming

[23:06] out in rural Republican areas in

[23:09] Virginia, Missouri, and Montana and that

[23:11] that is in fact a good sign. Now, Wolf,

[23:13] we don't expect to hear or see from the

[23:15] president today. That'll happen

[23:16] tomorrow. But the president is going to

[23:18] be sitting down with his top political

[23:20] adviserss having a dinner this evening

[23:22] while he watches those returns come in.

[23:23] Wolf

[23:24] >> Suzan, thanks very much. Let's bring in

[23:26] our senior political correspondent,

[23:27] Candy Crowley, and our chief national

[23:29] correspondent, John King. They're

[23:30] watching all of this very, very closely.

[23:33] Candy, let's give our viewers a sense of

[23:34] a little bit of a viewers guide what we

[23:37] can expect starting at 700 p.m. Eastern

[23:40] when our non-stop coverage really gets

[23:42] going. very important Senate race uh

[23:44] closes uh for voting Virginia. We have I

[23:47] mean three months ago this race was not

[23:50] in question. Now Senator Allen uh

[23:53] running against Jim Webb uh is in deep

[23:56] trouble. If he loses here uh first of

[23:58] all his presidential chances are gone.

[24:00] Uh if he wins here uh it will be a

[24:03] squeaker. You also have Ohio which has

[24:06] been ground zero for everything wrong.

[24:09] It's uh the economy is a problem. There

[24:11] has been uh ethical and legal problems

[24:14] at the top. A Republican government in

[24:16] the state house. Uh there and there's

[24:18] the war. Uh Ohio is uh in the top 10 of

[24:21] states that has suffered the most war

[24:22] casualties. Everything is going on in

[24:24] Ohio. Uh we may in fact see a sweep out

[24:28] of some of those Republican House seats.

[24:29] Some of those states close at 7, others

[24:31] close at 7:30, but there's a lot of

[24:33] them, John, that close at 8:00 PM and we

[24:36] should be able to get a really

[24:39] during the 7 o'clock hour, assuming we

[24:41] get some uh results coming in. We can

[24:43] make some exit poll projections. We'll

[24:44] get a sense of what's going on, but

[24:46] really at 8:00 p.m., we'll get a much

[24:48] better sense.

[24:48] >> Well, I think we'll have a very good

[24:49] sense by 8 p.m. At 7 o'clock, we'll get

[24:51] a good sense in the House. There are six

[24:52] Republican incumbents between two

[24:54] states, Indiana and Kentucky. Democrats

[24:56] think they have a chance to get four of

[24:57] those seats. Maybe even better if there

[24:58] is a wave. I think we will know from

[25:00] those two 7:00 hours. Is there an

[25:02] anti-Republican wave or are we going to

[25:04] go race by race, fight by fight? We'll

[25:06] know that from the Indiana and Kentucky

[25:07] results. And at 8:00,

[25:08] >> in other words, if the Republican

[25:09] incumbents lose in Indiana and Kentucky,

[25:12] that's a sure sign the Democrats are are

[25:14] going to have a good night.

[25:15] >> If Republicans are losing in red states

[25:17] like that, well, then you can be sure

[25:18] Democrats are going to pick up in

[25:19] Pennsylvania and all the other places

[25:20] they're trying to get seats as well. So,

[25:21] those are what you want to watch at

[25:22] seven o'clock on the House side. The

[25:24] eight o'clock will give us a pretty good

[25:25] glimpse at the Senate. You have a number

[25:26] of big states up at 8:00 in the Senate.

[25:28] You'll see you'll see the Missouri

[25:31] Senate race, one of the big Senate

[25:32] races. You'll see the Pennsylvania

[25:33] Senate race, which the Democrats think

[25:34] they will get, and you'll see a host of

[25:36] Senate races. The Tennessee Senate race,

[25:37] another of the big battleground. So, the

[25:38] 7:00 gives you your first primar

[25:42] guide into the Senate.

[25:43] >> And that doesn't necessarily mean,

[25:45] Candy, that by 8:00 we know what's

[25:47] happening. This could be a long night

[25:49] when all is said and done.

[25:50] >> Absolutely. Especially if it's close. I

[25:52] mean, just because the polls close, uh,

[25:54] doesn't mean we're going to know much at

[25:56] that time. And if there are voting

[25:57] irregularities or if somebody's slow

[25:59] counting or if it's not all going into

[26:01] the, uh, to the central place, it's

[26:04] going to be a very long time. And some

[26:06] of these, uh, some of these,

[26:08] particularly the Indiana races, uh,

[26:10] later when we see in Connecticut, these

[26:12] are very close races. So, we're not

[26:14] going to know at 8:00. And I mean, this

[26:16] is sort of a voteby vote thing unless we

[26:18] have that giant wave and then it's an

[26:20] early night. and Pennsylvania,

[26:21] Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, all

[26:23] places with rural areas, they tend to

[26:25] report a little bit later. Reliably

[26:27] Republican votes the last few years

[26:28] where the Democrats have made a big

[26:29] pitch. The rural voter, especially the

[26:31] rural white voter, could be a big story

[26:32] this election year. Those votes would be

[26:34] counted a bit later traditionally. So,

[26:35] if those races are tight, we might be

[26:37] here a little late.

[26:37] >> And a lot of those races we're going to

[26:38] have to count the oldfashioned way, one

[26:40] ballot at a time. Guys, thanks very

[26:42] much. Candy Crowley, John King, Dana

[26:44] Bash, Suzan Malvo, they are all part of

[26:46] the best political team on television.

[26:49] And up next, our Republicans in Congress

[26:51] about to become a rare breed. Voters are

[26:54] having their say right now. We'll bring

[26:55] in the Republican party chairman, Ken

[26:57] Melman. He's standing by to join us. And

[27:00] all eyes are on the polls and on the

[27:01] sky. Will the weather be a factor in any

[27:04] of the more critical battlegrounds, the

[27:06] forecast on our political radar? We're

[27:08] live at CNN election headquarters in New

[27:10] York as America votes.

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[29:46] The world's first 8-speed automatic

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[29:58] Welcome back to the situation room. I'm

[29:59] Wolf Blitzer at the CNN election

[30:01] headquarters here in New York. Let's

[30:03] check in with Zayn Verie for a closer

[30:05] look at some other important stories

[30:07] making news. Zayn

[30:09] >> Wolf, a suicide bomber blew himself up

[30:11] in a crowded coffee shop in a Shia

[30:13] neighborhood in Baghdad today. Iraqi

[30:15] police say 17 people were killed just

[30:17] hours earlier. Mortis struck a Sunni

[30:19] neighborhood in Baghdad, killing five

[30:21] people. A British judge has sentenced a

[30:24] confessed al-Qaeda operative to life in

[30:26] prison for plotting to blow up the New

[30:28] York Stock Exchange and London targets.

[30:30] Duran Bat must spend 40 years behind

[30:33] bars before he's eligible for parole. He

[30:35] pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder.

[30:38] A scene of destruction in northern

[30:40] Japan, the country's deadliest tornado

[30:43] on record, tore through a remote island

[30:45] town, killing at least nine people.

[30:47] Authorities say two dozen others were

[30:49] injured. Many of the victims were

[30:51] construction workers just building a

[30:52] tunnel. Wol

[30:54] >> Zayn, thank you for that. Zayn Burgie in

[30:56] Washington. On this election day, the

[30:58] Republican party's grip on power is is

[31:00] in jeopardy. The rest of the Bush

[31:02] presidency most likely will be affected

[31:04] along with the 2008 battle for the White

[31:06] House. Joining us now, a man with a huge

[31:09] stake in all of this, the chairman of

[31:10] the Republican National Committee, Ken

[31:12] Melman. Ken, thanks very much for

[31:14] coming. I see I see a big smile on on

[31:16] your face. Maybe you know something that

[31:18] we don't know. I don't think you do, but

[31:20] you're going to be at the White House

[31:21] watching the uh results come in with the

[31:23] president and the first lady later

[31:25] tonight. Is that right?

[31:26] >> I'll be there for a while. I'll also be

[31:28] on a lot of your television sets

[31:30] tonight. So, I'll be I'll be all over

[31:31] the place. I'll be like you. I'll be

[31:33] omniresent.

[31:33] >> All right. What What do you What do you

[31:34] say to the president though if the

[31:36] Republicans take the majority in the

[31:38] House and and Nancy Pelosi becomes

[31:40] speaker?

[31:41] >> Well, Wolf, I don't think that's going

[31:42] to happen. I think that we obviously are

[31:44] in a challenging year. Anytime you're in

[31:46] the sixth year of the president's term,

[31:48] uh, as well as a nation at war, you look

[31:50] historically the party in power, the

[31:52] president's party loses seats. At the

[31:54] same time, you look at some recent data

[31:56] that's come in, uh, in terms of recent

[31:58] national polling, they all indicate a

[32:00] surge in momentum on behalf of

[32:02] Republicans. something else, Wolf, that

[32:03] I think is really important to consider,

[32:05] and that is that you'll see in a bunch

[32:06] of the states tonight, Tennessee, in

[32:09] Florida, in California, in Maryland, in

[32:11] Ohio, in Arizona, in every one of these

[32:13] states, we already have some data about

[32:16] early and absentee voting. This is not

[32:18] stuff that'll be reflected in the exit

[32:19] polls. And Republicans did very well

[32:21] exceeding in every one of those states,

[32:23] often by double-digit numbers, our

[32:25] registration numbers. So, I think it

[32:27] potentially could be a long evening, and

[32:29] we'll have to see what happens. Well, I

[32:30] I know you've you've got some serious

[32:32] concerns about the the exit polling, the

[32:35] whole the whole process.

[32:37] >> I do. I think uh you don't have to take

[32:39] the concerns from me. Ask President

[32:40] Kerry, ask President Gore, ask Colorado

[32:44] Senator Strickland. The exit polls

[32:46] predicted the OO election wrong, the O2

[32:48] election wrong, and the ' 04 election

[32:49] wrong. And after 04, the gentleman who

[32:52] oversaw the effort said that these exit

[32:54] polls are often inherently biased. Uh

[32:56] and so I think we need to keep it in

[32:58] perspective given that it's been wrong

[32:59] the last three elections in particular

[33:02] in some of these races like for instance

[33:04] the Virginia race or the Missouri race

[33:06] uh Republicans as you recently noted

[33:08] typically uh and conservatives have

[33:10] historically done much better in the

[33:12] outstates parts of in the out part of

[33:14] the state in the more rural parts of the

[33:16] state and often the exit pollsters whose

[33:18] job it is to produce to get lots of

[33:21] people willing to do interviews will

[33:22] concentrate on the more metropolitan

[33:24] parts of the state. I will say, Ken, uh,

[33:26] that, uh, in defense of the exit polling

[33:28] system, which the five major television

[33:30] networks and the Associated Press are

[33:32] working with, uh, we've been told that a

[33:34] lot of those earlier glitches have been

[33:36] resolved, and it's a much better. It's a

[33:38] much better process this time. Let me

[33:40] talk a little bit with you about some of

[33:42] the reported glitches coming up in

[33:44] voting. Democrats are already charging

[33:46] that Republicans are engaging in some

[33:48] dirty tricks out there. uh and they're

[33:51] complaining about some of the activity,

[33:53] especially some of those so-called robo

[33:55] calls uh that that have gone out from

[33:58] the National Republican Congressional

[34:00] Committee. Uh I I want I want to give

[34:02] you a chance to respond to that charge

[34:05] that that your side is engaging in dirty

[34:07] politics.

[34:08] >> I'm not familiar with that, Wolf. I

[34:10] think that my goal is to get uh more

[34:12] Republicans and more Democrats and more

[34:14] independents. Everyone watching this

[34:15] show, if you haven't voted, I don't care

[34:17] what your politics is. I want you to go

[34:19] out and vote. We know this wolf in04. We

[34:21] know two things. First, Democrats

[34:23] produced a playbook that they gave to

[34:25] every one of their state parties. They

[34:26] said if there's not intimidation, allege

[34:28] that there is. Secondly, in 2004, there

[34:32] were two states. In both cases, it was

[34:34] Democrats that were involved. In Ohio in

[34:36] misleading voters about where they

[34:38] should vote and when they should vote,

[34:39] and in Florida about threatening and

[34:41] harassing people that wanted to hand out

[34:43] flyers at the polls. In Wisconsin, we

[34:45] know that in fact there was a criminal

[34:48] activity, slashing tires of people that

[34:50] wanted to volunteer at the polls. I hope

[34:52] Democrats won't do it again. But the

[34:53] fact is, you've already seen some

[34:55] questionable activities in Heather

[34:57] Wilson's district. New Mexico one,

[34:59] Bernalo County, Republican precincts

[35:01] where thousands of people tried to vote.

[35:03] They were turned away because there

[35:04] weren't enough ballots. And as of

[35:06] earlier today, the Democratic uh county

[35:09] clerk hadn't rectified that problem. I

[35:12] hope that's fixed. Rick Santorm held a

[35:13] press conference earlier today where he

[35:15] pointed out that in a lot of the rural

[35:17] parts of that state, his supporters were

[35:19] having problems working with the voting

[35:21] machines. In Montana, we saw the same

[35:23] thing the Democrats did in '04, where

[35:25] people were being misled about when and

[35:27] how to participate. So, I hope we don't

[35:29] have that problems. Both parties goals

[35:31] ought to be more people participating,

[35:34] more people having confidence in the

[35:36] system, and more people being able to

[35:37] participate in a way that they know

[35:39] their vote won't be canceled out by

[35:41] someone playing shenanigans. I don't

[35:43] think people ought to cry wolf for the

[35:44] sake of gaining politically,

[35:46] particularly if they've been the ones,

[35:48] as they were in ' 04, that were engaged

[35:50] in appropriate activity.

[35:51] >> I think uh all of us all of us hope that

[35:53] the these elections today go very very

[35:55] smoothly uh as smoothly as possible. But

[35:58] uh we've been reporting there have been

[35:59] some problems, some glitches, some long

[36:01] lines already reported. Uh I can assure

[36:03] our view viewers we're going to watch

[36:05] this very very closely every step of the

[36:07] way here at CNN. Ken Melman, thanks very

[36:10] much for coming in.

[36:10] >> Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

[36:11] >> We'll be speaking throughout the night.

[36:13] Up next, all eyes right now in the

[36:15] Buckeye State this election day. We're

[36:17] going to go live to Ohio and get ready

[36:19] to party blog style. We're going to take

[36:21] you live to the Trist internet cafe in

[36:24] the nation's capital for the first ever

[36:26] election night blogger get together.

[36:28] You're going to want to see this. Stay

[36:29] with us. You're in the situation room.

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[37:03] >> Senator Kennedy, welcome to the

[37:05] Ambassador Hotel.

[37:06] >> Thank you very much.

[37:08] >> In a time of war, he offered peace. What

[37:10] if Kennedy loses Vietnam? Do you? In a

[37:14] time of change, he offered justice.

[37:16] >> After Dr. King was killed, I had anger.

[37:18] Anger like you can't even imagine.

[37:21] >> And for the future of a nation, he

[37:23] offered hope.

[37:24] >> But we can perhaps remember that those

[37:26] who live with us are our brothers.

[37:30] >> Bobby made it R in theaters everywhere

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[39:18] >> Political Radar, brought to you by the

[39:21] Partnership for Prescription Assistance.

[39:30] In our political radar today, something

[39:31] every voter is dealing with. That would

[39:33] be the weather. It's been pretty messy

[39:35] out there in some places like western

[39:36] Washington state. Storm stranded drivers

[39:39] had closed at least one polling station

[39:41] there earlier today. Let's go to our

[39:43] meteorologist Rob Marciano. He's

[39:45] standing by at the CNN weather center.

[39:47] What's the latest, Rob? Well, Wolf, the

[39:48] rain is still happening across the

[39:50] Pacific Northwest, but it will begin to

[39:51] taper off later on tonight, but by then

[39:53] the poles will likely be closed. Still

[39:55] flooding rains there. Across the

[39:56] Southeast, we're having some issues.

[39:57] Good news today, not a whole lot of

[39:59] severe weather, but the heavy rain is

[40:00] certainly uh going to be a factor in

[40:02] places like Georgia, eastern

[40:03] Mississippi, the Carolinas as well. And

[40:05] it's increasing as it heads up the

[40:07] Atlantic seabboard. If you look at the

[40:08] forecast totals expected over the next

[40:10] 24 hours, we do highlight a couple areas

[40:12] of yellow and red. That means the rains

[40:14] will be increasing across parts of

[40:15] western, south, and North Carolina,

[40:17] western West Virginia. We could see an

[40:19] inch or two just to the west west of

[40:21] Richmond. So, it looks to be pretty

[40:22] soggy across the Mid-Atlantic Seabort.

[40:24] Wolf, back to you.

[40:25] >> All right, Rob, thanks very much. will

[40:26] continue to watch the weather and

[40:28] remember for the latest campaign news at

[40:30] any time, including the weather, check

[40:31] out our political ticker,

[40:32] cnn.com/ticker.

[40:36] Now, let's head uh back to the election

[40:37] day battlegrounds. Our correspondents

[40:39] are in place uh across the country

[40:41] watching the Senate races generating

[40:43] some of the most uh greatest anxiety and

[40:46] some of the greatest heat. Brian Todd is

[40:48] standing by in Maryland. Bob Franken is

[40:50] in Ohio. Bob Franken, let's start with

[40:51] you.

[40:53] Well, here in Ohio, we're at the

[40:54] headquarters in Columbus, the state

[40:56] capital, where the Republicans are going

[40:58] to be holding their victory or non

[41:00] victory party this evening. Senator Mike

[41:02] DeWine, who is an underdog in the polls,

[41:05] made his vote today near his home near

[41:07] Dayton, Ohio. Then he is coming here. He

[41:10] is scheduled to arrive any minute here

[41:12] at the headquarters where he'll watch

[41:14] the results. Sherid Brown, the

[41:16] Democratic candidate, congressman who

[41:18] has been ahead in the polls, also voted

[41:20] near his home in Avon, Ohio. He is

[41:22] heading to the Cleveland area where he

[41:24] is going to have his party or lack of a

[41:26] party depending on how the results go.

[41:29] Of course, he is considered to be ahead

[41:31] in the polls. The Republicans say that

[41:33] the heavy turnout that has been

[41:35] experienced in Ohio might be working to

[41:37] their favor. They're saying that in the

[41:39] Republican areas there has been that

[41:40] heavier turnout. Of course, Democrats at

[41:42] this point say the same thing. There are

[41:44] so many issues involved, including the

[41:46] corruption issue. We're going to see if

[41:47] the Ohio Republican Party can pull off

[41:50] one of its miracles as it has in the

[41:51] past. Wolf.

[41:52] >> All right, Bob. Uh, thanks very much.

[41:53] From Columbus, uh, Ohio to Buouie,

[41:55] Maryland, just outside the nation's

[41:57] capital, Brian Todd standing by with

[41:59] more from there. Brian,

[42:02] >> Wol, can you believe we're in a

[42:03] battleground state? A lot of people

[42:04] think it is right now. And there's a lot

[42:05] of energy in this room. Look at this.

[42:07] We've got uh fairly long lines here in

[42:09] Buoie, Maryland at Buoie High School.

[42:11] This is about the biggest crowd we've

[42:12] had all day. We are told that Maryland

[42:14] has now had a very high voter turnout

[42:16] over 60%. And part of that is the

[42:18] energized campaign of one Lieutenant

[42:20] Governor Michael Steele, the Republican

[42:22] who has really come from behind in this

[42:24] race. He has run an energetic, engaging,

[42:26] but a very aggressive campaign against

[42:28] Democratic Congressman Ben Carden. That

[42:30] race has tightened considerably and uh a

[42:32] lot of pundits feel that this is almost

[42:34] a dead heat at this point. The polls

[42:36] close in a little over 3 hours. This is

[42:38] going to be one of the most tightly

[42:39] contested races in the country, we're

[42:41] told. And again, it's a state the

[42:42] Democrats didn't count on losing. They

[42:44] were worried about New Jersey. Now, a

[42:45] lot of analysts believe they ought to

[42:47] worry about it right here. Michael

[42:48] Steele making a very uh impressive late

[42:51] showing in this election. Wolf, and

[42:52] we'll know in a few hours whether he

[42:54] pulled it out. Brian, thanks very much.

[42:56] We're going to be watching this race

[42:57] especially close. Coming up, will the

[43:00] Mark Foley scandal make a mark on the

[43:02] battle for the House of Representatives?

[43:04] We'll go live to two districts where the

[43:06] controversy could make the difference.

[43:08] We're live from the CNN election

[43:10] headquarters in New York. The last stop

[43:12] this campaign season for the CNN

[43:15] Election Express. There it is.

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[46:14] It's been a cloud over Republicans in

[46:16] Congress for weeks now, but will the

[46:18] Mark Foley Congressional Page scandal

[46:20] actually sway voters at the polls today?

[46:23] The chances of that may be greatest in

[46:25] two specific House races. Susan Roseen

[46:28] is standing by to cover the race that

[46:29] Mark Foley used to hold in Florida. But

[46:31] first, let's go to CNN's Mary Snow.

[46:33] She's in Buffalo, New York, where the

[46:35] influential House Republican Tom

[46:37] Reynolds is really in a fight for his

[46:39] political life. Mary? Well, Wolf, voters

[46:42] here telling us today that the Mark

[46:44] Foley scandal is a deciding factor in

[46:47] their vote. Congressman Reynolds, the

[46:50] chairman of the National Republican

[46:51] Congressional Committee, came under

[46:54] fire. Voters are angry, they say,

[46:56] because they feel he should have done

[46:58] more when he first learned about

[46:59] questionable emails between Foley and a

[47:02] congressional page. Some here said that

[47:04] they switched their vote to the

[47:07] Democrat, Jack Davis. Some Republicans

[47:10] say they stuck with Reynolds, but say

[47:12] they had a hard time doing so and that

[47:14] the whole incident did bother them. Now,

[47:17] Congressman Reynolds was seen as a

[47:18] shoein. His uh his race was put in a

[47:21] very tight dead heat by Cong by Jack

[47:25] Davis, who poured over $2 million of his

[47:27] own money into this race. Wolf.

[47:29] >> All right, from Buffalo, let's head down

[47:31] south to Florida. Susan Roseen, you're

[47:33] there where Congressman Mark Foley used

[47:36] to serve as the congressman. His name uh

[47:38] remains on the ballot even though he's

[47:40] still in rehab, we're told.

[47:43] >> Yeah. Can you believe it, Wolf? I'm at

[47:44] the election party headquarters tonight

[47:46] for a candidate whose name is not even

[47:48] on the ballot. 5 weeks ago, when the

[47:50] Republican party chose Joe Negron, a

[47:52] Florida state legislator, to replace

[47:54] Congressman Foley after he had resigned,

[47:56] they had to find a way to explain why

[47:58] Negron's name would not be on the

[48:00] ballot. It was too late to get Foley's

[48:02] name off the ballot. So, they had to

[48:04] come up with some kind of slogan,

[48:05] something. And this is what they came up

[48:06] with. Wolfe, it says punch Foley for

[48:10] Negron. It's a way to acknowledge voters

[48:12] disgust with the whole Foley scandal

[48:14] while at the same time still urging them

[48:16] to vote Republican. Vote for Negron. Now

[48:18] the catch is Wol that here in Florida

[48:20] people don't punch paper ballots anymore

[48:22] after the 2000 hanging Chad debacle in

[48:25] the presidential race. It's all an

[48:26] electronic system. So we won't know

[48:28] until the polls close at 7 whether or

[48:29] not people did indeed punch Foley for

[48:32] Negron.

[48:33] >> We'll be watching very closely. Susan,

[48:35] thank you. South Carolina Governor Mark

[48:37] Sanford forgot something when he went to

[48:39] vote today. His voter registration card.

[48:42] The incumbent Republican who's up for

[48:44] re-election searched through his wallet

[48:45] at the polling station. No luck though.

[48:47] His wife had to remind him to bring it.

[48:50] She had reminded him to bring it. Uh

[48:52] poll manager told the governor he

[48:54] couldn't vote without the card. Sanford

[48:56] did get a duplicate. Showed up later in

[48:58] the day to cast his ballot. Things

[49:00] happen. Up next, the Bush administration

[49:02] has R.J. Jack Caerty wondering how much

[49:05] damage has its agenda done to the GOP.

[49:08] What you're telling Jack, that's coming

[49:10] up next. And just minutes away, the very

[49:13] first exit polls from today's voting

[49:15] will be released, and we're going to

[49:16] share them with you. What surprise

[49:18] voters to go uh to the polls earlier

[49:21] today. What's going on right now? The

[49:24] first of the exit polls. That's coming

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[52:12] Election night's best moments and

[52:14] biggest surprises. American Morning 5

[52:16] a.m.

[52:17] >> Jack Caerty is here with the Cafferty

[52:19] File. Jack,

[52:20] >> question this hour is how much damage

[52:22] has the Bush administration's agenda

[52:23] done to the Republican party. I suppose

[52:25] we'll get a better sense of that later

[52:27] on this evening, but some of you have

[52:29] some ideas on it already. Gary in Steer,

[52:31] Illinois writes to hell with what he's

[52:33] done to the Republican party. What about

[52:35] all the lies and horrors and damage he's

[52:37] wrought on America and we the people?

[52:39] Even today, election day, he's doing

[52:42] damage, telling Americans, "It's a

[52:44] privilege to vote. It is our right to

[52:46] vote." And no matter how much he wants

[52:47] only the privilege to be able to vote,

[52:49] it speaks volumes of his disdain for the

[52:52] American people. Stop running the clip,

[52:54] please. Darren in Minneapolis, not as

[52:56] much as people think. The Republicans

[52:58] have done plenty on their own to screw

[53:00] up their credibility. From lobbyist

[53:02] scandals to the paid scandal,

[53:03] Republicans have created an environment

[53:05] of corruption over the past few years

[53:07] that rivals anything I've seen in my

[53:09] lifetime. Other than the war in Iraq,

[53:11] President Bush and his policies have

[53:13] been pretty benign compared to the

[53:14] conduct of Republicans in the Congress.

[53:17] Paul, in Jacksonville, Florida, how much

[53:18] damage has Bush administration's

[53:20] policies done to the GOP? It's

[53:22] irrelevant. Take this word of advice

[53:24] from a conservative Reagan Republican.

[53:27] Keep your powder dry. We're not going

[53:29] anywhere. Dennis, my father dragged me

[53:31] around campaigning for Barry Goldwater

[53:33] in 1964. He told me the other night the

[53:36] Republican party has committed suicide

[53:38] and he's voting for an independent for

[53:40] governor. What else do you need to know?

[53:43] And Lisa in Melbourne, Florida, the Bush

[53:45] administration has caused at least

[53:47] category 3 damage in hurricane lingo to

[53:49] the Republican party. Some will be left

[53:52] without power, others are holding on,

[53:54] but the roof is leaking, the water is

[53:55] rising, and everything generally is a

[53:58] mess. We'll leave it to somebody in

[54:00] Florida to come up with an analogy like

[54:02] that.

[54:03] >> Jack, see you in a few minutes. Thank

[54:04] you. Still to come, our internet

[54:06] reporters are standing by at a first of

[54:08] its kind election night blogger party.

[54:10] We're going to take you there. Find out

[54:12] uh what online pundits are saying and

[54:15] writing. We'll be right back.

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[55:06] >> Senator Kennedy.

[55:08] Welcome to the Ambassador Hotel.

[55:10] >> More and more young men keep coming back

[55:12] in body bags.

[55:13] >> What if Kennedy loses? We can all forget

[55:15] it, man. I'm 19 Vietnam.

[55:18] >> Let's keep the brown man down. Let's

[55:20] send the brown man back across the

[55:21] border. We didn't cross the border. The

[55:23] border crossed us.

[55:25] >> You're on stage in Night Shark and

[55:26] you're introducing Senator Kennedy in

[55:28] the Embassy Ballroom.

[55:29] >> Now that Dr. King is gone left

[55:34] in everywhere Thanksgiving Day,

[55:38] >> I saw several girls raped.

[55:40] >> Raped right in front of my eyes. Then

[55:42] they burned them to death.

[55:45] >> They killed my sons.

[55:47] >> Then my husband and my brother.

[55:49] >> The government just wants us to

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[57:22] >> Let's head back to the campaign trail.

[57:24] Our Dan Loathian is in Connecticut

[57:25] covering one of the more intriguing

[57:27] battles this year. Dan, that's right,

[57:30] Wolf. And a little more than 3 hours

[57:32] until the polls close here. The

[57:34] Lieberman campaign saying that they're

[57:35] feeling cautiously optimistic. They say

[57:37] they're hearing some good things from

[57:39] their poll workers. One official telling

[57:40] CNN, "We are feeling positive. We're

[57:42] certainly glad we are where we are

[57:44] instead of where Lamont is. For his

[57:46] part, Lamont has said that he is

[57:48] confident he can pull off what he did in

[57:50] the primary. An official with his

[57:52] campaign saying that just because where

[57:54] they are on the ballot towards the top

[57:55] and Lieberman being toward the bottom

[57:57] because he is an independent, they were

[57:58] hopeful that they could even get a

[58:00] little bit of advantage there. Wol Dan

[58:02] Loian going to have a interesting night

[58:04] tonight. Uh thanks Dan very much for

[58:06] that. at our internet reporters Jackie

[58:07] Shner and Abby Tatton are over at the

[58:09] Trist internet cafe in Washington DC for

[58:12] this the first ever election night

[58:14] blogger party. Uh guys, what's going on?

[58:17] >> Wolf, we've got food, we've got drink,

[58:20] and we've got bloggers. Let me give you

[58:21] an idea of what's going on here at Trist

[58:24] Coffee House in Washington DC. We

[58:26] brought in 29 or so bloggers from around

[58:29] the country. California, Minnesota,

[58:31] right here in Washington DC. Left and

[58:33] right, they're all together in the same

[58:34] room. So far, no fur is flying, but we

[58:37] wanted to get an idea of what they

[58:38] thought was important, and we wanted to

[58:40] get an idea of what they were writing

[58:42] and how they were going to spend their

[58:43] time. So, we brought them out of their

[58:45] homes and living rooms into our sort of

[58:47] virtual living room. And you can also

[58:49] join them virtually online. So, Aby's

[58:51] going to show you how to do that. She's

[58:53] joining me now with that. Abby,

[58:56] Jackie. Yeah, that's at

[58:56] cnn.com/blogparty.

[58:59] A list of all the bloggers who are

[59:00] joining us here tonight and links to

[59:02] their sites. We're of course checking in

[59:04] with this as we go throughout the

[59:06] evening, but CNN.com is also the place

[59:08] you're going to be wanting to look at

[59:10] tonight as real time results and CNN

[59:13] projections of these races come in. And

[59:15] I just wanted to show you this tool just

[59:17] launched. This is CNN.com/youraces.

[59:20] You can customize the site to follow the

[59:22] key races important to you around the

[59:25] country. Set it up. This is the page

[59:26] that's going to be populated with

[59:28] real-time results and CNN projections as

[59:30] we go throughout the evening. We're

[59:31] going to be checking in on this and of

[59:33] course with all these bloggers who are

[59:35] just starting to trickle in and starting

[59:37] work here tonight at Trust Internet Cafe

[59:40] in DC. Wolf.

[59:41] >> All right guys, sounds like a lot of

[59:42] fun. We'll be checking back with you

[59:44] early and often, as they say. And to our

[59:46] viewers, you're in the situation room

[59:48] where new pictures and information are

[59:50] arriving all the time. Standing by CNN

[59:53] reporters across the United States and

[59:54] around the world to bring you today's

[59:56] top stories. Happening now, a crucial

[59:59] election. And in just a matter of

[60:01] moments, we're going to bring you the

[60:02] very first exit polls. Will voters send

[60:04] a signal about President Bush and the

[60:06] war in Iraq? Already, voting problems

[60:09] are reported nationwide. From long lines

[60:12] and electronic glitches to threat,

[60:14] scuffles, and more serious allegations

[60:17] as the FBI moves in. We're watching the

[60:19] poll watchers. At stake right now,

[60:22] control of the United States Congress. A

[60:24] handful of races will determine who runs

[60:26] the Senate. And a change of just 15

[60:28] seats could bring a new speaker of the

[60:30] house. I'm Will Blitzer at CNN election

[60:32] headquarters in New York. You're in the

[60:34] situation room.

[60:51] Today, voting problems across the

[60:53] country. Among them, a Kentucky pole

[60:55] worker arrested for allegedly choking a

[60:57] voter. In Oklahoma, a squirrel chewed

[61:00] through an an electrical line, shortwing

[61:03] out a polling place in two New Mexico

[61:05] precincts. They simply ran out of

[61:07] ballots. And there's this. Ohio

[61:10] Representative Jean Schmidt had her

[61:12] paper ballot rejected by a scanning

[61:14] machine while a fellow lawmaker had to

[61:16] go home to fetch additional

[61:18] identification. South Carolina's

[61:20] Governor Mark Sanford was turned away

[61:22] because he forgot his voter registration

[61:24] card. And perhaps more ominously, the

[61:26] FBI is conducting a preliminary

[61:29] investigation into allegations that

[61:31] voters in at least eight Virginia

[61:32] counties received deceptive or

[61:35] intimidating phone calls. Virginia could

[61:37] determine control of the United States

[61:39] Senate. Republican incumbent George

[61:41] Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb

[61:43] have gone down to the wire po polls by

[61:46] the way in Virginia close in two hours.

[61:49] In Tennessee, the cliffhanger is between

[61:51] Republican uh Bob Corker and Democrat

[61:54] Harold Ford Jr. fighting for an open

[61:57] Senate seat. In Missouri, Republican

[61:59] Senator Jim Talon faces a tough

[62:01] challenge from Democrat Clara McKascal.

[62:04] CNN's Ed Henry, Joe John's, Jonathan

[62:06] Free, Dana Bash, they're all standing by

[62:08] on this as we're watching the balance of

[62:11] power. But let's begin uh with Ed Henry

[62:14] in Virginia. Ed, what's driving voter

[62:16] turnout there?

[62:19] >> Voter turnout very high. Wolf, I'm in

[62:20] Richmond at the campaign headquarters of

[62:22] Republican Senator George Allen. The

[62:24] mood, cautiously optimistic, probably

[62:26] best described that way. They realize

[62:28] Senator Allen's back is against the wall

[62:30] just a few months after he was talking

[62:31] about a presidential bid. Now he is in

[62:34] deep trouble. That turnout, the Allen

[62:35] campaign is hoping, it's being driven by

[62:38] the fact uh that there is a ballot

[62:40] initiative banning same-sex marriage on

[62:42] the ballot in Virginia. They think a lot

[62:43] of conservatives are turning out. The

[62:44] web campaign, Democrat Jim Webb, they're

[62:47] hoping that instead the turnout all

[62:48] across this Commonwealth is being driven

[62:51] by a mix of issues. Iraq, but also the

[62:53] miscues of Senator Allen, that infamous

[62:55] Makaco moment. We'll know in just a few

[62:58] hours who is right. Wolf

[62:59] >> Ed, thank you very much. We'll be

[63:01] watching closely seen as Joe John's is

[63:03] in Tennessee where there's a bitter

[63:04] fight for the Senate seat being vacated

[63:06] by the majority leader Bill Fris. Joe,

[63:09] uh, what are they saying in Tennessee,

[63:11] the voters you're speaking with?

[63:14] >> Well, the official word here, at least I

[63:16] should say, from the people who are

[63:18] running the elections and watching the

[63:20] elections, is that turnout for one, has

[63:22] been steady. Uh on the other hand,

[63:25] they're predicting that at the end of it

[63:27] all, turnout will have been exceptional.

[63:30] Of course, as you know, Wolfe, here in

[63:32] the state of Tennessee, uh what we have

[63:34] is early voting. Probably about 49% of

[63:37] the people who will have voted already

[63:39] voted before this day even began. So, uh

[63:43] people here clearly excited about the

[63:44] race. The people on the Ford uh side

[63:47] here in Memphis saying they think

[63:48] turnout's very good. Back to you. and

[63:50] they're saying that I I I assume voters

[63:52] are that you're speaking with are pretty

[63:54] excited.

[63:56] >> Yeah, there's a lot of emotion here

[63:58] certainly in the Memphis area uh up in

[64:01] Chattanooga area where Bob Corker was

[64:03] yesterday. Uh people are very enthused

[64:06] about this race. They're really looking

[64:08] forward to the results. Both sides think

[64:10] they're going to win. It's all driven by

[64:11] turnout as you know. Uh weather is an

[64:13] issue though because it's been raining

[64:14] in a large part of the state. W

[64:16] >> thanks very much Joe for that. We'll be

[64:18] watching that race very close closely

[64:20] and it's a showdown in the show me state

[64:22] where GOP Senator Jim Talent is

[64:24] challenged by Democrat Clara McKascal.

[64:26] Our Jonathan Freed is in St. Louis. What

[64:28] do the voter turnout look like uh where

[64:30] you are, Jonathan?

[64:33] Wolf, the turnout is high and higher

[64:35] than we're told is normal for a midterm

[64:37] election. Those reports coming in to us

[64:39] from around the state. We're also told

[64:41] that both candidates had to wait in line

[64:43] at their polling places today. The

[64:45] turnout has been that solid and that is

[64:48] exactly what both camps have been hoping

[64:49] for because in a dead heat like this

[64:51] one, they say turnout is going to be

[64:53] everything, Wolf.

[64:54] >> All right, Jonathan, thank you.

[64:56] Democrats certainly confident they can

[64:58] take back control of the House of

[64:59] Representatives. They need 15 seats to

[65:02] do that. Let's go to Capitol Hill and

[65:04] our congressional correspondent, Dana

[65:06] Bash. Dana, what's behind the scenes

[65:08] going on with the Democrats specifically

[65:10] right now? Well, you know, Wolf,

[65:12] politicians like to play a game,

[65:13] especially on election day, and that's

[65:15] the expectations game. They usually

[65:17] lower expectations for success, but not

[65:19] today. In fact, the Democratic House and

[65:22] Senate chairman of the campaign campaign

[65:24] committees just had a briefing a short

[65:25] while ago. They were brimming with

[65:27] optimism, saying that they think that

[65:29] this will be an historic midterm

[65:30] election. Why? The strategy is to try to

[65:33] encourage voters who are out there to

[65:35] keep voting, to keep their volunteers

[65:36] out working to get as many voters to the

[65:38] polls as possible. Meanwhile,

[65:40] Republicans here and elsewhere uh are

[65:42] actually playing the expectations game.

[65:44] In fact, they are making it very clear

[65:45] that they do they do think that they it

[65:47] is very possible likely that they are

[65:49] going to lose the House of

[65:50] Representatives. The question is by how

[65:52] many seats and that is the thing to look

[65:54] for. Both sides say today is the margin

[65:56] that Democrats perhaps will take the

[65:58] House by. What that margin will be will

[66:00] determine the dynamic here on Capitol

[66:02] Hill for the next two years.

[66:04] >> Dana, thanks very much. And I want to

[66:07] thank not only Dana but Ed Henry, Joe

[66:08] John's, Jonathan Frerieded, Dan Chris

[66:11] Lawrence, all of our reporters. They

[66:13] happen to be the best political team on

[66:15] television. Remember, for the latest

[66:17] campaign news at any time, check out our

[66:19] political ticker. Go to CNN.com/ticker.

[66:23] Jack Caferty is part of that best

[66:25] political team on television as well.

[66:27] >> Yeah. Voters in 37 states, Wolf,

[66:30] deciding on 205 ballot propositions

[66:33] today, which is a big increase from the

[66:35] last election. a lot of candidates.

[66:36] These ballot issues are a way to rally

[66:38] voters that might otherwise stay at

[66:39] home. Some of the questions before the

[66:42] voters include a ban on almost all

[66:44] abortions. That's in South Dakota.

[66:46] same-sex marriage bans, uh, stem cell

[66:48] research, an increase in the minimum

[66:50] wage, eminent domain, the question of

[66:52] whether the government has the right to

[66:54] seize land, cigarette taxes, smoking

[66:56] bans, uh, decriminalizing marijuana, and

[66:59] the most expensive ballot contest ever.

[67:02] California's Proposition 87, which would

[67:05] place a $4 billion tax on oil producers.

[67:08] Uh, here's your chance to be creative.

[67:10] Here's the question this hour for the

[67:11] Caferty file. What initiative would you

[67:13] put on your state's ballot if you could?

[67:16] Uh, send your ideas to CAFile at CNN.com

[67:19] or go to CNN.com/cafertityfile.

[67:22] >> On these ballot initiatives, you have a

[67:24] personal favorite, Jack?

[67:25] >> No.

[67:26] >> You don't like any of them or you like

[67:27] them all?

[67:27] >> I, you know, I I haven't really looked

[67:29] into them all that much. I mean, they're

[67:31] they go from the sublime to the

[67:33] ridiculous. a $4 billion tax on the oil

[67:35] companies in California, a ban on all

[67:37] abortions in South Dakota, but you know,

[67:39] there's all kinds of ones in between and

[67:41] I have no particular preference. We'll

[67:42] be watching them all tonight as the uh

[67:44] results come in. Jack, thanks very much.

[67:46] Up ahead, fresh information on issues

[67:49] important to you. We're going to have

[67:50] our very first look at the exit polls on

[67:52] these 2006 midterm elections. Also,

[67:56] problems at the polls in Colorado, long

[67:58] lines and voters short on patience.

[68:01] We're going to examine some election day

[68:03] dilemmas and in our strategy session,

[68:05] will President Bush change anything over

[68:07] his last two years in office if

[68:08] Democrats take control of Congress from

[68:11] the CNN election headquarters in New

[68:13] York? You're in the situation room.

[68:22] Coverage of America Votes 2006 is

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[71:17] And this just coming into CNN, our very

[71:20] first look at those exit polls from some

[71:22] of the races. Joining us now, our senior

[71:24] political analyst, Bill Schneider, and

[71:25] Marcus Mabberry, senior editor at

[71:28] Newsweek magazine. Bill Schneider, I

[71:30] take it uh in these first exit polls,

[71:33] we're getting a huge surprise. Well, we

[71:36] are certainly getting a lot of voters

[71:37] with mentioning a lot of issues. Is this

[71:40] a oneisssue race? It is not. This is an

[71:42] issue when when we asked people what was

[71:45] the issue that was extremely important

[71:47] to you in casting your vote, uh 42% said

[71:50] the answer was corruption in Washington,

[71:53] followed very closely by the issue of

[71:55] terrorism, an issue that the Republicans

[71:57] ran on and won on in the last two

[72:00] elections. The economy just behind that

[72:02] at 39%, 37% citing the issue of Iraq.

[72:07] So, it looks like a lot of issues were

[72:09] on the minds of voters today around the

[72:11] country. And when it comes to Iraq, we

[72:14] asked people, do you approve or

[72:15] disapprove of the war in Iraq? And the

[72:17] answer was pretty one-sided. 57% of the

[72:20] voters said they disapprove of the war

[72:22] in Iraq. 41% said they approve. You

[72:26] know, they used to say all politics is

[72:28] local. Not this time. When we ask

[72:31] people, "What issues determine your

[72:32] vote? National issues or local issues?"

[72:35] It wasn't even close by almost 2 to1.

[72:38] 62% said it was national issues that

[72:41] made the biggest difference. Local

[72:43] issues just 33%. So this is an election

[72:46] in which for a r in a rare occasion all

[72:48] politics was pretty much national.

[72:52] >> I want to weigh in and I want Bill you

[72:53] to weigh in as well. What is what what

[72:55] what if anything can we learn or or

[72:58] surmise from this surprise? It's pretty

[73:00] much of a surprise that the number one

[73:02] issue, at least according to these exit

[73:03] polls, on the minds of voters, Marcus'

[73:06] corruption and not necessarily Iraq,

[73:08] which seems to be number four on this

[73:10] list.

[73:11] >> Well, Wolf, I know it's interesting

[73:12] because that question didn't ask though

[73:14] specifically what was the top number

[73:16] one. That asked what is most important.

[73:18] So, you'll see those numbers add up to

[73:20] more than 100. So, voters were not

[73:22] actually forced in this case to say what

[73:24] was the number one issue. So what we're

[73:26] finding is what we are finding correctly

[73:28] is where the trend is. And where the

[73:30] trend is is that corruption was an

[73:32] issue. It's interesting enough. I think

[73:34] maybe perhaps the first lesson we

[73:35] learned from this is never listen to the

[73:37] pundits. Wait for the voters to speak.

[73:39] Uh but clearly Iraq was an important

[73:41] issue. The only good news from those

[73:42] early exit poll statistics for the

[73:45] Republicans is the fact that terrorism

[73:47] was a leading issue. That has been the

[73:49] GOP's trump card in the last three

[73:51] elections. That was the only good news

[73:52] for them out of those numbers.

[73:54] Corruption being a problem in Washington

[73:55] is really bad news for the Republicans

[73:57] because what that means is you're

[73:59] talking about the party in power. The

[74:00] party controlling every one of the

[74:02] levers of power in Washington are the

[74:04] Republicans, whether executive or

[74:06] legislative branch. And that's really

[74:07] bad news for the Republicans. Is it fair

[74:09] though, Bill Schneider, because you

[74:11] study these polls closer than anyone I

[74:13] know that when it comes to the issue of

[74:16] terrorism that that we have assumed in

[74:18] the past that was a so-called good issue

[74:20] for Republicans, but in recent polls, at

[74:23] least some of them that I saw, there's a

[74:24] sense that maybe Democrats can deal with

[74:26] this issue, maybe even better than

[74:28] Republicans.

[74:28] >> Very interesting question. And in the

[74:30] exit poll, we actually asked people, do

[74:32] you think Democrats can deal with the

[74:33] issue of terrorism and the threat to the

[74:34] country? A majority said yes and a

[74:36] majority said Republicans could deal

[74:38] well with terrorism. So in the poll,

[74:40] people think both parties can deal with

[74:42] terrorism. It may not turn out to be the

[74:44] big issue for Republicans that it's been

[74:46] in the past.

[74:48] >> Take a look at these graphics. We'll

[74:49] show them to our view our viewers right

[74:51] now. Uh and Bill, once again, explain

[74:54] this first uh graphic that we're showing

[74:56] our viewers.

[74:57] >> Which mattered more to your vote was the

[74:58] question we asked, national issues or

[75:00] local issues? And it turns out national

[75:02] issues outweighed local issues by almost

[75:05] 2 to1 62 to 33%. This mean this means

[75:09] all politics was more national than

[75:11] local in this election. A lot of

[75:13] Democrats think that's very good news

[75:14] for them because they wanted this to be

[75:16] a national referendum on Iraq and on

[75:19] President Bush. We'll see what actually

[75:20] happens.

[75:21] >> So in other words, the old Tip O'Neal

[75:24] adage, all politics is local, not

[75:26] necessarily in this election.

[75:28] >> That is exactly right. This comes closer

[75:30] to what Europeans would call a

[75:32] parliamentary election where a lot of

[75:33] people didn't pay a lot of attention to

[75:35] local issues, local candidates. They

[75:37] were voting Democrat or Republican based

[75:39] on their view of what's happening in the

[75:41] country.

[75:41] >> And Marcus, before I go to the next

[75:42] screen, I want you to weigh in. Uh the

[75:44] fact that voters had these national

[75:46] issues on their mind more than local

[75:48] issues. Can we naturally assume that's

[75:50] good for the for the Democrats?

[75:52] >> You know, Wolf, I think we can. Again,

[75:54] 2:1 national issues versus local issues

[75:57] is incredibly bad news for the

[75:58] Republicans. The one particular national

[76:00] issue though, other than the terrorism

[76:02] issue, and Bill did a great job of just

[76:03] pointing out that the majority of

[76:05] Americans believe either party can

[76:06] handle that issue. The one other issue

[76:08] is the tax issue. That was the other

[76:10] issue that the president was hammering

[76:11] away on in these last days of the

[76:14] election campaign. So, it'll be

[76:15] interesting to see. That's the only

[76:17] national issue I think that might it all

[76:18] be in the Republicans's favor. So, right

[76:20] now, it looks like bad news. Take a look

[76:22] at the this graphic, Bill Schneider.

[76:24] These are the four top issues I assume

[76:26] that were on the mind of voters as they

[76:28] went to the polls today based on these

[76:30] exit polls. Uh corruption, terrorism,

[76:33] the economy, and Iraq. Uh all fairly

[76:36] close in terms of 37 to 42%, not

[76:40] necessarily a huge spread there.

[76:42] >> That's exactly right. That's the point

[76:43] Marcus was making. We know they add to

[76:45] more than 100% because there were four

[76:47] separate questions. Is this issue

[76:49] extremely important to your vote? 42%

[76:51] said corruption, 40% terrorism, 39 the

[76:54] economy, 37 Iraq. They're very closely

[76:56] bunched. What it really tells us is all

[76:59] these issues were important in very

[77:01] nearly equal measure to voters. This was

[77:03] not a oneisssue election.

[77:05] >> All right, we're going to continue to

[77:06] watch these exit polls as they come in.

[77:08] Bill Schneider, Marcus May, is going to

[77:09] be with they're both going to be with us

[77:11] throughout the night here and it could

[77:12] be a long night. Coming up, you just

[77:14] heard some of the information we're

[77:16] learning from the exit polls. We're

[77:17] going to talk a little bit more about

[77:19] that in our strategy session that's

[77:20] coming up. And you're also getting your

[77:22] first sneak peek of what CNN's election

[77:24] headquarters is going to look like

[77:26] tonight starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern

[77:29] from CNN's election headquarters here in

[77:31] New York. You're in the situation room.

[77:37] I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

[77:40] joke. I'll hug you. I'll kiss you. I

[77:43] don't even smoke. My wife is impeccable.

[77:46] My past quite respectable. Vote for me

[77:50] assuredly, but don't ask about social

[77:54] security.

[77:56] Come have some pie with me. Don't fall

[77:59] for the song and dance. Vote the issues,

[78:01] not just the personality. See where the

[78:03] candidates stand at don'tvote.com.

[78:14] Do you, Morgan Ambrose Robert, take this

[78:17] woman to be your lawful wedded wife?

[78:21] Of course, that very much depends on

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[78:25] Forward-looking statements involve risk

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[80:17] >> Tomorrow, election night's best moments

[80:19] and biggest surprises. American Morning

[80:21] 5:00 a.m.

[80:23] >> Here's a taste of what you're going to

[80:24] see tonight. We've pulled up the vote

[80:26] boards in the election wall. That's

[80:28] right over here. This is how we'll keep

[80:30] track of all the races simultaneously.

[80:33] Tonight, we got the idea from the good

[80:34] old days when the networks used uh used

[80:36] to show those solar boards. Here are

[80:39] some of the races from 1960, the year

[80:42] JFK ran against Richard Nixon. Uh join

[80:45] uh joining us now is our senior analyst,

[80:48] Jeff Greenfield. You remember those days

[80:49] very well.

[80:50] >> George McGovern. He lost that year and

[80:52] won in ' 62. But things people like us

[80:54] are the only people who know that or

[80:55] care. But what we want to show you

[80:58] though is what we're going to be doing

[80:59] on an hourby- hour basis to give the

[81:01] viewers a guide into what we see. Now

[81:04] 7:00 is when the first uh polls close.

[81:07] Indiana and Kentucky. Those are keys

[81:09] because there are five endangered

[81:11] Republicans in those seats. If the

[81:12] Democrats take most of those, we may see

[81:14] a wave. And um Virginia, a Senate race,

[81:17] we're not going to be able to call that.

[81:18] Nobody thinks between George Allen and

[81:20] Jim Web. We're not going to be able to

[81:21] project a winner.

[81:22] >> Sorry, I have to hear that. And Vermont

[81:24] is likely to elect the first self-ev

[81:26] socialist to the US Senate.

[81:27] >> 7:30 now,

[81:28] >> right? 7:30 Ohio closes. That's one of

[81:31] those uh Republican held Senate seats,

[81:33] Mike DeWine, where Democrats really hope

[81:35] to win. And there are as many as five

[81:37] endangered Republican House members in

[81:39] Ohio. It's been very rough for the

[81:40] Republican party out there. Uh between

[81:42] Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, we may know

[81:44] early whether this so-called wave is a

[81:46] wave or more like a little uh trickle. 8

[81:49] 8:00 PM is the next hour that we're

[81:51] going to be watching closely. And take a

[81:52] look at all of these states, some 16

[81:54] states close the polls, close their

[81:56] voting at 8:00 PM Eastern.

[81:57] >> Right. But the key here is five of the

[81:59] key Senate seats that Democrats will

[82:01] need either to retain or win to take the

[82:03] Senate in Maryland, in Missouri, in New

[82:06] Jersey, in Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

[82:08] Probably what happens in those five

[82:10] states as much as any other hour uh once

[82:12] we find out what happens will determine

[82:14] whether the Republicans keep or lose the

[82:15] Senate. Another huge batch at 9:00 p.m.

[82:17] Easter or 8:30 actually. There's some

[82:19] Arkansas that closes. There's a

[82:21] gubanatorial contest there.

[82:22] >> Yeah, I have to say that would be

[82:23] possibly one of the lesser things we'll

[82:25] be watching. But 9:00 uh a whole passel

[82:28] of states close and a couple of

[82:30] interesting stories arise. One one is um

[82:32] New York there's no question we don't

[82:34] think about who's going to win the

[82:35] governorship or senate seats, but there

[82:37] are as many as five or six mostly

[82:39] moderate House Republicans. many, maybe

[82:42] all of them could go if the Democratic

[82:44] wave really uh is produced. And also in

[82:47] Colorado and Arizona, there are

[82:49] Republicans who should not have been in

[82:51] trouble this year in the House who are.

[82:54] And that's one of the keys to tonight,

[82:56] Democrats, you know, maybe picking up

[82:57] gains everywhere but the South.

[82:59] >> And then at at 10:00 uh 10 p.m. Eastern,

[83:02] uh we're going to see four more states

[83:04] close their voting.

[83:05] >> Obviously, Montana, the Conrad Burns

[83:07] tester race is one that everybody's

[83:09] going to be looking at. And again in

[83:10] Nevada, there may be a switch to a

[83:12] Democratic House seat from a Republican

[83:14] that we did not expect at the start of

[83:15] this year. That's the way this we move

[83:17] east to west uh as always because that's

[83:19] when the polls close. And uh depending

[83:22] on how strong or how weak the so-called

[83:24] Democratic wave is, we may know early.

[83:25] We may be here a while

[83:26] >> 11 p.m. some other states close, but

[83:28] we'll leave that for another time. Uh

[83:29] we're going to be spending a lot of time

[83:31] looking at these boards tonight. Jeeoff,

[83:33] thanks very much. Let's check in with

[83:34] Zayn Vie for a closer look at some other

[83:36] stories making news. Zay,

[83:38] >> hi Wolf. A suicide bomber blew himself

[83:41] up in a coffee shop in Baghdad today.

[83:43] Iraqi police say that 17 people were

[83:45] killed in the attack in a Shia

[83:47] neighborhood. Hours earlier, mortars

[83:49] struck a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad,

[83:51] killing five people. The violence comes

[83:53] 2 days after former Iraqi leader Saddam

[83:55] Hussein was sentenced to death.

[83:58] Many voters are coping with stormy

[84:00] weather as they go to the polls today.

[84:01] The problem was especially bad in

[84:03] western Washington state. Flooding and

[84:05] heavy rains closed at least one polling

[84:07] station there and closed roads and

[84:09] schools as well. Police had to rescue

[84:11] some stranded drivers. Rains also

[84:13] dampened voters in in parts of the

[84:16] southeast.

[84:17] And Britney Spears apparently is

[84:20] splitting from husband Kevin Federline.

[84:22] The website tmz.com says the pop star

[84:25] has filed for divorce in a Los Angeles

[84:26] court. Spears reportedly sites

[84:28] irreconcilable differences. She's She's

[84:31] asking for custody of the couple's

[84:32] one-year-old son, Sha Preston, and

[84:35] two-month-old Jaden James. Spears and

[84:37] Federine got married in 2004. Wolf,

[84:40] >> we wish both of them only the best down

[84:42] the road. Zayn, thanks very much for

[84:43] that. Coming up, have you voted yet

[84:45] today? Many people have cast their

[84:47] ballots. What motivated them to go to

[84:49] the polls? Was it Iraq, President Bush,

[84:51] something else? We're going to check

[84:52] that out. And already there were reports

[84:54] of voting problems across the country,

[84:57] glitches, some more serious allegations

[84:59] of possible intimidation. The FBI has

[85:01] now gotten involved. We'll explain

[85:03] what's going on. We're live from CNN

[85:05] election headquarters in New York. And

[85:07] you're in the situation room.

[85:12] Coverage of America Votes 2006 is

[85:16] sponsored by the Partnership for

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[86:28] >> I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

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[87:57] >> This election night, the best political

[87:59] team on television tells it like it

[88:01] really is. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson

[88:03] Cooper, Lou Dos, Paula, and Larry King.

[88:07] Election night, CNN Tonight, 7 Eastern.

[88:13] >> You're in the situation room where new

[88:15] pictures and information are arriving

[88:16] all the time. Happening now, we're

[88:18] getting fresh information from our exit

[88:20] polls. Our senior political analyst,

[88:22] Bill Schneider, standing by to share the

[88:24] latest information just coming in. Also,

[88:26] why is the FBI now getting involved in

[88:29] today's election and voting

[88:30] difficulties? Long lines in places like

[88:33] Colorado and Virginia are just a few of

[88:35] the problems at the polls. From the CNN

[88:38] election headquarters in New York, I'm

[88:39] Will Blitzer. You're in the situation

[88:41] room.

[88:58] Right now, we're looking at some

[88:59] important information. We're getting in

[89:00] from the exit polls. Let's bring in our

[89:02] senior political analyst, Bill

[89:04] Schneider. He's got the latest for us.

[89:06] Bill

[89:08] Wolf, the exit polls, uh, President Bush

[89:12] has been the subject of a lot of

[89:14] discussion in this campaign, but you

[89:16] know what? He's not on the ballot.

[89:18] Congress is on the ballot. And we asked

[89:20] people, do you approve or disapprove of

[89:21] the job that the Congress is doing? Now,

[89:24] take a look. When people were asked that

[89:26] question, 62% said that they disapprove

[89:29] the job Congress is doing. 36% approved.

[89:32] That is a very negative judgment on the

[89:34] Congress. they're on the ballot and it

[89:36] does not bode well for the survival of

[89:38] the Republican Congress on this election

[89:40] day. Now, another issue that's been

[89:42] widely debated is the vote count. Will

[89:44] the results be counted accurately? We

[89:46] asked the voters, do you think your vote

[89:49] will be counted accurately? And this may

[89:51] be a surprise, but 88% of the voters say

[89:54] they are confident that their vote will

[89:56] accurately be accurately counted. Only

[89:58] 11% of the voters are not confident.

[90:01] Most of them, by the way, are Democrats.

[90:03] So there is strong a strong strong view

[90:05] that my vote will be counted despite all

[90:08] the reports of problems at the polls.

[90:10] This is one of the reasons why it's so

[90:11] hard to get election reform. Most voters

[90:13] in most parts of the country will say,

[90:15] "Yeah, I know there are problems with

[90:16] the voting procedures, but there's no

[90:18] problem for me." Wolf.

[90:20] >> All right, we're going to continue to

[90:21] monitor these exit poll results together

[90:23] with you, Bill. Thanks very much. The

[90:25] exit polls uh are shedding some light on

[90:27] what voters are concerned about this

[90:29] election day. Joining us now are

[90:31] political analysts, Democratic

[90:32] strategist James Carville, and Paul

[90:35] Begala, former GOP Congressman JC Watts,

[90:37] and CNN contributor and Washington

[90:39] fellow at the Claremont Institute, Bill

[90:41] Bennett. Guys, thanks to all of you for

[90:43] coming in. Uh what do you make I'll

[90:45] start with you James of this uh earlier

[90:48] result that Bill showed from the polls

[90:50] that among the major issues the major

[90:53] issues of concern corruption seems to be

[90:56] the highest concern among those people

[90:59] going in. What do you make of that?

[91:00] >> I don't want to I don't want to be too

[91:01] technical but as I understand it they

[91:03] they didn't force people to make a

[91:04] choice. They said do you think this is a

[91:06] major issue or not? Is it extremely

[91:08] important to

[91:08] >> extreme? And who would not say that

[91:10] corruption is not extremely important to

[91:11] them is I understand the way that they

[91:13] ask the question. I I would have

[91:14] preferred that they make people choose

[91:16] between corruption, Iraq, economy,

[91:18] education, whatever they want to just as

[91:19] a tech.

[91:20] >> We're going to put those numbers up on

[91:21] the screen and show them to our viewers.

[91:23] But were you surprised that more people

[91:25] said they were extremely concerned about

[91:27] corruption than let's say Iraq?

[91:29] >> Yeah, kind of. But I I not to be

[91:31] technical about it. I just have a slight

[91:33] way problem with the way the question

[91:35] was worded. even worded like that that

[91:36] more people said corruption in Iraq does

[91:38] surprise me.

[91:39] >> What do you think, Bill?

[91:40] >> Well, you know, people are people are

[91:42] different and the first thing you learn

[91:43] in politics is there are people out

[91:45] there who have a different view,

[91:46] especially at this table, I suppose.

[91:48] >> I assume you guys have a different view.

[91:49] >> I can't we better have you'll have a

[91:51] boring evening. I'm sure we will. But

[91:53] the American people are complex. They

[91:54] don't fall into neat categories all the

[91:56] time. Republican, Democrat, independent.

[91:58] When you ask them about issues and

[91:59] voting, whole bunches of things come to

[92:01] their mind. And this might have been the

[92:03] first thing that came to their mind

[92:04] because they were just talking about it.

[92:05] Or if someone leads with that question,

[92:07] I'm with James. U they're going to say,

[92:09] "Sure." What are you going to do? Smile

[92:10] at corruption? Say not a problem?

[92:11] >> I mean, everybody I I I can't imagine,

[92:13] Paul, why a 100% of the people wouldn't

[92:15] say corruption is extremely important.

[92:17] Terrorism, the economy, Iraq, it seems

[92:20] like an obvious no-brainer.

[92:22] >> Well, no. I mean, when I die, I want to

[92:23] be buried in South Texas because I want

[92:24] to remain active in the Democratic

[92:26] party. I mean, there are still places in

[92:27] America uh where the corruption is

[92:30] fairly endemic. I I do think though that

[92:31] there that Republicans ought to be

[92:33] concerned for this reason. I think I

[92:34] think Bill and James are right that a

[92:36] binary choice like that is probably not

[92:37] the most illustrative way to tease that

[92:39] out. But still, I think one thing

[92:41] Democrats have been trying to say to the

[92:43] country is that Republicans may have

[92:44] become corrupt in the Lord act in sense,

[92:46] right? That absolute power corrupts

[92:48] absolutely. And so rather than this

[92:50] scandal or that scandal, Congressman Nay

[92:52] recently pleading guilty and others, I

[92:53] think Democrats tried to make a case

[92:55] that there's systemic corruption that

[92:56] happens when one party holds the House,

[92:58] the Senate, and the White House. I don't

[92:59] know if that's how people read that

[93:01] question, though.

[93:01] >> Is it your sense, JC, that corruption

[93:04] being so uh so so much on the minds of

[93:06] voters today that that necessarily

[93:08] translates into bad news for Republican

[93:11] candidates?

[93:12] >> Well, I I I I

[93:14] think corruption is a concern of the

[93:16] American people. I'm not so sure that uh

[93:19] that that is going to bode badly for

[93:22] Republicans. When you consider those who

[93:24] were caught with their hand in the

[93:25] cookie jar, they stepped down. They

[93:28] resigned. And I think it was uh there

[93:30] was time for Republicans to get some

[93:32] traction on some other issues and i.e.

[93:35] the economy uh some of the things that's

[93:38] going on in Iraq uh the battle against

[93:40] terrorism and so forth. So but but Wolf

[93:43] we can talk about this the rest of the

[93:44] night. My my thing on exit polls I

[93:47] learned in 2004 don't believe them until

[93:50] the final results are in.

[93:52] >> Well we haven't you know projected any

[93:53] winners or anything like that. We're

[93:55] just reporting on what these exit polls

[93:57] are showing, what's on the minds on some

[93:58] of the issues as far as voters are

[94:01] concerned. We're not going to share

[94:02] specific exit poll information on on

[94:05] races until the polls in those

[94:07] respective states.

[94:08] >> But I think but but the point that James

[94:10] made off the bat is, you know, are

[94:12] people going to say they're not

[94:14] concerned about uh corruption? I I I I

[94:17] think the fact that the question was

[94:19] asked in the way that it was worded, you

[94:21] know, would make me a little nervous

[94:23] about putting this much emphasis on exit

[94:27] voting.

[94:27] >> Paul, what what do you think of the 62%

[94:29] disapproval rating for Congress?

[94:31] >> That that's real. That's a question

[94:33] that's been asked since 1948. George

[94:35] Gallup started this whole business of

[94:36] public opinion research in politics. and

[94:38] a 62% disapprove is is extraordinarily

[94:41] high

[94:41] >> because this is a Republicanled House

[94:43] and a Republicanled Senate.

[94:46] >> Yeah. Well, people are not happy.

[94:47] They're not happy because of things like

[94:49] corruption. And to be fair, I mean,

[94:50] there's been a recent run of bad dudes

[94:52] in the Republican party. The American

[94:54] people have heard about disgusting Mark

[94:55] Foley situation, Abramoff. Uh we had the

[94:58] thing with Duke Cunningham. You know,

[94:59] it's been in the news. There have been

[95:00] some Democrats, too. Money in the

[95:02] freezer. But we've had we've had a we

[95:04] had a bad run.

[95:04] >> We kicked our problems on ice.

[95:06] >> Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Your

[95:08] timing is much better for obvious

[95:10] reason.

[95:10] >> Hard cash there. So,

[95:12] >> but that was that was a Democratic.

[95:14] >> So, but I mean the reaction to Congress

[95:15] people people can can be upset about

[95:17] corruption issues. They're not, you

[95:19] know, they're they're not being

[95:20] straightforward. Also, people are angry

[95:21] about lack of action. I know a lot of

[95:23] people are very unhappy about

[95:26] conservatives.

[95:26] >> Yes. Very unhappy and spending and

[95:28] spending. Bill Snder said earlier he

[95:30] said most Americans believe that there's

[95:32] trouble in the system in voting but they

[95:35] they believe their vote will count. Well

[95:37] that question is people believe members

[95:40] of Congress are corrupt but what do they

[95:42] think about their member? And I think

[95:44] again that's where this election is

[95:46] going to going to turn one way or the

[95:48] other tonight.

[95:49] >> Here's uh what Charlie Cook is quoted as

[95:51] saying in the New York Times. He's a a

[95:53] political analyst,

[95:54] >> Louisiana man,

[95:55] >> independent kind of guy. He said this uh

[95:58] if the Democrats uh the Democrats mood,

[96:00] I think uh you'd see a Jim Jones

[96:03] situation, it would be a mass suicide if

[96:06] the Democrats fail tonight. Uh what do

[96:08] you think, James?

[96:09] >> I think he's exactly right, but it

[96:10] wouldn't be Kool-Aid. I think we'd all

[96:12] gather on cliffs and and jump off. We'd

[96:15] be like the Japanese soldiers.

[96:18] >> How do you define wayically correct way

[96:20] to do it? How do you define how do you

[96:22] define failure?

[96:24] >> Well, you don't win the house. I mean,

[96:25] you got to that would be that would be

[96:27] >> because the Senate has always been much

[96:29] more problematic.

[96:30] >> You can't say if we pick up four or five

[96:31] Senate seats that that that's a failure.

[96:33] That's a that's a pretty good number of

[96:35] Senate seats. But if we don't pick up

[96:36] the House, I I I would be the whole

[96:40] Democratic party. I would I I'd be

[96:42] wearing more than a trash can on my head

[96:44] tonight. I promise you that.

[96:45] >> We'll be watching. Uh what do you think?

[96:47] You think he's going to have to wear

[96:48] more than a trash can on his head?

[96:49] >> No, I I have no idea. But I I think

[96:51] that's right. If if they don't take the

[96:53] house, that's big trouble. If they take

[96:54] the house narrowly, it's not failure,

[96:56] but it's disappointment. Particularly

[96:58] because, you know, there are a number of

[97:00] Democrats running as very on very

[97:01] conservative credentials. If they get

[97:04] 18, 19, 20, that's a disappointment. If

[97:07] they get two, three in the Senate, I

[97:09] think that's a dis. What do you think?

[97:10] >> I'll correct the expectations because

[97:12] >> the expectations game is significant.

[97:13] >> Right. This is a a win or lose deal. And

[97:15] it's winner take all in the House of

[97:17] Representatives. I was a staffer there

[97:18] back when Dick Epart was the majority

[97:19] leader. It was good to be the majority

[97:21] leader. You could run the place as Jim

[97:23] Wright did with an iron fist or as Tom

[97:25] Delay did for the Republican party. Uh

[97:27] so 15 is good enough. Any Democrat who

[97:30] wants more than that, they may get it,

[97:32] but it's the Senate. The minority has

[97:34] real power in the Senate. In the House,

[97:35] the minority has almost

[97:37] >> Let's speak to JC. He used to be in the

[97:38] United States Congress. He knows what

[97:39] it's like to be in the majority and be

[97:41] in the minority uh in the House of

[97:43] Representatives.

[97:44] >> Well, I was never in the minority. Knock

[97:46] on wood. We uh

[97:47] >> I'm glad you referred that as wood. We

[97:50] we we never dealt with that. But but

[97:52] Wolf, regardless of what the numbers are

[97:55] tonight, I do think Democrats will gain

[97:57] seats. It's going to make it more

[97:59] difficult to govern. The number the

[98:02] margin is going to be smaller and

[98:03] smaller. I have been in the House when

[98:05] we've had about uh 25 26 me uh vote uh

[98:10] margin. I've also been there when we've

[98:12] had about an eight vote margin and it's

[98:14] much tougher with eight than it is with

[98:17] 28. So, it's it's going to change the

[98:19] landscape regardless of what the

[98:20] Democrats what their numbers are at the

[98:22] end of the night.

[98:23] >> She's not measuring the drapes yet,

[98:24] Nancy Pelosi, is she?

[98:26] >> No. The the Democratic leaders I've

[98:28] talked to are very superstitious. I

[98:30] mean, they understand the stakes here

[98:31] and they understand that that their

[98:32] voters will be extraordinarily

[98:34] disappointed if they don't take back the

[98:35] House. But numbers higher than 15 are

[98:38] are numbers I can't get them interested

[98:40] in. Yeah, in that poll, in the exit poll

[98:42] that we're that Bill Schneider was just

[98:44] telling us about, by a 2 to1 margin,

[98:46] voters were telling the people who were

[98:48] conducting this poll that they're more

[98:49] interested this time in national issues

[98:52] as opposed to local issues. Uh, how does

[98:54] that translate? Good or bad for the

[98:56] Republicans or the Democrats?

[98:58] >> I I Well, I don't know. It depends which

[99:00] national issues. By the way, I'm keeping

[99:01] a list of metaphors. We have uh trash

[99:04] cans now, Kool-Aid, measuring the

[99:06] drapes. We'll have a report on this by

[99:08] some communications professor tomorrow.

[99:10] Both parties, I think, have nationalized

[99:12] this and because we are in in war

[99:14] because of the war in Iraq, it's

[99:15] appropriate to be having this debate. I

[99:18] understand that may cut some some

[99:19] against the Republican party, but that

[99:21] is what we should be talking about. And

[99:23] I think more of our politics has been

[99:25] nationalized because more of our

[99:26] conversations are nationalized because

[99:28] of the role of the media and not just

[99:30] television and radio here, but the blogs

[99:32] and the internet.

[99:33] >> Jim James, what do you think? Um,

[99:36] but look, we're at war. And so

[99:38] somebody's going to say, "I'm more

[99:39] concerned about the war than I am the

[99:40] pothole." Sure. I mean, it's just it and

[99:42] people see these images all the time.

[99:44] They think of terrorism as an

[99:45] international issue. So they think of

[99:48] all, you know, healthcare, the whole

[99:50] laundry list of it. I'm I'm actually

[99:52] frankly surprised that you have 32 or

[99:54] 33% that say they're more concerned with

[99:56] local issues than national issues. I I'm

[99:58] I when I looked at that number, I would

[100:00] have

[100:02] tight tight. That's gonna be a lot of

[100:04] Republicans who probably don't want to

[100:05] think about Iraq or things that may not

[100:07] be going well for Republicans. But the

[100:09] president helped to nationalize this

[100:11] probably to the consternation of a lot

[100:13] of local Republican candidates around

[100:14] the country. He came out and he said if

[100:16] the Democrats win, the terrorists win.

[100:19] Uh he he nationalized this race in

[100:21] extraordinary terms and he personalized

[100:22] it to himself. A very unpopular

[100:24] president. Had I been his political

[100:25] adviser, I would not have advised him to

[100:27] do either.

[100:27] >> All right, wrap it up, JC, because we're

[100:28] out of time. Well, that the national

[100:30] issue in terms of of terrorism cuts both

[100:33] ways. I think it will drive Democrat

[100:36] votes, but it will drive Republican

[100:38] votes as well because they say when evil

[100:40] people say they will do evil things to

[100:42] the United States of America. We want

[100:44] somebody in the White House that will

[100:46] take them seriously. This president has

[100:47] >> We got to leave it there. But you guys

[100:49] are not going anywhere. You're going to

[100:50] be with us all night. Could be a long

[100:52] night. We're going to watch and wait and

[100:54] see what's going on. Want to thank James

[100:56] Carville, Paul Vaggala, JC Watts, Bill

[100:58] Bennett. They are part of the best

[100:59] political team on television. And a

[101:02] reminder uh for the latest campaign news

[101:04] at any time, check out the CNN political

[101:06] ticker. Go to cnn.com/ticker.

[101:09] Still to come, the FBI is getting

[101:11] involved in today's election. Yes, you

[101:13] heard it. Our justice correspondent,

[101:15] Kelly Arena, standing by to tell us what

[101:17] is going on. And long lines and short

[101:19] tempers, just a few examples of voter

[101:22] problems as Americans vote. We're going

[101:24] to have more on these issues.

[101:27] The pole problems. Lots more coming up.

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[103:29] >> I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

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[103:38] My past quite respectable. Vote for me

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[103:47] Come have some pie with me. Don't fall

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[103:57] I'm Anto Williams. The Partnership for

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[104:29] >> Let's get back to the problems at the

[104:30] polls. While most of the reported

[104:32] problems are technical, there are some

[104:34] charges of voter intimidation in

[104:36] Virginia. Let's bring in our justice

[104:38] correspondent, Kelly Arena. What's the

[104:40] latest and is the FBI investigating?

[104:42] Kelly,

[104:43] >> they sure are, Wolf. Law enforcement

[104:44] officials tell us that the FBI is

[104:46] conducting a preliminary investigation

[104:48] in Virginia. Voters in at least eight

[104:51] counties alleged that they received

[104:53] intimidating phone calls before the

[104:55] election. In one instance, a voter says

[104:57] that a caller said her polling place had

[104:59] changed when it had not. Now, this

[105:01] alleged voter suppression is a federal

[105:04] offense, and agents at this point will

[105:06] basically conduct interviews and work on

[105:08] putting together a case if there is

[105:10] evidence to support charges. For the

[105:12] first time, Wol, the FBI has designated

[105:14] so-called election coordinators in all

[105:17] of its 56 field offices, and those

[105:19] agents are specifically trained in

[105:22] understanding voting statutes and are

[105:24] designated to take complaints and look

[105:26] into potential violations. And of

[105:28] course, we've talked a lot about the

[105:29] more than 850 monitors and observers who

[105:33] were on hand today in 22 states sent by

[105:35] the Department of Justice, and they're

[105:37] there to deal with issues as they arise.

[105:40] you very much. Kelly's going to be on

[105:41] top of this story all night. Voting

[105:43] glitches have been popping up at some

[105:44] polling stations across the country this

[105:47] election day as we now know and our Ally

[105:49] Veli is keeping close track of all of

[105:52] them. Ally Wolf, uh, a couple hours ago

[105:54] I told you about a problem in Denver

[105:56] where they'd been in court for about

[105:57] three hours. The Democrats have gone to

[105:58] court to extend the voting deadline in

[106:00] Denver County. Uh, that has been denied.

[106:03] We just have news now that the uh, the

[106:04] judge in Denver County has denied an

[106:06] extension. Those are the pictures you're

[106:07] looking at outside the botanical gardens

[106:09] in Denver where they've tried out this

[106:11] voting uh area, this voting center

[106:13] concept where people just come and vote

[106:14] no matter where they live if they live

[106:16] in the in the state. Hasn't worked out

[106:17] in Denver and the Democrats are not

[106:19] getting the extension they wanted. In in

[106:21] Illinois, however, there's a second

[106:22] county, Kain County, western suburbs of

[106:25] Chicago, where they're going to court to

[106:26] extend the voting there because of

[106:28] delays in opening. Uh if they get that,

[106:30] it'll be uh it'll be alongside Cook

[106:32] County where two precincts are extended

[106:34] tonight. And over in Indiana, Delaware

[106:36] County outside of Muny around Muny,

[106:38] they're extending for 2 hours and 45

[106:39] minutes because of delays uh blamed on

[106:41] voting machines. Wolf

[106:42] >> Ally, thank you. We'll stay on top of

[106:44] the story with you as well. Lou Dobs is

[106:46] here getting ready for his program that

[106:47] begins right at the top of the hour.

[106:49] What are you working on,

[106:50] >> Wolf? As you might expect, election day

[106:52] coming up at 6 p.m. here on CNN. We'll

[106:54] have complete coverage of today's

[106:56] elections. Elections many are now

[106:58] calling a referendum on the president

[107:00] and his conduct of the war in Iraq.

[107:02] We'll have live reports for you from key

[107:04] races, the latest exit poll estimates on

[107:06] who voted and why, and of course, the

[107:09] best political analysis anywhere. Also,

[107:11] this election will be the most expensive

[107:14] midterm election in history. And guess

[107:16] who's paying? Corporate America, of

[107:18] course. Big business expecting a huge

[107:20] payoff no matter which party wins.

[107:22] Tonight, we'll have that special report.

[107:24] And will your vote count? Election

[107:26] officials are reporting problems with e

[107:28] voting machines all across the country.

[107:30] one of the nation's leading authorities

[107:32] on e voting. Warren Stewart is among our

[107:34] guests. All of that and a great deal

[107:36] more coming up the top of the hour right

[107:37] here on CNN. We hope you'll be with us

[107:40] for that. Wolf, these problems with the

[107:42] the voting machines, the glitches that

[107:44] we're hearing about across the country.

[107:46] We had you done a lot of reporting on

[107:48] this coming in today. Are these just

[107:50] little technical snafoos or you see any

[107:52] evidence that there's potentially

[107:54] potentially a real serious problem out

[107:57] there? Well, we're looking at what are

[107:58] right now, I would say, manageable

[108:00] problems. Uh, but it is early and we

[108:03] began uh with Ohio and Indiana in

[108:06] particular and Florida with problems and

[108:09] these are states that have had problems

[108:10] before. So, all of us have our antenna

[108:12] up and we'll be reporting on the very

[108:14] latest over the course of the next hour

[108:16] and what's happening there. Uh, a number

[108:18] of people talking about extending uh uh

[108:20] polling times in order to to meet with

[108:23] these issues. in some cases, for

[108:24] example, in Florida, not even been able

[108:27] to start the machines. Luckily, that was

[108:29] combined to just a few precincts. But

[108:31] the problems are there, and we'll just

[108:32] see how widespread and profound

[108:34] >> because, as you know, people go to vote.

[108:36] A lot of these people, they have to

[108:37] work. They can't take 2 three hours off

[108:39] and just wait in line while the the the

[108:42] polling uh personnel get their act

[108:44] together.

[108:44] >> Well, we knew going into this 2 million

[108:46] people are going to be working in polls

[108:48] all across the country today and uh

[108:50] throughout uh I'm sure part of the

[108:51] evening for many people. Um, and we were

[108:54] short pole workers, but we're also short

[108:57] training time. Some of these people with

[108:58] e- voting machines, and we're going to

[109:00] see e- voting machines uh across the

[109:02] country today. Just about 40% of uh the

[109:05] folks voting, we're using these new e

[109:07] voting machines for the first time. So,

[109:09] it it is an issue. We'll find out if

[109:11] it's been managed well.

[109:13] >> We'll continue to watch with you. You'll

[109:14] be here for throughout the night with

[109:16] all of us. Thanks very much, Lou.

[109:18] >> And just ahead, Jack Caferty probably

[109:20] knows what initiatives he would put on

[109:22] the ballot if he could. And the

[109:23] politicians have had their say, but what

[109:25] would you have voters decide? And it's

[109:28] the party no blogger wants to miss. And

[109:30] you won't either. We'll give you a front

[109:32] row seat at tonight's election blogging

[109:34] bash from the CN election headquarters

[109:36] in New York. You're in the situation.

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[110:08] Norfuck Southern, the future of

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[110:12] Power plays, nasty campaigns,

[110:15] accusations left and right. It all comes

[110:17] down to election night. CNN Tonight, 7

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[112:24] >> Election night's best moments and

[112:26] biggest surprises. American Morning 5

[112:28] a.m.

[112:31] >> Check back with Jack Cafferty. He's

[112:32] here.

[112:33] >> Voters in 37 different states around the

[112:35] country tonight deciding on 205 ballot

[112:38] propositions. Some of these people won't

[112:40] finish voting until Friday afternoon.

[112:43] Everything from same-sex marriage bans

[112:44] to stem cell research to an increase in

[112:46] the minimum wage. The question we asked

[112:48] is, what initiative would you put on

[112:50] your state's ballot if you could? John

[112:53] in Jacksonville, Florida, wrote, "All

[112:55] evangelical churches that use the pulpit

[112:57] to campaign for a certain political

[112:59] party must lose their taxexempt status."

[113:02] Let's get back to that separation of

[113:04] church and state thing that worked so

[113:05] well for over 200 years. John in

[113:07] Alabama, Jack, an initiative to provide

[113:09] some type of financial incentive for the

[113:12] wounded veterans of the Iraq war.

[113:14] Randall in Merced, California. I'd put

[113:16] an initiative that our lawmakers don't

[113:18] actually get paid until the end of their

[113:20] term and then we get to vote to decide

[113:23] what pay grade they deserve based on the

[113:25] job they've done. Aaron in Toronto, how

[113:27] about making it illegal to start a war

[113:29] just to impress your daddy's golf

[113:31] buddies? MC in Stevensville, Maryland.

[113:33] My ballot referendum would be all

[113:35] redistricting would have to be done

[113:37] using only straight lines. Greg in

[113:39] Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'd put the

[113:41] most basic of all initiatives on the

[113:43] ballot, limiting the number of terms any

[113:45] senator or representative can stay in

[113:47] office. And Ed in Montana, the

[113:49] initiative I'd like to see is one that

[113:51] says if your pets are smarter than you

[113:53] are, you are not allowed to vote. If you

[113:55] didn't see your email here, you can go

[113:56] to cnn.com/cafertyfile

[113:59] where you can read more of these online.

[114:01] That might knock turnout down some.

[114:02] >> Very creative. Maybe some of these

[114:04] initiatives that our viewers like, some

[114:06] politicians will actually put it on a

[114:08] ballot. Well, my guess is they make as

[114:10] much sense as some of the stuff that's

[114:11] there.

[114:13] >> Jack, thanks very much. Jack, we'll be

[114:15] back. Up next, coffee, food, and

[114:18] bloggers. Lots of them. Don't worry if

[114:20] you didn't get an invite to the in the

[114:21] mail. We're going to take you to our big

[114:23] blogger party in Washington DC. You're

[114:26] going to want to see this. Stay with us.

[114:28] You're in the situation room.

[114:33] America

[114:47] Votes 2006 is sponsored by AP. Don't

[114:50] vote until you know where the candidates

[114:52] stand on the issues. Visit

[114:54] don'tvote.com. Log on to

[114:56] cnn.com/election

[114:57] for analysis of this year's midterm

[114:59] election races.

[115:02] I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

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[117:46] All right, let's go to Washington DC,

[117:48] specifically the Trist Internet Cafe.

[117:50] Our internet reporters Abby Tatton and

[117:53] Jackie Shener are there with a party of

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[117:57] guys, we've ever done this.

[118:00] >> It is the first time, Wolf. We're joined

[118:01] by more than 25 prominent bloggers left

[118:05] and right. They've come in from all

[118:06] across the country. These are people who

[118:08] have been very much getting involved

[118:10] this election cycle. They've been using

[118:12] their sites to get out the vote. They've

[118:14] been using their sites to fundra using

[118:16] new online tools that have become

[118:18] available in the last couple of years.

[118:20] Very much getting involved and

[118:22] supporting candidates. So, we are

[118:24] hosting them here tonight, watching

[118:25] their reactions as the results come in

[118:27] and getting commentary from some of

[118:29] these guys. We're also joined from

[118:31] around the country by a couple more

[118:33] webcams from bloggers that couldn't make

[118:35] it. And Jackie Shner is here with me as

[118:37] well and she's in the thick of things

[118:39] here at Tris tonight. Jackie. Well,

[118:41] Abby, I just wanted to give everybody a

[118:43] sense of what the room is like here.

[118:44] Imagine if you're throwing a party for,

[118:46] I don't know, 50 of your closest friends

[118:48] in your living room, and they're all

[118:49] talking about what you're talking about.

[118:51] Jim Gity from National Review Online.

[118:53] I've got James Joiner from Outside the

[118:55] Beltway. Behind me, the guys from

[118:56] America Blog, Don and Joe behind me,

[118:58] Nick Gillespie from Reason Hit and Run.

[119:00] I've got the group of women I call my

[119:02] North Carolina contingent. Behind me,

[119:04] we've got Betsy Newark, Lorie Bird, Pam

[119:06] Spalding from Pan's House Blend, Gerald

[119:08] and Merritt from Colorado. We have

[119:09] brought them in from everywhere. They're

[119:11] sort of biting their time right now

[119:13] until we start to get some sense of

[119:14] which way these races are going,

[119:16] blogging about voter irregularities,

[119:18] blogging about sort of what they're

[119:19] hearing on the ground. Go to

[119:21] cnn.com/blogparty

[119:23] and that'll give you a link to all of

[119:24] the bloggers that are here tonight. And

[119:26] you can hear it from us and you can also

[119:28] hear it firsthand from them. Wol, back

[119:30] to you.

[119:30] >> All right, guys. Sounds like a lot of

[119:31] fun. Good work. We'll be checking back

[119:34] with you throughout the night. And

[119:35] remember, we're here in the situation

[119:37] room weekdays, Monday through Friday, 4

[119:39] to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. We're going to be

[119:40] back for our complete coverage in 1

[119:43] hour, 700 p.m. Eastern, coverage of

[119:45] America Votes 2006. Until then, thanks

[119:48] very much for joining us. I'm Wolf

[119:49] Blitzer in the situation room. Let's

[119:51] continue our coverage right now. Lou

[119:53] Doab standing by. Lou, well, thank you

[119:55] very much. Welcome to our special

[119:57] coverage of one of the tightest

[120:00] congressional races in years. certainly

[120:02] the most expensive. The first polling

[120:04] places are just about to close. We'll

[120:06] have the very latest for you from the

[120:08] first exit poll projections within the

[120:10] hour. We'll also have live reports from

[120:12] the key races all across the country.

[120:15] The latest on e voting problems. They

[120:17] have materialized as we feared, but they

[120:19] also may be entirely manageable. And

[120:22] we'll be hearing from some of the very

[120:24] best political analysts anywhere. All of

[120:26] that and a great deal more straight

[120:28] ahead here tonight.

[120:33] This is a special edition of Lou Dos

[120:35] Tonight, America Votes 2006. Live from

[120:39] CNN's election headquarters in New York.

[120:42] Here now, Lou Dos. Good evening

[120:44] everybody. Voters tonight are casting

[120:47] ballots in an election that could have a

[120:49] tremendous influence on the future

[120:51] direction of the country. The results

[120:53] could in fact change the conduct of the

[120:55] war in Iraq and determine the fate of

[120:58] President Bush's secondterm agenda. But

[121:01] this election is unlikely to stop the

[121:03] war on our middle class to end our

[121:05] illegal immigration and border security

[121:07] crisis or prevent corporate America from

[121:10] trying to influence our government. In a

[121:13] moment, we'll have the live reports from

[121:16] Washington and expert analysis from

[121:18] three of the very brightest political

[121:20] analysts in the country. But first, the

[121:22] initial exit poll results are now

[121:25] available just within the past hour. We

[121:27] can give you early estimates of who

[121:29] voted in this election, and we can give

[121:31] you considerable analysis of why. Bill

[121:34] Snyder is here to do exactly that with

[121:36] the very latest on these estimates. Bill

[121:39] Snyder. Lou, you call them initial

[121:41] results. Keep in mind, people are still

[121:43] voting around the country and we're

[121:45] still taking polls of voters around the

[121:47] country. The West Coast, for instance,

[121:49] polls will be open for many hours. But

[121:51] we're going to show you the results

[121:52] among people who were interviewed so

[121:54] far. What were the issues that

[121:56] determined how people vote? Was this a

[121:57] national election or a local election?

[121:59] We asked people which was more important

[122:01] to them. And the answer was by nearly 2

[122:03] to1 people said they were voting in this

[122:05] election on national issues 62% local

[122:09] issues 33%. Now does this mean the

[122:11] Democrats are bound to do well?

[122:13] Democrats were hoping that it would be a

[122:15] referendum on Iraq, but there were other

[122:16] national issues like the war on terror.

[122:19] Republicans talked about taxes. How

[122:21] about that economy? How did the voters

[122:23] pled so far feel the economy is going in

[122:26] this country? Are is did they say

[122:28] economic conditions are excellent or

[122:30] good? 47% said that not so good or poor.

[122:33] 52. It appears that voters are not very

[122:36] bullish on the economy even though the

[122:38] Republicans and the White House were

[122:39] talking it up. They are divided. So it

[122:41] doesn't look like the economy was a

[122:43] determinative issue in this election.

[122:46] But here's something that wasn't even

[122:47] close to 50/50. That is how do people

[122:50] feel about Congress? And the answer was

[122:53] overwhelmingly 62% said they disapprove

[122:56] of the way Congress is handling its job.

[122:59] Only 36% approve. That could be a very

[123:02] powerful mandate for change at least a

[123:04] strong indicator Lou of broken

[123:07] government.

[123:08] >> Bill thank you very much. Bill Snyder

[123:09] and Bill throughout the evening here

[123:11] will be giving us his analysis of these

[123:14] exit polls and the results as the as

[123:17] they continue to flow from the polling

[123:19] booths all across the country. Bills,

[123:21] thank you very much. Democrats tonight

[123:23] are hopeful that they can win control of

[123:25] the House of Representatives for the

[123:27] first time in more than a decade. They

[123:29] are less sure about their prospects in

[123:32] the battle for the Senate. Our

[123:33] congressional correspondent Dana Bash

[123:35] has the report now from Washington.

[123:37] Dana.

[123:38] >> Well, Lou, House Minority Leader Nancy

[123:40] Pelosi came to the Capitol here to the

[123:42] capital today and our producer Ted

[123:44] Barrett bumped into her. She was looking

[123:46] downright giddy. He jokingly said, "How

[123:48] are you, Madam Speaker?" And she

[123:50] replied, "I like the title." But then

[123:51] quickly caught herself and said, "Not

[123:53] yet." Now, but in public, you certainly

[123:56] hear some caution from Nancy Pelosi in

[123:58] private. However, we understand that she

[123:59] and her staff are already talking about

[124:01] whether or not they should move their

[124:02] suite of offices to the much larger uh

[124:05] ones now occupied by the current House

[124:07] Speaker uh Dennis Hastard. Now, there

[124:09] was not a lot of caution at all ear

[124:11] earlier today at a briefing by the House

[124:14] and Senate Democratic chairman of the

[124:16] campaign committees talking about the

[124:18] fact that they are very optimistic,

[124:20] bubbling with optimism as a matter of

[124:21] fact, about the fact that Democratic

[124:23] turnout they say is up. And one even

[124:25] said that this will be in historic

[124:27] midterm elections. Meanwhile, on the

[124:29] Republican side, Lou, Republicans are

[124:30] also saying that they have a slight,

[124:32] maybe a 5% advantage in turnout from

[124:35] their side over 2004. But talk to senior

[124:38] Republicans on the Hill and elsewhere.

[124:39] They s simply are resigned, even

[124:41] depressed about what they're going to

[124:43] potentially encounter tonight. I talked

[124:44] to one uh senior Republican aid here on

[124:47] the Hill earlier today who said, "I feel

[124:48] like I did a ninth grade going in for a

[124:50] chemistry test I knew that I didn't

[124:52] study study for." He said that I I'm

[124:55] going to fail and there's nothing I can

[124:56] do about it.

[124:58] Donna, thank you very much. Well,

[125:00] nonetheless, the White House tonight is

[125:02] putting on a show of confidence that the

[125:03] Republican party will retain control of

[125:06] both the Senate and the House. GOP

[125:08] strategists predicting that a big

[125:10] turnout of Republican supporters would

[125:12] deny the Democrats victory. Suzan Malvo

[125:15] reports now from the White House. Suzan,

[125:18] >> well Lou, we saw President Bush and the

[125:20] first lady earlier today in Crawford,

[125:21] Texas. That's where they cast their

[125:23] ballots. And then the president made a

[125:24] brief remark to all Americans decidedly

[125:27] nonpartisan, saying that everybody

[125:29] should go out and vote and do their

[125:30] civic duty. But make no question about

[125:32] it, Bush administration officials

[125:33] realize the number one issue for voters

[125:35] is the Iraq war. That this very well

[125:37] could be a referendum on the president

[125:39] to the Iraq war. And either losing the

[125:41] House or the Senate would definitely

[125:43] weaken the president's ability to get

[125:44] things done in the next two years. Now,

[125:47] some White House officials, however, and

[125:49] insiders say there is certainly no talk

[125:52] about that possibility. Not here in this

[125:54] building. They feel that um any hint of

[125:56] doubt would uh affect voter turnout.

[125:59] They say that they cannot concede. And

[126:01] another White House insider I spoke to

[126:03] who says it's going to be a bad day for

[126:05] the Republican party uh simply said that

[126:08] Carl Rove and company are very

[126:09] encouraged with what they are seeing an

[126:11] increased voter turnout of Republicans

[126:12] in rural areas in key states. Lou,

[126:15] >> Suzanne, thank you. Suzan Malvo from the

[126:17] White House, apart, of course, from the

[126:20] outcome of this election. The biggest

[126:22] question tonight is whether or not your

[126:24] vote will actually count. Election

[126:26] officials all across the country have

[126:28] been reporting problems with e voting

[126:30] machines. Kitty Pilgrim has the latest

[126:32] for us. Kitty

[126:34] >> Lou, voter activists have been

[126:35] monitoring all day and Common Cause says

[126:38] 15% of their hotline calls were about

[126:40] mechanical problems with electronic

[126:42] voting machines. Voter Action says they

[126:44] are drowning in reports and Verified

[126:47] Voting says the system was clearly very

[126:49] complex for volunteers.

[126:52] In Denver, lines were hours long. The

[126:55] electronic poll books with voter

[126:57] registrations were not ready. In

[126:59] Indiana, paper ballots had to be used in

[127:01] more than 100 precincts because the

[127:03] touchcreens on electronic voting

[127:05] machines were not working. 222

[127:08] locations that we had to send

[127:10] technicians to to get uh the machine up

[127:13] and running.

[127:14] >> In New Jersey, the Sequoia machines had

[127:16] printer or mechanical problems. Polling

[127:18] locations issued paper ballots and had

[127:21] voting machines replaced. Broward

[127:23] County, Florida, a 90minute delay

[127:25] because of activation messups.

[127:27] >> Number of people that were uh sent away

[127:28] and told to come back. I hope that they

[127:30] have the perseverance and come back and

[127:32] get the their votes cast.

[127:36] These of course are the observable

[127:38] problems with the machines. Now none of

[127:39] this actually shows how the votes are

[127:41] tallied at the end of the day and we

[127:43] might see some additional problems as

[127:44] that process continues. Lou

[127:47] >> Kitty, thank you very much. Kitty

[127:48] Pilgrim joining me now. Uh I'm joined by

[127:50] three political analysts who have

[127:53] credentials beyond compare. Joined by uh

[127:57] Ed Rollins. He's the Republican

[127:58] strategist, former White House political

[128:00] director Errol Lewis, columnist for New

[128:02] York Daily News, and Robert Zimmerman,

[128:05] Democratic strategist and fundraiser. Uh

[128:07] let me uh turn to you first, Errol. Uh

[128:09] these early exit polls suggesting uh uh

[128:12] the there is a a relatively strong

[128:15] turnout and a strong reaction uh in some

[128:18] cases on issues that weren't

[128:20] anticipated, particularly corruption.

[128:22] >> Well, that's right. the um the earlier

[128:24] segment that talked about where

[128:26] everybody said their concerns were was

[128:28] sort of the reverse of what we've been

[128:30] hearing for weeks. And I think what that

[128:31] means is that when people are listening

[128:33] to these ads that tens of millions of

[128:35] dollars are being invested in, when

[128:37] people are watching all of these news

[128:38] reports, they're taking their own

[128:39] message from it. And in many individual

[128:41] races, corruption was the main issue.

[128:43] Ed, uh we've heard uh the White House uh

[128:46] very confidence is on Malvo reporting

[128:48] that uh the president Laura Bush very

[128:51] confident. Uh we're hearing that Nancy

[128:53] Pelosi is almost giddy in anticipation

[128:55] of the results here. What do you make of

[128:57] it?

[128:57] >> Well, I think there's been a tremendous

[128:58] turnout today and I think both sides

[128:59] have turned out their own vote, but the

[129:00] critical thing is the independents

[129:02] turning out. Independents are turning

[129:03] out. We're going to lose Republicans big

[129:05] time because they're going to break

[129:06] against us two to one. And I feel that

[129:08] they probably are and I think they're

[129:09] the ones that are most concerned

[129:10] probably about the corruption. You know,

[129:12] it's a very it's a very important point

[129:13] I had to bring up. In 2004, the

[129:15] Republicans ran Bush's re-election by

[129:17] trying to build the Republican base and

[129:19] focusing only on their base at the

[129:21] expense of the independents. Democrats

[129:23] have targeted independents very

[129:24] aggressively. And in fact, they're

[129:26] expanding their base by gaining more of

[129:28] that independent vote.

[129:29] >> Okay, we will be back uh with these

[129:31] gentlemen throughout the broadcast here.

[129:33] We appreciate it. Coming up next, we'll

[129:35] have more from our political panel and

[129:37] Bill Snyder will also be here. He'll

[129:39] have the latest exit poll information

[129:42] for us and his analysis. We'll also have

[129:44] live reports from key Senate and House

[129:46] races all across the country. A great

[129:48] deal more. It's the beginning of a very

[129:51] exciting night. Stay with us.

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[132:35] >> Welcome back to our special election

[132:37] night coverage. Political scandal, voter

[132:39] frustration, drawing voters to the polls

[132:42] within the hour. We'll see the first

[132:44] results in this election where the party

[132:46] controlling the Senate could change or

[132:48] not. Ed Henry reports from Virginia

[132:51] tonight where there has been record

[132:53] voter turnout for the Senate race.

[132:55] charges of racism and immorality being

[132:59] uh charged and countercharged in that

[133:01] race. Bob Franken reporting tonight from

[133:02] Ohio where frustrated voters are looking

[133:05] for a senator who will fight for

[133:06] American workers and Jonathan Frerieded

[133:09] reporting tonight from Missouri, one of

[133:10] the tightest Senate races in the nation.

[133:12] We begin with Ed Henry in Richmond,

[133:15] Virginia. Ed,

[133:17] I'm here at the campaign headquarters of

[133:19] Republican Senator George Allen. As you

[133:21] know, he had dreams just a few months

[133:22] ago of running for president in 2008.

[133:25] Now his back is against the wall on a

[133:27] collision course with Democratic

[133:28] challenger Jim Webb. A very tight race

[133:31] as you mentioned. Turnout very high. The

[133:33] absentee ballots alone, there were

[133:34] 44,000 last time there was a midterm

[133:36] election in 2002. This time we're told

[133:39] 131,000 absentee ballots were requested

[133:42] this time around. The Allen team is

[133:44] hoping uh that that high turnout is

[133:47] because conservatives are turning out to

[133:49] vote for him and to vote for a state

[133:51] level ban on same-sex marriage. the

[133:54] Democrat Jim Webb hoping it's just the

[133:55] opposite that people are turning out on

[133:57] Iraq, an issue that Webb has been

[133:59] demanding a new course uh for the war

[134:02] and also turning against Allen who had a

[134:04] lot of miscues such as that infamous

[134:05] Macakaco moment. The polls will be

[134:07] closing at 7, but we may not have an

[134:09] early answer. This is some a race that

[134:11] could go late into the night. One thing

[134:13] is certain while the we don't know

[134:14] what's happening in the Senate race just

[134:16] yet. It's clear that Senator Allen's

[134:17] hopes of running for president are

[134:19] really on hold now. Clearly. Luke,

[134:21] >> thank you very much. Jed Henry. Ohio, a

[134:24] state tarred by political scandal and

[134:26] economy challenged on all fronts. In

[134:29] Kyahoga County, polling locations, the

[134:32] Ohio Democratic Party has filed a

[134:34] lawsuit to keep those polls open late to

[134:36] ensure ballot security and to make

[134:38] certain that ballots are accurately

[134:40] counted. The Ohio Democrats signing

[134:42] numerous problems with those e voting

[134:44] machines early in the day. Bob Franken

[134:47] is in Columbus, Ohio, and joins us now.

[134:49] Bob,

[134:51] >> there have been a series of problems

[134:52] over the last several elections uh in

[134:54] Kyoga County, which is Cleveland. But

[134:56] let's put this in another context. The

[134:58] Cleveland area is the Democratic

[135:00] stronghold, and so the Democratic Party

[135:02] would like to maximize the turnout

[135:04] there. It has been low, as it

[135:06] traditionally is during the day. The

[135:08] large bulk of the voters there come in

[135:10] after the working hours. There's a

[135:12] little bit less than an hour and a half.

[135:14] So within the hour that lawsuit was

[135:16] filed by the Ohio Democratic Party in

[135:18] federal court in Northern Ohio. The

[135:20] Democratic candidate Sherid Brown is

[135:22] looking for every vote he can. He is uh

[135:26] higher in the polls. That was what was

[135:27] the prediction was made. So he made his

[135:29] vote today uh in an area just west of

[135:32] Cleveland. His Republican counterpart in

[135:34] this race, the incumbent Senator Mike

[135:36] DeWine, voted also in the Dayton area.

[135:38] Both have headed to their campaign

[135:40] headquarters now to check out the result

[135:42] in a state that has experienced a a

[135:45] tremendous intensity and interest

[135:47] because of the variety of scandals and

[135:49] corruption charges and of course the

[135:51] interest in the Iraq war. But right now

[135:53] the focus is once again where it should

[135:55] not be in the minds of many on the

[135:57] Cleveland area and the problems they're

[135:58] having with the voting machines. Lou,

[136:00] >> thank you. Bob Franken reporting from

[136:02] Columbus in Missouri. The battle there

[136:04] between Senate Incumbent Jim Tenant and

[136:07] Democrat Clare McKascal has been one of

[136:09] the nation's tightest races. Jonathan

[136:12] Freed is in St. Louis tonight and joins

[136:14] us now. Jonathan

[136:17] Lou, it has been one of the tightest

[136:18] races and because of that, everybody has

[136:20] been focusing on the turnout here. The

[136:22] big question, would it be as big as

[136:24] predicted? And so far, what we're

[136:26] hearing from reports coming into us from

[136:28] around the state is that yes, that is

[136:30] the case. The turnout today so far is

[136:32] higher than has been uh has been normal

[136:35] for midterm elections. Both campaigns

[136:38] are trying to spin it their way when we

[136:39] talked to them today, Lou. They're

[136:41] saying that uh their base is coming out

[136:44] strongly. And in fact, both candidates

[136:46] say that they had to wait in line at

[136:48] their own polling places today when it

[136:50] came time to vote. Again, when a race is

[136:52] as tight as this one, every person that

[136:54] you can get to the polls counts. And

[136:56] that stem cell debate that's also going

[136:58] on here is bringing even more people to

[137:00] the polls. So everybody hanging on

[137:02] waiting to see how one side affects the

[137:04] other and one campaign here affects the

[137:06] other. Lou, thank you very much.

[137:08] Jonathan Freed from St. Louis. Uh and we

[137:11] will be obviously covering uh the

[137:13] Missouri race very very carefully and

[137:15] one suspects throughout the evening

[137:17] here. Uh Errol, let me turn to you and

[137:19] ask you. We're hearing a lot about heavy

[137:22] turnout from our reporters uh and we're

[137:25] getting uh reports of it across the

[137:26] country. Who's the beneficiary of that

[137:29] overall on balance or can you make that

[137:31] judgment?

[137:31] >> Well, you can, but to do so, you'd have

[137:33] to throw in an important fact that

[137:35] hasn't been talked about a lot, which is

[137:36] that there are a lot of governor seats

[137:37] that are up uh today. There are nine

[137:41] vacant seats that are being vacated by

[137:43] Republicans, one by Democrats. So, you

[137:45] can sort of see that there's going to be

[137:47] um a lot more emphasis going in the the

[137:50] Democrat direction where you have

[137:52] challengers trying to sort of snatch

[137:54] seats. A lot of time and effort has been

[137:56] focused on them. And in a place like

[137:57] Ohio where there's a bitterly contested

[137:59] race for for governor, it's going to

[138:01] spill over into all the other races. And

[138:02] to the extent that it's been a question

[138:04] about national parties trying to push

[138:06] their agenda, I think you start to see

[138:09] all kinds of of new effects, new people

[138:11] coming out who maybe don't care so much

[138:12] about what's going on in Iraq, but care

[138:14] a great deal about what's going to

[138:15] happen in their state house.

[138:16] >> Do you agree?

[138:17] >> I think this is pretty much about the

[138:19] war. This this I think this campaign has

[138:20] been nationalized. Traditionally,

[138:22] there's a 30% drop off from presidential

[138:24] elections, which was a record high

[138:26] election 2004, the highest in ' 68. I

[138:28] think this will be a record high and I

[138:30] think it's all about I think it's been a

[138:31] nationalized election and I do think a

[138:32] lot of it's the war corruption the way

[138:34] Congress has dealt

[138:36] >> that sounds the way Ed puts it as if the

[138:38] Democrats will be the beneficiary of the

[138:41] of the strategy. Rahm Emanuel has to be

[138:43] given a lot of credit for the strategy

[138:46] that he employed. Right. Well, I think

[138:47] it was clearly the strategy of the Dem

[138:49] of Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi, Schumer,

[138:52] Senator Schumer and Reed to nationalize

[138:54] this election and to make a referendum

[138:56] on George Bush and he certainly played

[138:57] into their hands. If you

[138:59] >> Well, we want to turn uh because

[139:01] obviously whatever happens tonight will

[139:04] def define the balance of power for the

[139:06] remainder of President George W. Bush's

[139:08] presidency. Let's turn to CNN senior

[139:11] analyst Jeff Greenfield. Uh Jeff, your

[139:13] thoughts? Well, you heard about three

[139:15] endangered Republican Senate seats. If

[139:19] Republicans have hopes of retaining the

[139:20] Senate, I want to show you two states

[139:22] very quickly. One of them uh is Rhode

[139:24] Island uh where this should have been a

[139:26] putaway for the Democrats. It's one of

[139:28] the bluest states. Lincoln Chaffy, the

[139:30] incumbent Republican, is the most

[139:32] independent or least loyal, depending on

[139:34] your politics, Republican there is.

[139:36] Broke with the Bush administration on

[139:37] tax cuts on the war in Iraq. Wrote in

[139:40] the name of George Bush's father in

[139:42] 2004. The one thing he hasn't done is

[139:44] leave his party. Sheldon White House was

[139:45] seen to be a favorite. In recent weeks,

[139:48] there's been in recent days there's been

[139:49] a sense that maybe voters are coming

[139:51] back and admiring Chaffy for his

[139:53] independence. Obviously, we'll see how

[139:54] that plays out tonight. The other race

[139:56] where Republicans have hopes is a

[139:58] Democratic seat in an open Democratic

[140:00] seat in Maryland, one of the bluest of

[140:02] the blue states. Ben Carden, the

[140:04] Democrat, a congressman won a narrow

[140:06] primary against Quasium Fumi, a former

[140:08] congressman, an African-American. And

[140:09] Cardon's being pushed very hard by

[140:11] Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. The

[140:13] theory is if Steel can can pick up 20%

[140:16] 25 30% of the black vote, they can take

[140:18] that seat away from Democrats and deny

[140:20] Democrats control of the Senate. As we

[140:22] have pointed out, we'll let you know as

[140:24] soon as we know.

[140:25] >> Exactly. Jeeoff, thanks very much, Jeff

[140:27] Greenfield. Just ahead, we're receiving

[140:30] obviously new exit poll information. Uh

[140:33] we'll be bringing you the very latest on

[140:35] that as we receive it. uh and analysis

[140:38] of course. And from Walmart to Wacovia,

[140:41] the big spenders in this election come

[140:43] straight from corporate America. We'll

[140:44] have a special report on the best

[140:46] government money can buy and much more

[140:49] as America votes 2006. We'll have live

[140:52] reports from the key House races across

[140:54] the country. And our election coverage

[140:56] will continue here on CNN throughout the

[140:59] night. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern,

[141:01] Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Paulon,

[141:04] and I will be bringing you the projected

[141:06] winners from all across the country.

[141:08] Then at 12 midnight Eastern, a special

[141:11] edition of Larry King Live. Stay with

[141:14] us.

[141:19] >> And um they were really good and they

[141:22] and they lived in the house. Want to

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[142:58] >> WE'RE THE PUCKHEADS.

[142:59] >> THE PUCK HEADS.

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[143:29] >> Meet the heroes of Baghdad's Combat

[143:31] Hospital. CNN Saturday and Sunday night,

[143:33] 8 Eastern.

[143:36] >> Our coverage tonight wouldn't be

[143:38] complete without mentioning the biggest

[143:40] driving force in this election, special

[143:42] interests and corporate America. With an

[143:45] estimated $2.6 $6 billion dollars being

[143:48] spent over the course of this campaign

[143:49] and election. This election is expected

[143:52] to be the most expensive midterm race in

[143:54] history. Lisa Sylvester has our report.

[143:57] Lisa Lou, to knock out an incumbent and

[143:59] win a House seat now costs a minimum of

[144:02] $1 million to take over a Senate

[144:05] position. Starting cost $7 million. And

[144:08] guess who's paying for these elections?

[144:10] Big corporate money.

[144:15] Business interests provide 75% of the

[144:17] money that is given to candidates and

[144:20] parties at the federal level on average.

[144:21] And that's true again this cycle. The US

[144:24] Chamber of Commerce spent $20 million

[144:26] this year just on federal races. $10

[144:28] million in fact in just the final days

[144:30] on calls and mailings. The Business

[144:32] Interest Political Action Committee

[144:34] spent another $3 million. And Walmart

[144:37] tops the list of companies that have

[144:39] donated the most according to the Center

[144:41] for Responsive Politics. more than a

[144:43] million dollars on the federal level and

[144:45] another million dollars for state races.

[144:47] Of course, big corporate donors are

[144:49] paying, but they also want to see a

[144:51] return on their investment. A few

[144:52] million now translating to friends in

[144:53] high places later. And this year, the

[144:55] share of big business money going to

[144:57] Democrats has increased, but they're

[144:58] still running behind Republicans. Lou,

[145:00] >> all right. And it is the story no one

[145:03] wants to report, uh, it seems across

[145:05] national media. Lisa Sylvester, thank

[145:07] you very much. Uh, of course, this

[145:09] broadcast is an exception to that.

[145:10] Robert Zimmerman, what in the world are

[145:13] we doing when we have reached a point

[145:14] we're spending 2.6 billion on these

[145:16] campaigns, corporate America funding

[145:18] both political parties? How can we? This

[145:20] is obscene.

[145:21] >> It is obscene and it threatens our

[145:23] democracy as profoundly as the ebo as

[145:25] the e voting systems threaten our

[145:27] democracy. And until we move in the

[145:29] direction of public financing of

[145:31] campaigns, we're never going to rid the

[145:33] corruption that corporate financing of

[145:35] congressional races always leads to.

[145:37] >> Ed Rollins, do you concur or not? I I'm

[145:39] not for public financing, but I

[145:40] certainly concur. There's there's a

[145:42] couple congressional races that'll be 5

[145:43] to7 million in this cycle, which used to

[145:46] be a senator gumnatorial race in a big a

[145:48] big state. It's just it's it's uh it's

[145:50] out of hand. It's it's way too much

[145:52] money. You don't need that kind of money

[145:53] to be spent uh in these these races. Uh

[145:56] and it's uh it's overkill.

[145:58] >> Arrol,

[145:58] >> you don't want to uh minimize the the

[146:01] effect of this, but let's keep in mind

[146:02] the unions have been players in this

[146:03] game, too. uh the Service Employees

[146:05] International Union, they're mostly

[146:06] hospital workers, janitors, and the

[146:08] like. They spent about $35 million

[146:10] according to their emails, contacting

[146:12] their members, pushing people to the

[146:13] polls and so forth. Um I think and and

[146:16] you see that play out in the uh

[146:18] Democratic plank. If the Democrats

[146:19] should win, one of the things they've

[146:20] promised is to change the rules to make

[146:22] it easier for unions to get into the

[146:23] workplace.

[146:24] >> Well, let's ask Robert Zimmerman how

[146:25] they sort the out sort that out. They

[146:27] get the union money and they get all

[146:28] that corporate money. Is it going to be

[146:30] evenly divied up here? I mean, how does

[146:32] that work?

[146:33] >> It's not about that. is about changing

[146:34] the way we finance our congressional

[146:35] campaigns and our presidential campaign.

[146:38] >> He's a lonely voice. This race, this

[146:40] race will be more will be more money

[146:41] will be spent in this midterm election

[146:43] for probably 30 or 40 targeted races

[146:46] than the presidential race in 200

[146:48] >> and nobody has run a campaign based

[146:50] nobody's run a campaign based on getting

[146:51] money out of out of elections which

[146:53] shows you how principle of public

[146:55] financing in 2000 and Lou you were a

[146:58] strong leader of that around that issue

[147:00] as well and that was important to make

[147:01] people aware of it. I mean, we have to

[147:03] come up with an intelligent way in which

[147:05] to to conduct these races so that

[147:07] candidates at least are running on

[147:09] issues uh on a a platform and agenda

[147:12] that is focused on the interest of the

[147:14] common good and the national interest,

[147:16] not on special interests or or corporate

[147:18] America or organized labor. We will

[147:21] continue in just a moment. Coming up

[147:22] next, explosive new exit poll

[147:24] information has just come in as the

[147:26] president and the Republican party made

[147:29] a miscalculation in this election. Bill

[147:31] Snyder will tell us what those exit

[147:33] polls are suggesting. Also, live reports

[147:36] on some pivotal House races and reports

[147:39] of frustration caused by those new e

[147:41] voting machines. They've been pouring in

[147:44] all day. How big is the problem? How

[147:46] well are the jurisdictions around the

[147:48] country managing the problems? We'll

[147:50] have the latest for you. And also, be

[147:52] sure to stay with CNN for our prime time

[147:55] election coverage. Wolf Blitzer,

[147:57] Anderson Cooper, Paula and I reporting

[147:59] live from New York beginning at 700 p.m.

[148:02] Eastern here tonight. And there will be

[148:04] special election coverage on Larry King

[148:06] Live tonight from Los Angeles beginning

[148:08] at midnight Eastern. And I'll be right

[148:11] back. Stay with us.

[148:20] America Votes 2006 is sponsored by AP.

[148:24] Don't vote until you know where the

[148:26] candidates stand on the issues. Visit

[148:28] don'tvote.com. Log on to

[148:30] cnn.com/election

[148:32] for analysis of this year's midterm

[148:34] election races.

[148:36] I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

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[148:58] >> Don't fall for the song and dance. Vote

[149:00] the issues, not just the personality.

[149:02] See where the candidates stand at

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[149:05] >> I'm going to need to go to that 4:00

[149:06] meeting. I think I think I should

[149:08] probably send it to you right now.

[149:10] >> Okay. Do you want to talk to Brian?

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[150:22] Exit information, exit poll information

[150:24] is pouring in. And over the last few

[150:27] minutes, new information from those exit

[150:28] polls. Bill Snyder has the very latest

[150:30] for us. Bill Lou, the economy was

[150:33] supposed to be the issue that paid off

[150:34] for the White House. Republicans were

[150:36] running hard on the good economy. The

[150:38] stock market is booming. Gas prices are

[150:40] dropping. But guess what? When we asked

[150:42] voters was the which was the economy a

[150:44] very important issue in the way you

[150:46] voted among those interviewed at least

[150:48] so far around the country those who said

[150:50] economy extremely important were voting

[150:52] by over 20 points for the Democratic

[150:55] candidate for the House of

[150:56] Representatives. It looks like the

[150:57] economy turned out to be a Democratic

[151:00] not a Republican issue. Terrorism. What

[151:02] about people who said terrorism was

[151:04] extremely important? Very important

[151:05] issue for Republicans in O2 and '04. How

[151:08] did it do this time? Well, majority of

[151:10] voters who cited terrorism did vote

[151:13] Republican, but notice how close it is.

[151:15] 53% voted Republican, 45% Democrats.

[151:19] Democrats are becoming more competitive

[151:21] on the terrorism issue. And finally, an

[151:23] issue of great concern to viewers of

[151:25] this program, illegal immigration.

[151:27] People who said that was a very

[151:29] important issue. How did they vote? The

[151:31] answer is they split. 51% Republican,

[151:35] 46% Democratic. a very close split on

[151:38] the illegal immigration issue. Neither

[151:40] party is particularly preferred.

[151:42] >> Okay. On a host of issues, apparently,

[151:45] Bill Snyder, thank you very much. One

[151:47] name is having a major impact in two

[151:49] House races tonight. In Florida's uh

[151:52] 14th district, Mark Foley's name is on

[151:55] the ballot. The current GOP candidate is

[151:57] not. And in Western New York, a senior

[152:00] Republican is tainted by the Foley

[152:01] scandal. John Zerella is in Florida on

[152:04] the race for Mark Foley's vacated House

[152:06] seat. Mary Snow is in Western New York

[152:09] where fallout from the Foley scandal has

[152:11] been dogging Congressman Tom Reynolds

[152:13] campaign. We begin with John Zerella in

[152:16] Jupiter, Florida. John

[152:18] Lou, we at the Jupiter Beach Resort

[152:20] where Tim Foley, the Democratic

[152:22] candidate in the 16th Congressional

[152:23] District, is hoping to be here a little

[152:24] later to celebrate a victory. It won't

[152:26] be easy. It's going to be hard fought.

[152:28] The Republican candidate, Joe Negron,

[152:30] handpicked by the party to replace uh uh

[152:33] Mr. Foley, has made strong strides in

[152:35] the uh in the last weeks, catching up,

[152:37] closing the gap. And uh Tim Foley said

[152:40] all along that he expected that. This

[152:41] after all has been a Tim Tim Mahoney has

[152:44] said all along, this has been a

[152:45] Republican seat for a quarter of a

[152:47] century. He didn't expect anything less

[152:49] than a tight race. And that's apparently

[152:51] what we've got here tonight. Neck and

[152:53] neck as the polls close here in 25

[152:56] minutes. Now, when people went to the

[152:57] polls here in Palm Beach County, what

[152:59] they saw on the on the ballot was Mark

[153:02] Foley's name right there at the top. The

[153:03] Republicans say they believe that the

[153:05] electors, the the voters are smart

[153:07] enough to know that a vote for Foley is

[153:10] actually a vote for Negron. In fact, the

[153:11] Republicans kind of made a joke out of

[153:13] it, saying punch Foley for Negron. Uh

[153:16] hoping that of course that Republicans

[153:18] will figure it out and will go to the

[153:20] polls and vote for Joe Negron. But

[153:22] again, Lou, this is going to be close.

[153:24] Very close. And again, the poll's

[153:26] closing here in about 25 minutes. Luke,

[153:28] >> John, thank you very much. John Zerella,

[153:30] he'll be with us throughout the evening

[153:32] here tonight. Fallout from the Mark

[153:34] Foley scandal still surrounds the House

[153:36] Republican leadership, Congressman Tom

[153:38] Reynolds, admitting that he had been

[153:40] told about Foley's inappropriate emails

[153:43] long before they were made public. He

[153:45] subsequently apologized to his

[153:47] constituents for not doing more, but

[153:48] that may not have been enough. Mary Snow

[153:51] now live at the area county Republican

[153:53] headquarters in Buffalo, New York. Mary,

[153:56] >> well loose, some voters we spoke with

[153:57] said they are not ready to be so

[154:00] forgiving. This is a very tight race and

[154:02] some here are bracing for what could be

[154:04] a very long night here in Erie County,

[154:07] the biggest in this district, also home

[154:09] to both candidates. Voter turnout,

[154:12] according to the board of elections, is

[154:13] said to be moderate to heavy and that is

[154:16] encouraging to both camps. However,

[154:19] voters we spoke with today say the

[154:21] Reynolds handling of the Foley matter

[154:23] was a big part in their decision-making.

[154:26] Even supporters of Reynolds who say they

[154:28] voted for him were expressed that they

[154:30] were troubled by how he handled it.

[154:32] Reynolds in the past three days has

[154:35] launched an unprecedented get out the

[154:37] vote drive in his district. this against

[154:41] his Democratic challenger, Jack Davis,

[154:44] an independent businessman who pumped

[154:46] over $2 million of his own money into

[154:49] this campaign. Just recently, he pledged

[154:51] not to take a salary if he is elected,

[154:54] saying he would take a token $1 salary

[154:57] each year. Now, these two candidates ran

[155:00] against each other two years ago, and

[155:02] Davis lost by 12 points. But tonight,

[155:06] both camps are hesitant to make any kind

[155:09] of projections. Lou,

[155:11] >> thank you very much. Mary Snow from

[155:12] Buffalo, New York. Joining us once

[155:15] again, our senior political analyst Jeff

[155:16] Greenfield with more for us on the

[155:18] battle for control of the House. Jeff.

[155:20] >> Okay, Lou. A quick primmer. This is the

[155:22] old house as Rosemary Clooney once sang.

[155:24] 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats, one

[155:27] independent who votes with the

[155:28] Democrats. You need a shift of 15 seats.

[155:30] Here's what's driving the Republicans to

[155:32] a certain sense of pessimism. In state

[155:34] after state, many in House Republicans

[155:37] are endangered. New York and

[155:38] Pennsylvania where their gubernatorial

[155:40] candidates and pre-election polls have

[155:41] run far behind. As many as eight or nine

[155:44] Republicans could lose their house seats

[155:46] there. In Ohio, where the Republican

[155:48] party's been mired in scandal, four or

[155:50] five House Republicans endangered. But

[155:52] they're also in trouble in seats in

[155:54] Indiana, in Kentucky, two in Florida,

[155:57] and even out west, which in presidential

[155:59] years, the Interior West has voted

[156:01] solidly red. You see Republican

[156:03] incumbents in trouble in in Arizona, in

[156:06] Colorado, in Idaho. President Bush was

[156:08] campaigning in Kansas for Congressman

[156:11] and former four-minute mileer Jim Ryan.

[156:12] That seat should have been utterly safe.

[156:15] And across the country, at best,

[156:17] Republicans can point to three or four

[156:19] Democratic incumbents they might be able

[156:21] to beat. That in a nutshell is why so

[156:24] many people believe that the House is

[156:25] going to turn Democratic before the

[156:27] night is over.

[156:28] >> Jeeoff, thank you very much. Jeff

[156:29] Greenfield returning to uh to our panel

[156:32] here. Uh is it your sense uh that we can

[156:36] make draw some pretty strong conclusions

[156:39] from the fact that the president, as

[156:40] Jeff Greenfield said, had to campaign in

[156:43] places like Kansas, which uh you would

[156:46] think would be a relatively safe state

[156:48] given history.

[156:49] >> I think there are two issues here at

[156:50] work. one, you're seeing a wide diverse

[156:53] collection of Democrats running around

[156:54] the country, competitive in Idaho,

[156:56] Colorado, Nevada, in different regions,

[156:58] and they're running as mainstream

[157:00] Democrats. They're running uh and much

[157:02] much showing much greater diversity than

[157:03] in the past. The other point, though, is

[157:05] that's so critical is that when George

[157:07] Bush shows up in a competitive state

[157:09] like in Florida, the Republican

[157:10] candidate for governor disappears,

[157:12] >> right?

[157:13] >> We we thought we were election proof

[157:14] because of reortionment. And obviously,

[157:16] this election is proving we're not. Uh

[157:18] Tom Reynolds, a very fine man at the

[157:19] head of the congressional committee, was

[157:21] a very prominent speaker candidate for

[157:23] speaker uh to replace Denny Hastard and

[157:25] obviously he's fighting for his life.

[157:27] >> Errol, the the idea that uh that Tom

[157:30] Reynolds is in trouble, Jack Davis

[157:31] taking him on in Buffalo on the issue of

[157:34] basic economic issues irrespective of

[157:36] what some of these exit polls are saying

[157:38] in doing so well. The implications to

[157:41] you?

[157:41] >> Oh, absolutely. Uh up upstate New York

[157:43] is a disaster economically. It's been

[157:44] one of the main focuses of of all the

[157:46] other statewide races that are going on.

[157:48] And um even though it may not show up in

[157:49] the polls in this nationalized climate,

[157:51] the reality is Western uh New York,

[157:53] Buffalo, it's been in trouble for a long

[157:55] long time. There's been tens of

[157:56] thousands of layoffs, mostly upstate New

[157:58] York this year alone.

[157:59] >> And that race between Reynolds and uh

[158:02] Davis is one of those that has moved

[158:04] back and forth. The most recent polls, I

[158:06] believe, showing just about a four-point

[158:08] advantage uh back again with Reynolds.

[158:10] But uh it is one of the tight ones that

[158:12] we're going to be watching here

[158:13] throughout the evening. And

[158:14] >> Davis isn't a very good candidate. The

[158:16] best thing that's happened for Reynolds

[158:17] is Davis is not a very good candidate.

[158:18] He may pull it out because of that.

[158:21] >> Just make a quick point. I think what

[158:22] really hurt Reynolds was not just that

[158:24] he knew about the Foley scandal, but

[158:25] after he knew about it, he encouraged

[158:26] Foley to run again.

[158:29] >> Just ahead, we'll have the first

[158:31] projections on election results here in

[158:33] just a few moments. And I'll be back

[158:35] with our distinguished panel of uh

[158:37] analyst strategists, journalists,

[158:39] editorial board members, and folks who

[158:42] really know. And I'll be talking with an

[158:44] e- voting activist who can update us on

[158:46] what state uh leaders are saying about e

[158:49] voting nationwide. And this campaign

[158:53] season has been convulsed by controversy

[158:55] and scandal from Foley to Carrie to

[158:58] Haggard. We'll take a look back just a

[159:01] little ways back. Stay with us.

[159:15] I saw several girls raped.

[159:16] >> Raped right in front of my eyes. Then

[159:19] they burned them to death.

[159:21] >> They killed my sons.

[159:23] >> Then my husband and my brother.

[159:25] >> The government just wants us to

[159:27] disappear.

[159:31] The rest of the world isn't doing

[159:33] anything.

[159:34] >> isn't doing anything.

[159:36] >> Anything.

[159:42] >> 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Be right

[159:44] back here at CNN for American Morning.

[159:47] Election night's best moments and

[159:49] biggest surprises. American Morning 5:00

[159:51] a.m.

[160:17] The Beavers take on UCLA live Saturday

[160:20] the 11th at 3:15 on CNW14.

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[162:02] We have just re received this word from

[162:05] Ohio. Our correspondent Bob Franken

[162:07] reporting that a federal district court

[162:09] judge there is right now writing an

[162:12] order to uh insist that the polls in 16

[162:15] precincts in Kyhoga County where there

[162:18] have been uh large numbers of e voting

[162:21] machine problems that those those polls

[162:24] remain open till at least 1000 p.m.

[162:27] tonight. Again, 16 precincts in Kyhoga

[162:31] County, that is the Cleveland area in

[162:34] Ohio where which has been beset by

[162:36] problems. But 16 precincts will be by

[162:39] federal order keeping their polls open

[162:41] until 10:00 uh tonight. Uh new reports

[162:46] keep coming in about problems and and

[162:48] not all over the country, but certainly

[162:50] in those states uh on the east coast in

[162:53] which we've got considerable focus. uh

[162:55] with the very latest for us. I'm joined

[162:57] by Warren Stewart. He is of Vote Trust

[163:00] USA. It's a group that is fielding

[163:02] tonight uh and today a barrage of

[163:04] complaints. Warren, uh this decision in

[163:07] Kyhoga County by the federal judge uh

[163:10] directly re related to those e voting

[163:12] troubles that we've all been fearing.

[163:15] >> Exactly. We've been having reports all

[163:17] day long from states across the country

[163:19] where machines have failed to uh boot up

[163:22] at the beginning of the day or have

[163:24] stopped working for one reason or the

[163:26] other. It's resulted in long lines. We

[163:29] have reports like that from well, of

[163:31] course, Ohio, uh Indiana, Mississippi,

[163:35] uh Kentucky, New Jersey, I could go on

[163:37] and on. Uh so we've had those sort of

[163:40] problems and uh we anticipate more of

[163:42] those. We've also had problems reported

[163:43] of uh vote switching on machines where

[163:47] uh either on the screen on a touchcreen

[163:49] where the the voters actually voting the

[163:51] the uh they vote for one candidate and

[163:53] it shows up for the other one or on the

[163:55] review screen they're seeing uh a

[163:57] candidate that they that they didn't

[163:58] vote for and uh that's happening in a

[164:01] lot of uh counties in Florida and also

[164:04] in Texas and we've seen that in Kentucky

[164:06] as well. So those are all big concerns,

[164:09] but I think uh in some ways the worst is

[164:11] yet to come because at the end of the

[164:12] day when they are merging all these uh

[164:15] totals together in the central

[164:16] tabulators, I think we're going to have

[164:18] a lot of uh it's going to be a long

[164:20] night.

[164:21] >> A long night uh is but at this point are

[164:24] you encouraged uh uh at all that we

[164:27] haven't had more problems reported in?

[164:30] >> Oh, good heavens. No, I would say

[164:31] there's uh I mean there have been so

[164:34] many calls to the various hotlines that

[164:36] have been set up and uh news reports as

[164:39] well and we have to assume that that's

[164:40] just a fraction of the actual incidents

[164:43] that are taking place.

[164:44] >> Warren, I was trying to look for some

[164:46] good news at all in those early reports

[164:49] on these breakdowns in e voting machines

[164:51] in particular. Warren Stewart of uh Vot

[164:54] Trust USA, you'll be with us throughout

[164:55] the evening. We appreciate it. Uh now

[164:58] let's turn back to the panel. Uh Errol

[165:01] Warren is saying that he's he he sees

[165:03] greater problems ahead. Uh how much of

[165:06] an implication are do you think this

[165:08] this will likely have on this election?

[165:10] >> Oh, it will it will certainly delay the

[165:12] the final outcome and if the outcome for

[165:15] the control of the house is at all

[165:16] close, we could be looking at this for

[165:18] days, hopefully not weeks. One of the

[165:20] things that goes on here is that there

[165:22] was a a push to put in all of these new

[165:23] machines, right,

[165:24] >> without any real sort of standards and I

[165:27] mean the testing, the the recent uh um

[165:29] hacking democracy, the the documentary

[165:32] that pointed out all of these problems.

[165:33] I mean, the punchline at the end was

[165:35] that $20 million was going to be spent

[165:36] in Ohio on technology that that show

[165:40] proved was not reliable.

[165:42] >> And here we are in Ohio wondering about

[165:43] the vote. Well,

[165:44] >> the other thing is there going to be if

[165:46] these are closed elections, which I

[165:47] assume they are going to be, it's a

[165:49] tremendous number of absentee ballots

[165:50] that still have to be counted and that

[165:52] could go on for days. And I think that

[165:54] anything that that creates an image that

[165:56] people's votes may not being be counted

[165:58] or counted fairly is going to put up

[166:00] darkness over this election. Let's call

[166:02] it what it is, a political scandal. the

[166:05] e- voting system, the way absentee

[166:06] ballots are being mishandled, being

[166:08] rejected for lack of postage, and for

[166:10] that matter, the way voter ID cards are

[166:12] being used, and in fact, in some cases

[166:14] being misused to block people from

[166:16] voting.

[166:17] >> Okay, Robert Zimmerman, thank you very

[166:19] much. Uh, this midterm campaign has been

[166:22] like no other. Mudslinging, celebrity

[166:25] pitches, personal attacks, moral

[166:27] misbehavior, scandal, and a lot more.

[166:30] Christine Romans reports on all of that.

[166:33] >> Here we go. It began with what is now

[166:36] known as the Maka moment and quickly

[166:38] devolved.

[166:39] >> Welcome. Let's give a welcome to Maka

[166:41] here. Welcome to America.

[166:44] >> From a racially insensitive remark to

[166:47] lurid instant messages, Congressman Mark

[166:50] Foley coming on to teenage boys, coming

[166:52] out of the closet and rushing right into

[166:55] rehab.

[166:56] >> He has never had sexual contact with a

[166:58] minor between the ages in of 13 and 15.

[167:02] He was molested by a clergyman. Mark

[167:05] Foley wants you to know that he is a gay

[167:07] man.

[167:08] >> Next comes a celebrity slugfest over

[167:11] stem cell research.

[167:12] >> What you do in Missouri matters to

[167:14] millions of Americans. Americans like

[167:17] me.

[167:18] >> This is really shameless of Michael J.

[167:20] Fox. Either he didn't take his

[167:21] medication or he's acting one of the

[167:23] two. And then along comes what Senator

[167:25] John Kerry describes as a joke gone bad,

[167:28] telling students, "If you don't study,

[167:30] >> you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

[167:32] >> An apparent indictment of the

[167:34] intelligence of US troops. Democrats

[167:36] cringed and the White House demanded an

[167:39] apology.

[167:39] >> This is an absolute insult.

[167:41] >> Carrie called him a stuffed soup and

[167:43] Rush Limba doughy.

[167:44] >> I apologize to no one for my criticism

[167:47] of the president and of his broken

[167:50] policy. A day later, Carrie did

[167:52] apologize. For a moment there, watching

[167:54] these two going at it almost felt like

[167:57] 2004. But then came Pastor Ted, an

[168:00] evangelical adviser to the White House,

[168:03] clumsily answering allegations he

[168:05] frequented a gay prostitute and used

[168:07] drugs.

[168:08] >> I called him to buy some meth, but I

[168:10] threw it away. I went there for a

[168:12] massage.

[168:13] >> Finally admitting in a letter to his

[168:14] congregation,

[168:15] >> "The fact is I am guilty of sexual

[168:17] immorality. I am a deceiver and a liar.

[168:21] >> An American evangelical leader

[168:23] disgraced.

[168:26] >> Christine Romans uh with uh the the

[168:28] sorry side of this uh election uh and

[168:32] campaign. I want to turn for final

[168:34] thoughts to our panel here tonight.

[168:36] Errol Lewis.

[168:36] >> Um the outcome of this will be the first

[168:39] step towards the 2008 presidential

[168:41] elections. That's where all of the

[168:43] energy is going to go the day after this

[168:44] is finished. Possibly as early as

[168:46] tomorrow morning.

[168:47] >> I hope it's clean. I hope whoever wins

[168:48] wins it and there's not any any

[168:50] long-term disputes here.

[168:52] >> This election ultimately is about a very

[168:54] dramatic change in the direction of the

[168:55] country and it also reflects a dramatic

[168:57] change of the dem in the Democratic

[168:59] party because of the number of states

[169:00] Democrats are competitive in.

[169:02] >> Now the idea that this is the beginning

[169:05] of 2008 is not exactly living in the

[169:08] moment. Daryl, you want to

[169:11] >> Well, here in New York, where we have a

[169:13] certain senator whose last name you may

[169:15] recognize, Clinton, um who has spent

[169:17] more than anybody else running for

[169:18] office today, um there's some thought

[169:21] that this is step one uh towards 2008.

[169:25] >> She's the closest thing to an incumbent.

[169:26] There is no incumbent uh or no vice

[169:28] president. She's the closest thing to

[169:29] it.

[169:30] >> And is she your party's uh first choice?

[169:33] >> We have a number of very strong

[169:35] candidates for the Democratic

[169:36] nomination. If she chooses to run,

[169:38] she'll be among them.

[169:39] >> A little sorting out no matter what

[169:42] tonight.

[169:42] >> There's a couple other New Yorkers uh

[169:43] that may have an interest in it, too.

[169:45] Not I don't consider the governor one of

[169:47] them, but uh

[169:48] >> Wednesday morning,

[169:48] >> a lot of sorting out for the Republican

[169:50] party and the Democratic party on that

[169:52] one.

[169:52] >> We will be focusing on this election

[169:55] throughout the night here. CNN's America

[169:58] Votes 2006 election coverage continues

[170:00] here in just a moment. Stay with us.

[170:18] Coverage of America Votes 2006 is

[170:20] sponsored by Lunesta. Ask your doctor if

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[170:33] cnn.com/election

[170:34] for analysis of this year's midterm

[170:36] election races.

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[171:39] I'm handsome. I'm funny. I tell a good

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[172:16] Welcome to our coverage, America Votes

[172:19] 2006. Uh we're going to be going to uh

[172:23] uh our we'll have the results here in

[172:26] about 7 minutes and 47 seconds according

[172:28] to our countdown clock. We're going to

[172:30] have complete uh reports of every race

[172:32] in the country, analysis by the the very

[172:35] best folks in the business and we're

[172:37] going to start out with one of the very

[172:38] best folks, Wolf Blitzer.

[172:41] >> Lou, thank you very much. Uh, and in

[172:43] just a few minutes, the polls will close

[172:45] in four states, and we'll begin to find

[172:47] out what you have decided today. Do

[172:50] Democrats win back part or all of the

[172:53] United States Congress? Whose political

[172:55] stars will rise? Whose will fall? How

[172:58] much did Iraq or the war on terror or

[173:00] the economy or scandal drive this

[173:03] election? These are some of the

[173:05] questions we'll be answering tonight.

[173:07] Let's bring it over to our senior

[173:08] analyst, Jeff Greenfield. Now, there are

[173:10] four specific questions that you're

[173:12] looking at at the start of what could be

[173:14] a long night.

[173:15] >> You betcha. And this is what they are.

[173:16] The first question, a flood or a

[173:18] trickle. Indiana and Kentucky have five

[173:20] endangered House Republicans. There are

[173:22] two Democrats in Georgia who've been

[173:24] targeted by the Republicans for possible

[173:26] defeat. If the if the Republicans can

[173:28] hold many or most of those seats, maybe

[173:30] this is not a flood. If they lose most

[173:32] or all of them, they're in real trouble.

[173:34] The second question, an Ohio disaster.

[173:36] Ohio closes at 7:30. It's a state where

[173:38] the Republicans have been mired and

[173:40] scandal. The Republican candidate for

[173:41] governor is running far behind. There

[173:43] are four, perhaps even five House

[173:45] Republican seats that could be lost. And

[173:47] between that, Indiana and Kentucky. The

[173:49] Democrats would be twothirds of where

[173:50] they need to get control of the House.

[173:52] Here's the third question. As Virginia

[173:54] goes, so goes the Senate. Virginia has

[173:57] that race between George Allen, once

[173:58] considered a shoein and Jim Webb. If the

[174:00] Democrats hope to retake the Senate with

[174:02] the six seats net they need, they have

[174:05] to take Virginia. And the fourth

[174:07] question we'll have to wait till the end

[174:09] of the night to answer is what about

[174:10] presidential cattails? Bush campaigned

[174:12] in Georgia for the two Republicans

[174:14] challenging the Democrats. He went into

[174:15] other districts in this region. If in

[174:18] fact the president has political clout,

[174:20] we should see this in those states. And

[174:22] one more quick mention about Ohio. This

[174:24] is where the vaunted turnout machine of

[174:26] the Republicans delivered Ohio and

[174:28] therefore a second term to George Bush.

[174:30] It's an Ohio turnout versus a mood in

[174:33] Ohio that seems to run against

[174:34] Republicans. an early indicator as we

[174:36] continue to watch what's going on. This

[174:39] is only just beginning. I want to bring

[174:40] in Anderson Cooper. Uh he's got the best

[174:43] political team on television with him.

[174:45] Anderson. Uh Wolf, we want to talk to uh

[174:47] to some of our reporters both here in

[174:49] the studio and also in the field to find

[174:50] out exactly uh what their thoughts are,

[174:52] what they're going to be looking at over

[174:53] the next 15 20 minutes or so as some of

[174:56] these polls are closing. Uh John King,

[174:58] >> the earliest thing for me are the

[174:59] Republican incumbents in Kentucky and

[175:00] Indiana. If Republicans are losing in

[175:02] places like that, they're in for a very

[175:03] long night. They should be able to hold

[175:05] those seats in a good year. We know this

[175:06] is not a good year. Five or six of them

[175:08] in Kentucky and Indiana. That's a good

[175:09] early sign of how the night's going to

[175:10] go for the Republicans.

[175:11] >> Candy,

[175:12] >> I think I'll look something, you know,

[175:13] that takes us forward, and that is how

[175:16] did uh Democrats do in the rural vote.

[175:18] How do they do in some of these southern

[175:19] states? The South has been blocked off

[175:21] to Democrats uh in the presidential

[175:24] campaigns for a very long time. Are they

[175:26] going to make some inroads into those

[175:28] very red states? And are those inroads,

[175:30] do they show signs of any kind of

[175:32] permanence? Also joining us tonight from

[175:33] Newsweek magazine, Marcus Mary. Good to

[175:34] have you here. What are you going to be

[175:35] looking for?

[175:36] >> Good to be here, Anderson. Thanks. I'm

[175:37] going to be looking to see what happens

[175:38] with the women's vote. I'm going to be

[175:39] looking to see how many women turn out,

[175:41] how many women support Republicans. You

[175:43] may have noticed some of the places uh

[175:45] some polls in the the last few days of

[175:47] this campaign has showed a tightening

[175:49] with the Republicans still behind the

[175:50] Democrats as far as who voters are

[175:52] likely to vote for uh tonight. But what

[175:54] we've seen is some other polls have a

[175:56] larger gap. the ones that showed the

[175:58] Republicans catching up to the

[176:00] Democrats, those polls inevitably have

[176:02] to do with women turning toward

[176:03] Republican candidates at the last

[176:05] moment. The question is, we'll see from

[176:07] where who women vote for tonight whether

[176:09] or not Democrats have closed the deal or

[176:11] not.

[176:11] >> We are about 4 minutes away from polls

[176:13] closing. I want to talk to some of the

[176:14] best political minds in the country who

[176:15] we assembled here tonight.

[176:16] >> Where are they? If you find them, let me

[176:18] know.

[176:20] >> Uh James Carville, what are you looking

[176:22] for?

[176:22] >> You know, it comes in fast and furious.

[176:24] And I mean, I'm just going to be

[176:26] watching CNN. I'll be watching the

[176:27] monitor on the bottom and I'll be

[176:28] calling campaign managers and political

[176:30] professionals around the country to see

[176:32] if what they're seeing. I'm going to be

[176:34] talking to people at the Republican

[176:35] National Committee, people at the

[176:36] Democratic DCC to see if I can do some

[176:39] actual reporting as to what they're

[176:41] seeing on the ground.

[176:42] >> Paul Galla, what races you watching very

[176:43] closely?

[176:44] >> Oh, well, I have a stake in

[176:45] Pennsylvania. I'm I have one campaign

[176:46] I'm working for as a consultant. That's

[176:48] my friend Bob Case. He's running against

[176:49] Rick Santorm in a marquee senate race.

[176:52] But I'm also intrigued as the Bush

[176:53] coattail effect, something Jeff Jeff

[176:55] Greenfield was talking about before.

[176:56] Does he have coattails or is he like an

[176:58] anchor? You know, the the most stunning

[176:59] thing of the last week of the election

[177:01] was the Republican candidate for

[177:02] Florida, Charlie Chris, ducked President

[177:04] Bush, even though Bush went to do the

[177:06] event for Charlie, but he cut and run

[177:08] from the president. That tells you that,

[177:10] you know, Republicans pretty worried

[177:11] about Bush.

[177:12] >> Paul Vagala working in a cut and run

[177:13] mention. JC Watts, what are you

[177:14] watching?

[177:15] >> Uh Maryland, Michael Steel. I think

[177:17] Republicans have a real chance there.

[177:19] here and then as you all have said I

[177:20] think Indiana Kentucky the polls close

[177:22] early there will get some kind of feel

[177:24] for how this thing might trend over the

[177:26] next uh two or three hours

[177:27] >> about 3 minutes the polls closing Bill

[177:29] Bennett

[177:29] >> right Paul an advocate to the very end

[177:32] polls are still open and Paul is

[177:34] >> I like that you guys coordinated with

[177:35] your red ties

[177:35] >> you bet yeah we we know uh Indiana

[177:38] Kentucky early on it's a trickle then

[177:39] there's a flood but those two states

[177:41] will tell us a lot what in those

[177:42] congressional races I'm watching

[177:43] Maryland that's my home state rooting

[177:45] hard for Michael's steel

[177:46] >> uh a fascinating race we're going to

[177:48] have a lot of races to talk to. Let's go

[177:49] back to Wolfitz. Actually, let's get to

[177:50] Lou Dobs right now. Lou,

[177:52] >> not all the campaigning going on outside

[177:54] this studio. Uh, we're going to be

[177:57] turning to our correspondents covering

[177:58] the very tight race uh first of all in

[178:01] and from Columbus. We're going to go to

[178:03] Bob Franken. Uh Ed Henry will be

[178:06] reporting from uh Richmond, Virginia.

[178:08] Dana Bash on Capitol Hill to give us

[178:10] some sense. Uh let's turn first to uh to

[178:13] Bob Franken at Mike Dwine's

[178:15] headquarters. the incumbent Republican

[178:17] senator in that tight race with Sherid

[178:19] Brown.

[178:21] >> A slight complication in Ohio. A federal

[178:24] judge is about to rule that 16 voting

[178:27] places in Kyhoga County, that's

[178:29] Cleveland, stay open an extra hour and a

[178:31] half, which will make that 9:00 Eastern.

[178:34] Both sides are reporting heavy turnout,

[178:36] which is what the prediction had been in

[178:37] a state that has very high feelings in a

[178:40] state that unless there's an upset is

[178:42] going to be bad news for Republicans.

[178:44] Luke,

[178:44] >> thank you very much. Bob Frank and let's

[178:46] turn to Ed Henry who's at Senator George

[178:48] Allen's headquarters in that race with

[178:51] James Webb.

[178:53] >> That's right, Lou. I'm in Richmond and

[178:55] we're hearing from both camps. Turnout

[178:57] was very, very high almost in

[178:59] presidential election year levels, not

[179:01] what they normally see in midterm

[179:02] elections. What the Republican incumbent

[179:04] George Allen is hoping is that that is

[179:06] mostly on the gay marriage issue that's

[179:08] on the state ballot here.

[179:09] And turning to you quickly, Dana Bash at

[179:11] Democratic headquarters in Washington

[179:13] DC.

[179:14] >> Well, let me tell you, Lou, that really

[179:16] all I have to do is show you where I am

[179:19] to show you the difference between the

[179:21] feeling and the atmospherics in

[179:22] Democratic world versus Republican

[179:24] world. This is a place where Democrats

[179:27] think they're going to have a party.

[179:28] Here at a hotel just near Capitol, just

[179:31] near the capital on Capitol Hill.

[179:33] Republicans are having nothing like

[179:35] this. uh they are sort of spread out in

[179:37] their home districts uh with some

[179:39] friends watching returns privately.

[179:41] Democrats are going to be very public

[179:43] here because they think they're going to

[179:44] have a celebration later.

[179:46] >> Thank you Dana Bash Wolf. Back to you

[179:49] Lou. Thanks very much. which we're going

[179:50] to be watching very closely in the next

[179:52] few