In a 7:30AM news brief co-host Russ Mitchell proclaimed: "...just two weeks before the election and Barack Obama is putting family before politics for two days beginning on Thursday. Obama will fly to Hawaii to visit his ailing 85-year-old grandmother." In a segment later in the 7:30AM half hour, co-host Maggie Rodriguez asked Democratic strategist Dee Dee Myers: "Barack Obama taking two days off the campaign trail, with our latest poll showing that he's 13 points ahead of John McCain. Will that make a difference?" Myers replied: "His grandmother is ailing, he wants to make sure he gets home to Hawaii to spend time with her. And, you know, consequences be damned-" Rodriguez added: "Exactly."
In the same segment, Rodriguez turned to Republican strategist Kevin Madden and asked: "...the same CBS News/New York Times post poll, shows that John McCain's strategies are not necessarily working. I'd like to show you that his favorability, since the debate, has gone down and people cite these as the reasons: His attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin, the top two reasons. Let me ask you, Kevin, is it working to be out there on the trail saying he's a socialist, to put out these robocalls?"
Rodriguez also asked Myers about McCain’s chances, giving Myers the chance to denounce him: "One of the problems he's had is he's overreached on many of his attacks. They just don't seem credible to the American public." Rodriguez did not ask Myers about Joe Biden’s recent comments about an international crisis being "generated" to "test" Obama. In fact, only one sentence of Early Show coverage was given to Biden’s comments as Jeff Glor earlier explained: " The McCain campaign also latched on to an odd comment by Obama's running mate Joe Biden. After Biden said Americans should expect a major international crisis that will test Obama if he's elected." Glor did not play the audio of Biden’s full statement.
To further push the idea that McCain was going to lose, at the top of the show co-host Harry Smith shared this bit of information: "We're also going to be talking a little bit about job losses today. There's an old study from years ago that says if the unemployment rate is above 6 -- at 6.2 or above, the incumbent party cannot be sent back to the White House. The U.S. unemployment rate is 6.1 right now. So right on that precipice."
Here is the full transcript of the 7:00AM Glor segment:
7:00AM TEASE:
HARRY SMITH: Breaking news. Barack Obama set to leave the campaign trail to be with his ill grandmother. We'll assess the impact on the race, just two weeks from election night.
7:02AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: First, though, let's get right to our top story. Two weeks from today, voters will choose a new president but in a surprising development, Barack Obama will leave the campaign trail for two days to attend to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor is in West Palm Beach, Florida with more on that this morning. Good morning, Jeff.
JEFF GLOR: Harry, good morning to you. Barack Obama will make a scheduled appearance here in West Palm Beach today and he will keep his appearances tomorrow but then he'll leave to go to Hawaii to be with a woman who he first moved to live with when he was only 11 years old. Seen here in a campaign ad, 85-year-old Madelyn Dunham had been in failing health, but her condition has taken a turn for the worse. Earlier this year, Obama told Katie Couric about the woman who helped raise him.
BARACK OBAMA: She's been the rock of my family. She worked very hard all her life and made a lot of sacrifices on my behalf.
GLOR: Meanwhile, Obama, on a two-day swing through the sunshine state.
OBAMA: We are going to make it happen, Florida. If you go to the ballot.
GLOR: Is getting help from Hillary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON: Tell them Hillary sent you to vote for Barack Obama!
GLOR: And the latest CBS News/New York Times poll is giving him a 13-point national lead, despite what the Obama campaign considers unfair attacks.
OBAMA: Ugly phone calls, misleading mail and TV ads, careless, outrageous statements. All aimed at keeping us from working together.
GLOR: The poll showed Obama's favorability rating went up ten points, while John McCain's held steady. McCain, in Missouri, talked taxes.
JOHN MCCAIN: Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on some in order to give check -- checks to others, is isn't a tax cut, it's another government give-away.
GLOR: Though the poll shows a majority of voters think both men would raise taxes. 53% for McCain, 51% for Obama. The McCain campaign also latched on to an odd comment by Obama's running mate Joe Biden. After Biden said Americans should expect a major international crisis that will test Obama if he's elected.
MCCAIN: We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.
GLOR: McCain will be campaigning in Pennsylvania today. But we've now learned that he'll be getting help in Ohio next week from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Harry.
SMITH: Jeff Glor in Florida this morning, thanks.
Here is the full transcript of the 7:30 AM Rodriguez segment:
7:30AM TEASE:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: There's Barack Obama with his grandparents, his mother's parents. He often talks about his grandmother on the campaign trail. He owes everything to her. She and her husband raised him in Hawaii and now she is gravely ill so, of course it's no surprise he's taking time off the campaign trail to visit her in Hawaii later this week. Welcome back to the Early Show. Ahead this morning, we're going to talk about all the headlines. We're now just 14 days away to election day. So we'll speak to a Republican and a Democratic strategist about campaign '08.
HARRY SMITH: Hard to believe two weeks from today.
7:31AM NEWS BRIEF:
RUSS MITCHELL: Maggie, as you just pointed out, just two weeks before the election and Barack Obama is putting family before politics for two days beginning on Thursday. Obama will fly to Hawaii to visit his ailing 85-year-old grandmother. Meanwhile, John McCain gave Harry Smith an exclusive Early Show interview, sounding confident that he will win on November 4th, but the latest CBS News/New York Times poll shows Obama now has a 13-point lead in the race for the White House. Sarah Palin is campaigning in the west on her way to a rally in Colorado yesterday. Her motorcade was targeted by protesters but no arrests were made.
7:33AM SEGMENT:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: It is Hawaii where Barack Obama will spend time later this week. He's getting off the campaign trail to visit with his sick grandmother. Let's take a look at that and other developments in campaign '08 as the clock ticks towards election day. We're joined by Democratic strategist Dee Dee Myers and Republican strategist Kevin Madden. Good morning.
DEE DEE MYERS: Good morning.
KEVIN MADDEN: Good morning, Maggie.
RODRIGUEZ: Dee Dee, let's begin with you, Barack Obama taking two days off the campaign trail, with our latest poll showing that he's 13 points ahead of John McCain. Will that make a difference?
DEE DEE MYERS: Well, you know, you always want to spend those last two weeks on the campaign trail reaching as many voters as you can, but this is a no-brainer for Senator Obama. His grandmother is ailing, he wants to make sure he gets home to Hawaii to spend time with her. And, you know, consequences be damned-
RODRIGUEZ: Exactly.
MYERS: -he's going to do what he needs to do and I think the voters of this country will certainly understand what an important person she's been in his life.
RODRIGUEZ: No doubt about that. Kevin, if you talk to John McCain, as Harry did yesterday, you see no signs of someone who is 13 points behind. Do you think he can pull this off?
KEVIN MADDEN: Well, look. I -- you know, this race has been very susceptible to big swings from undecided voters and soft supporters of both McCain and Barack Obama. So, you know, the McCain campaign is counting on the fact that voters can still be persuaded to vote for John McCain. Some of the support for Barack Obama is soft. They know that. They know that there are still lingering doubts about Barack Obama's experience and they're going to try to exploit that. These last 14 days are going to be about John McCain making the case to the American public that he has the judgment, he has the experience, that he's going to move the country in the right direction. So this is the time. This is -- time is of the essence right now.
RODRIGUEZ: But the same poll, the same CBS News/New York Times post poll, shows that John McCain's strategies are not necessarily working. I'd like to show you that his favorability, since the debate, has gone down and people cite these as the reasons: His attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin, the top two reasons. Let me ask you, Kevin, is it working to be out there on the trail saying he's a socialist, to put out these robocalls?
MADDEN: Well, ultimately, campaigns are about contests of messages and contests of attributes and John McCain has gone out there and tried to disqualify Barack Obama on the issues of the economy and national security and essentially his judgment and experience on both of those. And what's -- I think the challenge has been -- has been that there hasn't been a complimentary message about what John McCain would do. The direction he would take the country. So you've seen a lot of his negatives start to rise because people feel like he's only talking about what's wrong with Barack Obama rather than what's right with John McCain and that's where, again, this charge is the last two weeks. John McCain has to go out there and reach voters and instill in them the confidence that he has the right direction for the country on those two big issues.
RODRIGUEZ: Dee Dee, in the last seconds, do you think that John McCain can pull this off?
MYERS: It's very difficult. He has to go out there and make the case. One of the problems he's had is he's overreached on many of his attacks. They just don't seem credible to the American public. But the voters are really tuning in, in these last two weeks. You're going to see both candidates go hard. John McCain has a hill to climb, but, you know, there's a lot of people who are either undecided or still softly supporting one candidate or the other and so I think we're going to see some bouncing around a little as this thing comes to the very closing days.
RODRIGUEZ: Dee Dee Myers, Kevin Madden, thank you.
MYERS: Thank you.
