THE BATTLE FOR PENNSYLVANIA TRANSCRIPT
With Barack Obama still comfortably ahead of John McCain in the polls as Dateline goes to air, you couldn't be blamed for thinking that the entire election circus here in the States is all over bar the shouting. But if that's the case, why are the Democrats and the Republicans both still frantically campaigning in places like Pennsylvania? Well, Amos Roberts, our Dateline reporter, has been on the hustings in Pennsylvania, a so-called must-win battleground state where they say the vote could still go either way.
REPORTER: Amos Roberts
MAN 1: This is the greatest country in the world.
MAN 2: C'mon, stop playing…
MAN 1: What are you... you sound like a Democrat.
JIMMY ZAMBITO, COOK: Ham and eggs.
Every morning, Jimmy Zambito cooks breakfast at the diner his father opened 61 years ago. Some of his customers have been coming here for almost as long. This is a place where the men – and they're all men – like to talk politics.
MAN 3: That's a federal decision....
MAN 4: You're wrong, you're wrong, she just wants...
MAN 3: No, you're wrong, Tom.
They know it's their votes that may end up deciding the outcome of this election.
MAN 4: Whatever party gets ahead in north-east Pennsylvania will usually win the presidential and Pennsylvania election. Like they say about a swing state – we're the swing part of Pennsylvania. We really have to think about what we want to do here, and who we want to get into the White House.
JIMMY ZAMBITO: I say, you want to hear the definition of a Democrat? One who takes after one who works and gives to the one who does not work and taps himself on the back. That's a Democrat.
These are the white, working-class voters that Barack Obama has been struggling to woo. No-one here believes Obama will be able to deliver on his promise of tax cuts during a recession.
MAN 2: You know what he's going to cut? Right here – in half. He's going to give this half to the poor, and the other half... I have to look for it, because there's nothing left.
REPORTER: You don't earn more than $250,000 a year, do you?
MAN 2: Wait a minute, let my other friend say hello to you. "Hi, how are you?" Can't even afford a pair of shoes!
REPORTER: Well, then you'll get a tax cut, won't you?
MAN 2: Yeah, I'll get a tax cut. I work for a living, remember – you don't get no tax cut when you work for a living.
REPORTER: So nobody believes it.
MAN 2: Nobody believes it.
The old coal-mining towns in north-eastern Pennsylvania have seen better days. The economy here has been in decline for decades. Those who remain are mainly conservative, blue-collar workers known as Reagan Democrats. Neither party can take their votes, or the state of Pennsylvania, for granted. At a university gymnasium in the town of Wilkes-Barre, preparations are under way for a campaign rally starring John McCain's wife, Cindy. Despite polls showing Obama ahead, McCain's supporters are still hopeful he'll take this county and the state. On the other side of the gym, Republican volunteers are phoning voters to shore up support.
WOMAN 1: Reform Washington and Wall Street, keep families in their homes, and lower prices at the pump and at the grocery store.
WOMAN 2: Can John McCain and Sarah Palin count on your support on election day, November 4?
The volunteers who make the most calls will be rewarded with a chance to greet Cindy McCain when she arrives. They're given a script, but they don't necessarily stick to it. In fact, some are prepared to play dirty.
YOUNG MAN 1: I say his middle name. I say, "Do you support Barack Hussein Obama?"
REPORTER: And what does that do?
YOUNG MAN 1: I just want to make sure people know who they're voting for. It might get them a little more interested, and not just look at his rhetoric.
REPORTER: And what does Barack Obama's middle name mean to you? What does it cause you to think?
YOUNG MAN 1: It causes me to think, where does he come from? Why does he have a Middle Eastern name? Does it matter, does that matter? Maybe not, maybe he is a decent American, but it causes you to go, look back - does he have more ties to other countries? I mean, if my name was Adolf or Josiah Matthew Hitler, I'm sure people would want to go and do a little research on me, you know?
REPORTER: One of the volunteers was telling me that he deliberately says Barack HUSSEIN Obama, he stresses the middle name.
SANDRA KASE, REPUBLICAN FIELD DIRECTOR: Who said that?
REPORTER: Josiah.
SANDRA KASE: Josiah stresses his middle name?
REPORTER: He says he stresses the middle name so it raises questions in people's minds. Is this something that you think is a good strategy?
SANDRA KASE: No, I don't, because I believe that Barack Obama, certainly, with whatever background and beliefs, should be respected. I don't think we can target anyone as far as being profiling, whether they are a Muslim or whether their name implies that they are a Muslim or whether they are connected to a terrorist group.
REPORTER: Do you think Barack Obama is a Muslim?
SANDRA KASE: His past may lead us to believe that and yes, I've raised questions, but it's not for me to condemn him when I don't know for sure.
The McCain campaign has benefited from lingering doubts about Obama's religion, and patriotism. And it turns out Josiah has been rewarded for his telephoning efforts. He's been seated directly behind Cindy McCain.
CINDY MCCAIN: Thank you, I really appreciate you being here today... I'm not telling you anything you don't know - Pennsylvania is extremely important in this race. It's more than a swing state...
She's in Wilkes-Barre today trying to combat the hometown advantage the Democrats enjoy here. Vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden comes from Scranton in neighbouring Lackawanna County, and so did Hillary Clinton's father. Today the hometown favourites are turning up for a rally of their own.
REPORTER: Do you think the race is going to be close?
WOMAN 3: No, it's not - it's going to be a landslide for Obama. It's going to be a landslide for our wonderful Senator Barack Obama.
WOMAN 4: I don't think anybody can be confident about anything. You never know what's going to happen at the last minute.
REPORTER: Do you think race is going to be an issue in the campaign, especially up here?
WOMAN 5: Yeah. 100%. Here I don't even say Obama's name much, I just say, "I'm voting for the Democrats." It eases it up for them so they don't have to hear his name.
Here in Lackawanna County, Hillary Clinton is far more popular than Obama. In the long and bitter primary contest, she had her biggest win here, beating Obama three votes to one. Today's endorsement of Obama in Scranton is vital, and it has to ring true.
HILLARY CLINTON: I know that you have got friends and neighbours who aren't decided yet. I know you've got friends and neighbours and maybe even some family members who aren't decided yet. You might even have a few leaning the wrong direction. So I'm deputising every one of you to go out and make the case that has to be made.
SPEAKER: Isn't she great? My Dad used to have an expression. Every time you'd get knocked down, my Dad would say, "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Just get up." Well, ladies and gentlemen, I've never seen as many Americans knocked down as I have in the last eight years. It's time for us together to get up. It's time for America to get up! I'm ready! You're ready! Barack Obama is ready! It's our time, it's America's time! So get up, Pennsylvania! Get up, Scranton! Get up!
JOHN MCCAIN: I would like to mention that a couple days ago Senator Obama was out in Ohio and he had an encounter with a guy who's a plumber, his name is Joe Wurzelbacher...And what you want to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him...
At home in Wilkes-Barre, Democrats Betsy and Tim are watching the third presidential debate with their neighbour, Nancy. It's been touted as McCain's last chance to deal Obama a knockout blow. He's just enlisted a surprising new player to help his struggling campaign.
BARACK OBAMA: Now, the conversation I had with Joe the plumber, what I essentially said to him was...
BETSY: I bet Joe the plumber has one house.
REPORTER: Why do so many people still think they'll be worse off under Obama's tax plan?
BETSY: Because they watch Fox News.
Over at the Republican campaign headquarters, they are watching the debate on Fox News, and they like what McCain is saying.
JOHN MCCAIN: We have achieved equal access to schools in America after a long and difficult and terrible struggle.
MAN 6: He said he was going to kick some butt tonight, and he definitely did.
REPORTER: What do you think of Obama's performance?
MAN 7: Obama precipitated what I hope is going to be the decline now with his stupid statement about sharing the wealth. "We just got to spread it around." It's Marxism, that's all that it is.
MAN 6: Pure Marxism, communist.
With Obama's lead in the polls growing, the McCain campaign is pulling out all the stops in Pennsylvania. Today, Scranton is getting ready to welcome Governor Sarah Palin. She's already made several campaign stops in Pennsylvania, and it hasn't always gone smoothly. Just a few days ago she was booed at an ice hockey match in Philadelphia. But up here in the north-east of the state, it's a completely different story.
In the long queue outside, one of the first things that strikes me is the sheer number of children here.
REPORTER: Why do you think so many parents have brought their children today?
MAN 8: It's an extremely important election. I really honestly don't think that Obama loves this country. I do. You do realise this is going to get you into trouble at school tomorrow because they're going to see where you were.
Not everyone at this Republican rally is a Republican.
WOMAN 6: I was a Hillary supporter and campaign volunteer.
Some are Hillary Clinton supporters who've refused to fall into line and back Obama.
REPORTER: What's a registered Democrat doing at a rally for Governor Sarah Palin?
WOMAN 6: Because I believe in choosing the best candidate for our country, and the candidate that, number one, will keep us safe.
At least one of the men selling campaign merchandise is not the staunch Republican supporter he appears to be.
MAN 8: I'm seriously supporting my button business. But let's keep that to ourselves - I got to make some money here.
REPORTER: What do you think about McCain and Palin?
MAN 8: OK, let me tell you something – we're either going back to the '50s, or ahead to the 21st century. One guy's going to take us back, the other guy's going to take us forward, there's no question who's who. To be honest with you, if I wake up and Obama loses, I don't know what I'm going to do that Wednesday. I've heard people talking about moving, and I've heard people from the other side talking about moving, too.
REPORTER: Moving to other countries?
MAN 8: Absolutely.
When we get inside, the atmosphere feels more like a rock concert than a rally.
MC: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next vice-president of the United States, Governor Sarah Palin! And Mr Todd Palin.
Alaska's Governor and her 'first dude' enter to the classic underdog theme, the music from Rocky.
SARAH PALIN: Thank you so much for that warm welcome to Scranton, so good to be here. Very, very good to be back in Pennsylvania, and oooh, walking across the basketball courts in the back, and then on soccer turf in here I feel at home. All you hockey moms and soccer moms and basketball moms and baseball moms, thank you for being here to support us.
Sarah Palin is vital to the McCain strategy. The Republicans know their best hope for success in Pennsylvania lies in persuading the women who backed Hillary Clinton to switch allegiances to McCain. And they have some unlikely allies. These women are from New York, New Jersey, and as far away as Florida. They've come to Pennsylvania to go canvassing, and hopefully tip the balance towards the Republicans. What makes them unusual is that they're all Democrats.
CANVASSER: I have to say, last weekend, you guys came in and you actually turned Scranton around.
Democrats for McCain is based here in Scranton. It's a defiant response to the Democratic convention, where millions of Hillary Clinton supporters were told to back Obama for the good of the party.
REPORTER: Show me what's on your shirt?
WOMAN 7: It's Party Unity My Ass.
Jesse Hill and Anna Barone both campaigned for Clinton during the primary. Now they're working just as hard for McCain and Palin.
ANNA BARONE: We are from New York, and we are volunteers for Democrats for John McCain. And we are wondering if John McCain can count on your support this November?
MAN 9: He has it.
Anna and Jesse say they can tell, just by looking at someone, whom they're supporting.
ANNA BARONE: You can take it down to a haircut. If somebody in New York City has a funky hair cut, they're voting for Obama.
JESSE HILL: Pot smokers – Obama.
They believe Hillary was unfairly sacrificed by the Democrat powerbrokers who threw their weight behind Obama. They're brimming over with anger and resentment.
JESSE HILL: I was pushed in the primaries. I was spit at. I was cursed at. Just by walking down the street.
ANNA BARONE: His supporters can be extremely aggressive. And Obama calls this a 'movement'. He calls his volunteer group his "persuasion army". And so far what we do know about Obama, we don't like. There's been so much race baiting on behalf of his campaign, calling everybody racist, this, that and the next thing. I mean, it's so divisive, and here he goes and calls himself the great uniter. He's the opposite of everything that he says that he is. I do not trust him.
REPORTER: I saw Hillary here in Scranton on Sunday telling Democrats to vote for Barack Obama.
JESSE HILL: Her mouth is going, her eyes are not. They're dead. Her eyes and her mouth are two different things.
MAN 10: I defy anybody to tell me Sarah Palin is ready to be vice-president. And by the way, on November 5, this guy's going to be your president, right here.
Jesse and Anna don't appear to be converting anyone today, but they're undeterred.
RITA BOYLE: You normally vote... Democratic, right. And do you feel as though you might go for the Republican party this time around?
BARBARA, WOMAN ON PHONE: Either that, or not even vote.
Rita Boyle is a Democrat volunteer who runs Women for Obama. Every Tuesday night, her group does phone banking at the Wilkes-Barre campaign headquarters and writes postcards to elderly voters who are still undecided.
RITA BOYLE: I was against the war pretty early, and I think the sooner we get out of there the better. You agree on that?
BARBARA: Oh, definitely, we shouldn't have even been there.
Right now Rita's talking to Barbara, a lifelong Democrat who works for the county government, but is unsure about voting for Obama.
RITA BOYLE: And health care? Do you agree that there should be a national health policy? That covers the uninsured. OK. So it sounds like you're with Obama on the issues.
BARBARA: Yeah, but I don't know how he's going to do it.
Rita says she speaks to lots of reluctant voters like Barbara.
RITA BOYLE: Her resistance is emotional. So, what is that? Is he too different for her? Is there something that he presents about himself that's too different from what she's familiar with? Is it race? Is it..um?
REPORTER: Do you think that it is race? Do you think that people are tip-toeing around the fact that he's black?
RITA BOYLE: When I get either face to face or on the phone with a lifelong Democrat who works in county government and knows her way around politics and he or she agrees on all the issues and is still resistant on Obama, I don't know what it could be.
The race issue is certainly making its presence felt here tonight.
REPORTER: What's the most interesting call that you've had tonight?
WOMAN 8: Most interesting call? Do you want blatant honesty? A little boy yelling, "Mom, Dad, it's somebody calling to see if you'll vote for that black man." I didn't expect to hear that at this point in the campaign. The father said, "Hang up the phone."
This campaign has generated a great deal of hope and optimism in some Americans. For others, it's tapped into their deepest fears. But whatever's influencing voters in north-east Pennsylvania, Democrats and Republicans alike believe the future of their community and country is at stake.
RITA BOYLE: Well, I'm going to give you a call right before the election and see if there is any particular issue that's really bugging you, OK? And hope that you get there because the worst thing of all would be to not vote at all. I know. OK. Thanks a lot for your time. Bye bye.
Reporter/Camera
AMOS ROBERTS
Editor
AARON LEWIS
Producer
AARON THOMAS
Fixers
PATTI POWER
SCOTT CANNON
Researchers
MELANIE MORRISON
VICTORIA STROBL
Original Music composed by
VICKI HANSEN