they're going to say, if i spent all my time answering the critics, i might as well close up shop and do nothing else. but we're out here and -- thank you guys. where are you from? >> cnn. now live from the cnn "election center," wolf blitzer. >> we want to welcome in our viewers in the united states and around the world. the united states congress, the capital, the majority is at stake for the democrats in the house and the senate.

the house of represents' 435 members, all of them, all seats up for grabs. the republicans are hoping to become the majority. they need a net gain of 39 seats in the house. if they get it john boehner will be the next speaker of the house succeeding nancy pelosi. let's walk over. there are 100 seats in the senate. 37 are up for grabs right now. the republicans need a net gain of ten in order to become the majority. that's much more difficult for the republicans right now. but not necessarily out of the question we have extensive coverage. only two days to go before critical midterm elections here in the united states. anderson cooper is here with the best political team on television, also the biggest political team on television. let's walk over to cnn's john king. taking a close look at the house of representatives.

a lot of democrats are assuming right now that the republicans will become the majority. >> the public line from speaker nancy pelosi from the president of the united states is we can keep our majorities, but most democratic strategists see them on the the way of winning 40, 45, some say 55 or more house seats. these are the 100 most competitive house races from coast to coast. 91 are now held by democrats. these races go from east to west, north to south. a lot are in the class of 2008, the class of 2006. 2006 was the class that brought nancy pelosi the speaker ship. 2008 was the class that came in on obama's coattails. colorado, '04. this is one of the races the republicans targeted early. bettsy markey.

the first time somebody up, it's usually the easiest time to beat them. john mccain narrowly carried the district, wolf. that's another reason. she's also one of nine, what the republicans called trifecta democrats. she voted for the stimulus program, the cap and trade bill, and the health care bill. so the republicans believe those nine are the most value number. virginia, '05. the president of the united states campaigned in this district the other night. voters for health care, the stimulus, cap and trade. there are 44 democrats in the cnn 100 that are considered vulnerable. 53 in the class of 2006 and 2008. that's where the republicans will start their targeting. look at all the blue. think all the way back. there are democrats as far back as the 90s, 70s, and late 60s, the republicans believe.

and we'll know this. so many races in the east of the mississippi time zone. we should have a good sense if republicans are on the path to building the foundation in pennsylvania, ohio, and look at the class of 2006 and 2008. >> and of the hundred seats ha are really at stake, they're really at play, 91 are held by democrats. >> 91. which tells you about all you need to know about how much it is the democrats on defense. >> there's been a lot of campaigning on this day. in providence, rhode island, we see the former president bill clinton with fred capia. we saw in wilmington, delaware, christine o'donnell. she told us she is not a witch in that campaign ad. she's in deep trouble in delaware. but she's doing some campaign ing in cleveland, ohio, we saw

the president and the vice president and ohio is critical for the democrats. very close races. but the republicans suspect they have an advantage in those contests in ohio. no state is more popular than nevada because harry reid and sharron angle. harry reid the senate majority leader. jessica yellin is in las vegas. both of these candidates should be no surprise. they were very busy today. you're getting new information. what are you picking up? >> first of all, both candidates have been stumping to get out the vote. the campaign phone banks have been on overdrive. this one is simply so close. election officials in nevada tell us about 65% of everyone who will vote has already voted. either through early voting or with absentee ballots. here's something we know from

history. on election day this nevada, more republicans are likely to turn out than democrat. that means march harry reid needs a healthy lead in order to win on election day. democratic officials insist he has the lid he needs. about 8,000 to 10,000 more democrats have voted than republicans. democrats say there's no sign of an enthusiasm gap. republicans say that democrats would have voted in bigger numbers by now if reid was going to win. they're predicting a historic turnout among republicans on election day. they think that's where they'll take this in victory. but officials say they're incredibly nervous about this one. this will be a nail piter, wolf. >> and nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country, 14%, which is a huge issue.

what were the last minute get out the vote campaign efforts that you saw today? >> reporter: i saw phone banks going on on the democratic side. i saw republican people canvassing going door to door. even using technology that's new. the basic emphasis is to get as many of your guys out to vote. they are not focusing on the undecided. they are not trying to persuade people who haven't made up their mind. they don't have time for that. they want to make sure the true red republicans do what they need to do and go and vote. they think this one could be close enough. almost recount terty that each one of those matter, wolf. >> that's what the polls suggest. a very close race for harry reid and sharron angle. we have a lot more coverage coming up. only 45 hours or so left until the first polls close on the east coast 7:00 p.m. eastern tuesday night. we'll have extensive nonstop coverage. stay with us.

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>> president obama was in cleveland, ohio, trying to rally his base, christine o'donnell, the republican tea party favorite was in wilmington, delaware, trying to do the same thing. they spoke. not necessarily directly to each other, but they made these

points. >> imagine the republicans were driving the economy like a car. and they drove it into the ditch. and this is a very deep, steep ditch. and joe and i and ted, we had to put on our boots. we had to rappel down. it's muddy and dusty and hot. some republicans fled the scene. >> president obama, instead of doing what is right for the country plays the blame game and says there's nothing i could do. i inherited a car in a ditch. you know, that whole i got a car in the ditch and we tried the stimulus and we tried the bailouts, and, you know, there's nothing we can do. those republicans are the enemy, even though i've been in office

two years. we lost 2.5 million jobs there's nothing we can do. >> you get a flavor of the last minute campaigning. let's go to anderson with the best political team on television. >> we don't have any fancy graphics. we're kicking it old school over here. we're just talking. we have i-pads. >> discuss christine o'donnell have a chance, candy crowley? >> you always get at trouble in this point in the election cycle. everybody is e-mailing you. but polling has gotten pretty good. this would have to be a halloween miracle for her, just looking at, "a", delaware, and "b", you know, she's up against an opponent that has been able to take her flaws and build up a great big lead. >> the big thing in delaware and everywhere is the independent voters. and she's just not appealing to the moderate independent voters.

the ones that the democrats are losing and that barack obama has lost. 52% of independent voters say they're going to vote republican. >> how enthusiastic are they in terms of coming out to vote? who is going to turn out at the polls. clearly republicans seem to have an advantage this summer. >> see, that's one of the most fascinating things of all. we've talked so much about the tea party all over the united states. if you stand away from a 1,000-foot view, at the end of the day, a lot of people will say, hey, it was democrats not that interested in coming out to vote. and there weren't that many democrats who were really focused because the president of the united states himself wasn't on the ballot. a lot of reasons for that. one of them, of course, is health care. many liberals in the country don't think the president went far enough in trying to answer their views.

>> ed rollins, republican strategist. sharron angle. it's a close race with harry reid. how much of the people voting for sharron angle, how much of it is a deep love and desire to see sharron angle in the senate, and how much of it is against obama, against reid? >> it started three years ago with a deep hatred for harry reid. it was a question of finding the alternative. she emerged through a very tough primary in which she basically took out what many people thought was the best candidate. she's emerged as the best candidate. she's acceptable enough that people feel comfortable and will vote for her. that's why the polls are dead even. i'm willing to go on a limb. i think she's going to win by four or five points. >> if republicans make the race about themselves, sometimes they're disadvantaged. your job is to keep your boat in the gulf stream and ride the current. it's anti-washington and anti-health care, it's

anti-obama. the minute you make the race about something else, as in yourself, you're giving up an advantage. >> this is more about what folks are against and ang rip about than what they're looking for. and independent voters are swinging republican. what they voted for when they voted democrats overwhelmingly in 2006 and president obama in 2008 hasn't been resolved. they're going to vote it looks like 15% for republicans this time. >> but here's what's amazing. what do they think is going to happen? since the 2000 election it's been very clear in terms of where we stand in terms of red or blue. so the whole notion that smou the people are going to simply bring everybody together and it's simply not going to happen, period. >> no. they want some gridlock here. americans are saying first do no

harm. first stop spending us in a hole. for $3 trillion you should be able to get a car out of a ditch. >> traditionally when the american people vote for divided government for it's checks and balances. what they think they're doing normally is force the two parties to work together. they'll find the partisan ship is so poisonous in washington that folks are going to come in not looking to work together. >> you have tea party candidates making a virtue of no compromise. >> and they're appealing to voters whose first priority is not compromise. it's not working together. it's we're really mad and really frustrated. we want things to change. >> so what happened -- >> that's what i'm definitely hearing on the campaign trail and it's propelling the candidates. >> people who have something they want to vote against. >> but here's the danger, that you overinterpret your mandate. republicans could very well win

the house of representatives, do very well in the senate. and the danger politicians have is they say people elected me because they love me and they love what i stand for. they're doing it because they don't like what the other folks have done. >> if the republicans misinterpret it it's because they're not listening to anyone. it's been out there it's not because they're so great. let me tell you what republicans are saying right now. and that is post election, right? it's now all about post election. and to the issue of gridlock. there are two templates for democrats here if you look at democratic presidents who had to face hostile congresses. there's harry truman, who went out and gave them hell. and there's bill clinton who worked with them. republicans say what's the question here? the question is what is president obama going to be? is he going to be bill clinton or harry truman? >> or both? >> or both. >> there's also the internal

republican conflict between the tea party and the constitutional republicans, if you will. that isn't resolved yet. >> we're going to talk about that next we're going to have new poll numbers coming up in a second. john king will be at the cnn election matrix. we'll be right back. a lot more ahead. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese.

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with only two days to go before the crucial midterm elections, cnn has brand new poll numbers just coming out

right now. cnn's ali velshi has been going through these numbers, ali. it's fascinating to see the snapshot where the american public stands now. >> that's what i'm going to show you. if anderson and his team were kicking it old school, i'm going to drop it like it's hot with these graphics i'm about to show you. we have brand new cnn opinion research polling showing you how americans are voting. if the vote were today, this is how it's going to look. we asked the question, which party's candidate would you vote for? here's what the result is, right now, 42% of likely voters say they would cast a ballot for democrats. 52% say they would cast a ballot for republicans. a 10 percentage point spread. why is this interesting? 2010. go back to 1994. on this very sunday in 1994, two days before the election we asked the same question, which party's candidate would you vote for? 51% said they would cast a

ballot for republicans. that led to a 52 seat loss in the house of representatives for the democrats and control of the house to the republican party. where is this frustration coming from where is the anger coming from? many places. let me give you some sense of one of the reasons. we asked about favorability ratings of various democratic leaders. the speezer of the house. nancy pelosi, her favorability rating, just 20%. it's been pushed down after very targeted attacks from republicans. these two are very, very connected to the democrats at this point. two people also connected to the

democrats but not holding office, not having to deal with the issues connected to those elected offices. hillary clinton, she does hold an office, but she's not associated with the same problem. 62% likability. bill clinton, 63% favorability. keep in mind, a 10 percentage point spread, much bigger than it was in 1994 on this day two days before an election. >> i remember that election. i was the white house correspondent for cnn. it was a black day for the democrats and for bill clinton. he did come back two years later to get himself reelected. it's interesting, ali. and you'll have all the election polls starting on tuesday night. we'll go through each exit poll. >> really good reasons as to why people voted the way they did. >> very, very busy. it also explains why bill clinton has been so active trying to campaign for democrats. listen to what he said in providence today.

>> and the thing that has bothered me about this election all over america is not that voters are angry. i'm fine with that. they have a lot to be mad about. the thing that's bothered me is this is the most fact-free election i've been involved in in my life. >> speaking bluntly, the former president of the united states. let's go back to anderson. it explains, anderson, why so many more want bill clinton campaigning for them as opposed to the president of the united states. >> he's been out there quite a bit. talk about what former president clinton said. this being the most fact-free election. we've seen a new wave of anti-media pushback from a lot of candidates across the country. i guess it's a sign of how how hated the media folks are. >> that and a sign of how many media outlets there are now. you have your choice. if you are a candidate that can

put your message through friendly media, you don't have to go any place else. >> or if you're social networking. now you can control your own message. nobody e-mails me more than joe miller. i wake up. i have all the e-mails from joe miller. he's controlling his own message. they don't need to risk an unfriendly interview. >> sharron angle first said that in this midterm election. we were saying, oh my gosh. >> she's the first republican to go, but you're not for me. now other candidates are doing it. >> sort of what it shows is the anti-inclusiveness if you will. allen west says he doesn't like inclusiveness this much. there's a sense that we're not going to compromise on certain things. one is about government spending. we're going to do whatever we're going to do. it also includes the media and how they deal with us. they see us as more of an enemy

than a friend. >> the thing that was so interesting is nancy pelosi who i cover every day, 26% favorability. it's not just that her favorability is so low, it's she is so well known. especially now thanks to ads running in almost every competitive congressional district linging a democratic candidate to her. we did research a couple weeks ago so it's probably higher now. the republicans have spent over $70 million using her name in ads. it's got to be sky high. >> i was talking to a republican pollster. these guys can probably vouch for it who does battleground polling in 70 states. he said the single most effective ad they can run against any democrat is congressman "x", voted with nancy pelosi 86% of the time. it's a sure winner for republicans. they're doing it over and over. >> we're going to continue with our panel, we'll be right back.

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we saw former president bill clinton out on the campaign trail. as you pointed something out that former president clinton said. >> the democrats had a message. i thought president clinton was echoing it there. >> did i lose my mike? >> that's a bummer. >> it's the liberal media. >> i thought clinton was echoing the democratic message that you hear from president obama quite a lot. voters don't get it. they don't understand what we wonderful smart people in washington, all the good we've done for them. insulting your way to victory. telling voters they're not smart enough to appreciate and

understand, they're the most informed voters have ever been in history. i don't think it's a good strategy. the customer is always wrong. >> there's a question, does the president have the right priorities? 42% says he has the right priorities. mostly democrats. hasn't paid enough attention to the right priorities. most important of all, 52% of the independents say this president is not saying the right priorities. so all this stuff about us driving to the ditch, he abt getting the keys back either. there's going to be a lot more republicans to get him out of the ditch. >> obama had 66% approval of indoesn'ts through may of '09. on the heels of the stimulus he got to health care. in the summer of '09 his support from independents plummeted. right now over 60% of independents oppose, do not approve of the health care reform. so the break with independents is all about the folks on health care over the first two years instead of the laser like folks

on the economy. >> also he got a lot of criticism on the stimulus bill in terms of allowing democrats to basically run with that. it was clear people said we don't trust congress. health care comes along, what happens? puts it back in the hands of congress. as opposed to him staking owner ship and saying i'm going to drive this through. people simply don't trust congress. he basically seeded the ground to them. all the sudden they're wondering why people are turning on them. because you put in the hands that people don't like. >> in terms of what happens after this election day, how much of a scism is there? >> you've never seen the republican party more united. they're united by the leader of the republican party, barack obama, and his health care plan. that's the north star for republicans. we even have independents acting like republicans.

is it obama and health care and more big spending, or is this the opportunity for new democrats? >> and democrats were very happy in 2006 to take conservative democrats, many pro life, many pro gun, and make nancy pelosi the speaker. we will be happy to take a few more. >> they can't just stick to an obama strategy. the game shifts. that's what the white house is banking on. they have to start taking responsibility and putting plans forward. what the president needs to do after the election, if the republicans control one of the house is say, okay, let's talk about the areas we can agree on. >> and the big issue will be for republicans, how can you keep pushing this whole notion of extending the bush tax cuts and then you say get the deficit under control? they're going to have to answer that question. >> and here's how republicans do it. mr. president, which economy would you like to grow? washington's or america's we would like to take this much out

of washington's economy to grow america's economy. how about you? >> we get the same tax cuts contributed to the deficit? there were an important eight years republicans had a hand in place. >> no, no. >> did they play a role in the increase in the deficit? >> no. >> it didn't? >> no. >> that's a new one then. >> how do you grow the economy? >> our coverage continues right after this break. [ female announcer ] with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live...

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described low tech best political team in a moment. will the tea party that gave the republicans so much momentum in the primary season actually hurt the republican party's chances to keep the senate? to win back the senate on election day? number two, how will we know if there's a true massive republican wave on election night? these are the 37 races to senate. a blue state currently held by a democrat. a red state held by a republican. the republicans need a net gain of ten to get there. some of you at home won't like what we've done. but we've assigned some races. new hampshire we believe will stay republican. louisiana will stay. florida we believe the republicans will keep. arkansas we believe alaska will stay republican. we've given the democrats connecticut. we've given them new york and the delaware seat. you have eight toss-up races. we believe we can say the democrats will most likely win this one here in california. so what would you get?

44 for the republicans under in scenario. if they only get to 50, joe biden, the vice president, would break the tie. the republicans would have to win all these, nevada, washington, pennsylvania, colorado, wisconsin, west virginia, california, illinois. many republicans will tell you privately they think other candidates may have been stronger in the general election. so we'll ask the political team if they agree with that. then perhaps the republicans could win four or five but fall short because of the tea party candidates. can the republicans essentially thread the needle to get the senate? how will we know as the results start to come in, is there a wave happening? a massive republican tide like in 1994? one thick to look at is the decline of the republican party in new england. can they change that around? patrick kennedy held this seat. he is not running this year. the former mayor of providence is there. if president had to go up and

campaign in the district that tells you the democrats are worried about the northeast. another retiring democrat, a former prosecutor came to congress. democrats are very worried about this seat. can the republicans make a comeback in new england? that would be a sign if those seats start to go that we're getting a wave. a couple other quick things to look at here. you'll see seats in the pennsylvania suburbs. patrick murphy in pennsylvania, eight. chris kearney, first time up in scranton. the democrats had huge years in 2006 and 2008 in new hampshire. president obama carried it. two congressional seats held by republicans. the republicans think they can win in new hampshire, including here. republican charlie bass running to get his seat back. president obama got 56%. if those districts carried so handedly by the president in the northeast start to topple for the republicans, you will see the early bricks in the wave. when we come back, that low-tech team will discuss can the

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welcome back. we've replaced the best political team on television with the anamatronic version. they're amazingly life like. they're willing for work for hours and hours with no sleep at all. we talk about what the gop does after election day. what does president obama do assuming he loses the house? does he learn a lesson?

>> it's interesting. as a we talk about bill clinton, and it took bill clinton a year to learn the lesson. he first gave a press conference saying i am still relevant. then he went off on a foreign trip. which the president is also scheduled to do. he came back and a year later passed health care reform. there's a stage of grief you have to go through to get to working with the republicans. i believe that in the end it will work for barack obama, have republicans say, okay, we want to cross the board, cutting spending. it fits in his new narrative. >> will he develop a new narrative? if the democrats believe the message is voters just don't get how great we've been. >> i think he's going to have to because he wants to continue to be president, al mitch mcconnell, the republican leader said his goal is to make barack obama a one-term president. so it's hard to work together. >> he's got to remake himself,

number one. and in some form or fashion. the question is whether the republicans are going to push him into some type of a confrontation where america has to decide. a government shutdown is one thing that's been talked about. >> not by the leadership. >> if there's a confrontation, maybe he remakes himself. >> can i just tell you as somebody who walks the halls of congress every day and was interested for the first two years of the obama presidency, the whole ammo of the democrats is we don't have to compromise because the majority is so big. in the senate it's always difficult. but in general the majority is so big so they try to push through all the big ticket items. that's got to change. it has to change. there's no way anything could get done or pretend to get done. >> unless you have a refocusing. i think a big loss will bring

him around from the message of voters need to come to us, understand us better to we need to understand the voters or two years from now we're in serious trouble. >> but the republican side of the equation is it is one thing that there's a reason nancy pelosi is in the ads and not president obama. that's because he still has a high likability kwoegs. people still want their president to succeed. and so republicans have to be really careful about this. i don't think republicans should want the senate. that's a disaster for them. then they would be in control. with one house it's easier to try to frame the dynamic. i think the president still enjoys, you know, if not the approval, at least they like him very much. he scores high on the polls. they can't run against him too hard. >> i saw you nodding your head. >> republicans have very high negatives for a party about to get swept to power by all indications. that's significant.

>> didn't you have some polling? >> our new poll out today asks if republicans win control of congress will the country be better off? only 34% say yes. that completely speaks to what you're saying. and republicans know that. >> anderson -- >> >> anderson, we is sit here and talk about in terms of how he's going to govern in terms of with republicans, but one of his biggest issues is really his own base. when you look at the difficulty the president has had in trying to deal with progressives and trying to get them excited, if you look at even young voters, you look at the polling data in terms of last year's election in virginia, in massachusetts, in new jersey, and when you also see the difficulty they have had in trying to get them excited, he has to confront the reality of what does he say to his base after 2008? now how do you operate in 2011

and going into 2012? >> you don't see him doing what president clinton did. >> no, no, no, no, no. first, what i'm saying is there's several things he has to do, but the reality is if he has no strong base, there is no shot in 2012. >> there's a way though to joe's point he does reinvent himself without doing a clinton which, of course, is what he would hate the most in the whole world to do anything like bill clinton but what he can say is i'm not changing, america has changed. he said america sent me this kind of congress, left of center. i worked with them. guess what, thank you america, now you've sent me another congress that wants to do something about spending and i'll work with them. i think republicans need to be prepared to confront that president because the base is what's gotten obama in trouble and will cost him congress this election. >> that's exactly right. will cost him seats. >> part of this really distorted debate we've been having in the country where the far right think he is's a socialist and the far left a corporate sellout. playing to the base is not the solution to the president's

problems. he lost the center, the indpenalty. >> two interesting notes. >> one of the things he has to focus on, but you still need your base in order to win. without them -- >> two interesting notes from the past to talk about. we've got to take a quick break. we'll be right back with more from our panel.

got a couple of images we want to share with you as we continue our coverage. the former president, we should say two former presidents threw out the opening pitch today at the rangers/giants world series game four. you see george w. bush and george h.w. bush, george w. bush, a former owner of the texas rangers. they were there together, an exciting moment for these two former presidents in texas. game four of the world series. a sad note we want to inform

you about as well, in case you didn't know. ted sorenson was a very close veras and speech writer to the late president john f. kennedy. he died today at the age of 82. he was the youngest senior adviser to president kennedy. he left his mark over the years, including the and he had in writing these memorable words for president kennedy. >> and so, my fellow americans, ask not what your country can do for you. ask had a you can do for your country. my fellow citizens of the world, ask not what america will do for you. but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

>> ted sorensen, 82 years old. you know, a lot of us remember, we were young. ed, you remember. >> not only remember, i knew him, and he was an amazing man in the sense he was the ultimate staffer. unlike a lot of speech writers today who lay claim for everything, he never laid claim to everything. people knew he was the principal writer and one of the great thinkers, but he was the ultimate staff man. he served his president well and basically over the years has been very, very quiet about what he did and didn't do. >> he was also the patron saint of all speech writers. those of us who work as speech writers study his work. >> wrote the "profiles in courage" and the wonderful rice university speech in which president kennedy committed this country to putting man on the moon in a decade and sorensen wrote the words, urging america not to take counsel of our fears and to reach big fears. that sense of optimism was extraordinary. >> well, you talk about studying his speeches. >> yeah. >> what in particular, what made a sorensen speech, do you think? >> his rhythms. ask not what you can do for your

country but what you can do for your country. frame an argument that it was soaring and still grounded in details. each of his speeches had a specific theme and memorable lines, but they worked as a whole. he was -- he was in the other ballpark. >> the sense of humor in that rice university speech. i think president kennedy started it by saying it was a very hot day, and he started by saying i don't know why -- why you guys are out there so i'm doing all the work. >> the hardest speech he wrote lyndon johnson's speech to congress where he memorialized kennedy. he basically had to write a speech for a president they didn't all like. remarkable record, candy. >> yes, and, you know, i remember, if you'll forgive me, started in the age of ronald reagan, that we went from amazing speeches to bumper stickers, you know. things became, you know, you ain't seen nothing yet. it was very effective, but, you

know, he had a lyrical way of writing. you go back, the kind of stuff that gets etched in stone in washington literally. >> you don't think that's going to happen with tweets? >> never say never. >> and don't forget "profiles in courage" which, of course, the president wrote but with an assist from his loyal aide who remained anonymous. >> the other thing i was reading is that he penned the letter that president kennedy sent to khruschev during the cuban missile crisis that helped end that crisis so he was really behind so many critical moments in history during the kennedy administration. >> and stayed a part of the extended kennedy family, after the passing of president kennedy and senator robert kennedy, was always in ted kennedy's universe. see him from time to time, at the kennedy funeral. had an extended conversation with him. he would always ask what's going on in politics. >> loyal to the end. wolf? >> anderson, thanks very, very much. left me wrap it up with some programming notes. i'll, of course, be here