we're out here appreciating the enthusiasm of the common sense message of tea party americans >> what do you -- >> thank you, guys. >> where you from? >> cnn. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the united states congress, the democrats in the house and the senate. the house of representatives of 435 members, all seats up for grabs.

they need a net gain of 39 seats in the house. if they get it, john boehner will be the next speaker in the house succeeding nancy pelosi. 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 the critical midterm elections in the united states. anderson cooper is here with the best political team on television and also the biggest political team on television. let's walk over to our new election matrix. john king is taking a close look, john, at the house of representatives. a lot of democrats are even assuming right now that the republicans will become the majority. >> the public line for speaker

pelosi from the president of the united states is the majority and most democratic strategists see the republicans on the way to winning and some say 55 or more house seats. these are 100 most competitive house races from coast to coast. if you look at all of that blue, see all of that blue, 91 are now held by democrats. that shows you the challenge that the democrats have. as we look at the races, they go from east to west and the class of 2008, 2006 was the class that brought nancy pelosi to come in on obama's coat tails. this is one of the race the republicans targeted earlier. she won in colorado, a freshman in 2008, especially when they came to washington and president election. if you look right here, that's

another reason. and they call a district john mccain won. plus, she voted for the stimulus program, cap and trade energy bill and the republicans believe those nine are the most vulnerable. you can move over here and see another one. virginia campaigned in this state just the other night. voters for health care, stimulus, cap and trade, carried by john mccain. there are 44 democrats carried by john mccain. they are considered vulnerable. as i said, 53 in the class of 2006 and 2008, that's where they will start campaigning. the republicans believe and we will know this. as they come across so many of the races in the east of the mississippi time zone. we should have a good sense

early in the night ohio and 91 held by democrats. >> we have a lot more to discuss and campaigning with the democratic campaign and christine o'donnell is not a witch in that campaign ad. she's in deep trouble. and the vice president in ohio is critical for the democrats right now.

very, very close races. and more important for the democrats and republicans than nevada right now because harry reid and sharron angle are opposing each other. harry reid, the senate majority leader. jessica yellin is in las vegas. they were very busy. you're getting new information. what are you picking up? >> reporter: well, first of all, they have been stomping across the united states getting out their vote and their campaign ads have been on overdrive because this is 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. and here's something we know from history. on election day in nevada, more republicans are likely to turn out than democrats.

democrats are simply more prone to vote early. that means harry reid, a healthy vote in early voting on election date. democratic officials believe that he has the lead to win, 8 to 10,000 more democrats have voted than republicans and democrats say there is no sign of enthusiasm gap. but republicans insist not so fast. democrats would have voted in bigger numbers right now if reid was going to win. they are predicting an historic turnout on election day and they will take this in victory. privately they are just incredibly nervous about this one. and 14% in nevada, a huge issue, what were the last minute get out to vote campaign efforts that you saw today? >> i saw phone banks going on,

republican people canvassing, going door to door, even using technology that is new. the basic emphasis is to get as many of your guys out to vote. they are not focusing. 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 that the true blue democrats and republicans need to do what they need to do and go and vote because this could be close enough, that each one of those matters, wolf. >> that's what the poll suggests, a very close race. 45 hours to the first polls close on the east coast. 7:00 p.m. eastern. tuesday night. we'll have extensive coverage, nonstop coverage. stay with us. anderson cooper and the best political team is standing by when we come back.

[ man ] november 15th. go ahead. mark your calendars. because that's the first day you can switch your medicare part d plan. we're ready, and we can't wait to switch. [ male announcer ] make the switch to an aarp medicarerx plan, insured through unitedhealthcare. call now for a free information kit. discover why these part d plans are so popular with over 4.3 million members. [ man ] what i wanted was simple. the most value for my dollar. so now that it's time, we're making the move to a plan that really works for us. plus, we'll be covered at like 60,000 pharmacies. [ male announcer ] call now and get predictable copays with no annual deductible, which means you could start saving with your first prescription. aarp medicarerx plans include nearly all the drugs covered by medicare part d. so, why wait? call now. president obama was in cleveland, ohio, trying to rally his base. christine o'donnell, the tea party candidate, was in delaware trying to do the same thing and

christine o'donnell, the tea party candidate, was in delaware trying to do the same thing and 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 we had to put on our boats and repel down.

and it's muddy down there and dusty and hot and somehow the republicans, they fled the scene. >> president obama, instead of doing what is right for the country, plays the blame game and says, there's nothing that i could do. i inherited a car in a ditch. that whole, i got a car in the ditch and we tried to stimulus and the bailouts and there's nothing that we can do, and the republicans are the enemy, even though i've been in office for two years, even though i've spent nearly a trillion dollars on stimulus and we've lost 2.5 million jobs, there's nothing we can do. >> you get a little flavor of the last-minute campaigning. let's go over to anderson who has the best political team on television. >> we don't have any fancy graphics. we're kicking it old school. >> we've got ipads. >> does christine o'donnell have

a chance, candy crowley? >> oh, my. you're getting in trouble at this point in the election cycle. honestly, polling has gotten pretty good. this would have to be a halloween miracle for her just looking at a, delaware, and, b, she's up against an opponent that has been able to build up a great -- >> the big thing this delaware and everywhere, she's not appealing to the moderate independent voters, the ones that -- >> delaware. >> and the ones that the democrats are losing and quite honestly, that barack obama has lost. 52% of those in this country say they are not republican. >> how enthusiastic are they? to actually vote? and clearly republicans seem to have an advantage. >> the most fascinating thing of

all, we talk so much about the tea party all over the united states, if you stand away from a 1,000 foot view, a lot of people are going to say, hey, it was democrats that were just not that interested in coming out to vote and there weren't that many democrats really focused because the president was not on the ballot. a lot of reasons for that. one of them is health care. there were many, many liberals who do not think that this president went far enough in trying to answer their views. >> he had rolands, sharron angle. how much of the people are going to be voting for sharron angle and how much of it is a deep love to find her in the senate and how much of it is against -- >> it started about three years ago with a deep hatred for harry reid and a question of finaling the alternative and she and merged to a very tough primary.

she emerged as a tough candidate and she's acceptable enough that people are going to vote for her and it's why the polls are dead even. my sense on election day, she's going to win. she will learn by four or five points. >> the republicans candidates this year acceptable are going to win. if they make the race about themselves, sometimes they are disadvantaged and that is what is happening in delaware. you need to keep your boat in the gulf stream. the minute you make the race about something else, as in yourself, you're giving up your advantage. >> there is some truth there. this is more about what folks are against and angry against or looking for. independent voters are swinging disease civil. president obama in 2008 hasn't been resolved. there's out of control spending. the partisan is worse than ever.

it's a divided government because they are going to vote 15% this time. >> here's what is amazing. folks talk about a partisanship out of control. what do they think is going to happen come january 2011? because the reality is, since the 2000 election, in terms of red and blue, there's a whole notion that somehow they are going to bring back together and simply not going to happen. period. >> but they do want gridlock here. americans are saying, first, do no harm. first, stop spinning us in a hole. >> $3 trillion, you should have been able to get a car out of the ditch. >> i think what is different here, they are going to force the two parties to work together. it's so poisonous in washington folks are going to come in and lot look together.

>> tea party candidates are making a virtue of the fact of no compromise and they don't want a compromise. >> they are appealing to voters who are first priority right now. they are not working together rights now. we are really mad and really frustrated and just want things to change. >> so what happens -- >> and that's what i'm definitely hearing out of the campaign trail. >> it's american anger and that's going to draw people who want to vote against. >> you overininterpret your mandate. they do very well in the senate. the danger politicians have is they say, people elected me because they love me and love what i stand for. in fact, they are doing it because they don't like what the other folks have done. >> if they are going to misinterpret, it's because they are not listening to anyone. >> right. >> because it's been out there. it's because people want some breaks. but let me tell you what

republicans are saying now and that is post election. it's now all about post election. and to the issue of gridlock, two templates for democratic presidents who had to face and there's bill clinton who try angulated and republicans say what is the question here? the question is, what is president obama going to be? is he going to be bill clinton or harry truman? >> and we're going to talk about that in our next segment. we're going to take a quick break. wolf blitzer will be back and john king will be at the center of the matrix. we'll be right back.

with only two minutes to go, cnn has brand-new poll numbers just coming up. ali velshi has been going through this. it's fascinating to see where the american public stands right now. >> that's what i'm going to do right now. if anderson and his team were kicking it old school, i'm going to drop it hot with these graphics. showing you how americans are voting, if the vote were today, this is how it's going to look. take a look at this.

we asked the question, which party candidate would you vote for? right now, 42% of likely voters say that they would cast a ballot for democrats. 52% say that they would cast a ballot for republicans. a 10 percentage point spread. why? 2010. go back to 1994. on this very day on sunday in 1994, we asked the same question. back then, 44% said they would vote for democrats. 51% said they would cast a ballot for republicans. just a seven point spread and that led to a 52-seat loss in the house of representatives for the democrats and control of the house to the republican party. now where is this frustration coming from? where is the anger coming from for the democrats? let me give you some sense and we asked about the favorability

ratings of nancy pelosi. her rate was just 26% and from republicans, president obama and this is not what you think of the job he's done. and 48%, these two are very, very connected and two people also connected to democrats, also not holding office and not having to deal with those elected offices. she does hold an office but she is not associated with the same problem and keep in mind a. 10 percentage point spread.

>> it was a black day for to getting themselveses re-elected and you're going to have all of our exit polls. >> there's really, really good reason. >> very busy and explains why bill clinton has been active over the past several weeks to campaign for democrats. listen to what he said in providence today. >> all over america it's not that voters are angry. i'm fine with that. they have a lot to be mad about. not that they are full of unturn tea. >> speaking bluntly.

>> he's been out there for quite a bit. in terms of what president clinton said, the most fact free election, we've seen a new wave of anti-media pushback from a lot of candidates across the country if you have a candidate, that can put your message to friendly media. >> joe miller, i wake up, got all of the e-mails from joe miller filling out his own message. they don't need to go and rescue -- >> they said that in this midterm election, they were saying.

>> really? >> okay. and now other candidates are doing it. anti-inclusiveness. and we're going to compromise on certain things because we're going to do whatever we've got to do and we've got the media and how they deal with us. and it's not just favorability is so low, it's so that she's so well known. people really know who she is, especially right now thanks to ads running in every congressional district, linking a democratic candidate to her. we did research a couple of weeks ago. it's probably higher right now. the republicans are spent over $70 million using her name in ads.

it's got to be sky high. >> these guys can probably vouch for this, congressman x voted for nancy pelosi. >> we've got to take a short break. we're going to continue with our no graphic panel. we'll be right back.

president obama has been campaigning for democrats. >> they have a message that president clinton was echoing this year. i thought he was echoing the message that voters don't get that we wonderful smart people in washington, all of the good that we've done for them, insulting your way to victory, that you just are not smart enough to appreciate and understand when they are the most informed voters that they have ever been in history, that's not a good strategy. the customer is always wrong? >> one of the most telling things in the poll that we haven't gotten to yet, does the president have the right priorities? hasn't paid enough to the right priorities? most important of all, 62% of the independents say that he has not paid enough priorities.

he ain't getting the keys back either. >> and if you look at independents, obama had 66% approval up through may of '09 and then all of a sudden on the heels of the stimulus and support from independence plummeted. right now over 60% of independents do not approval of the health care reform. it's all about the folks on health care instead of the folks on the economy. >> and also anderson in essence got a lot of criticism in terms of allowing democrats to say we don't trust congress. puts it right back in the hands of congress as opposed to him taking ownership of that. i'm going to drive this through. part of that issue is by putting in the hands of congress, people who don't trust congress, he seeded the ground to them. all of a sudden they are wondering why people are turning on them because you put them in the hands that people don't

like. >> how much of a skism is there in the gop -- >> you've never seen the republican party more united. it's the democratic party that's going to have to make a decision. >> and they were very happy to make nancy pelosi the speaker. we will be very happy to take a few more conservative members on our caucus. >> here's the thing. when republicans have the responsibility for governing, they cannot just stick to a no obama strategy. the game shifts and that's what the white house is banking on. they have to start taking

responsibility and putting plans forward and what the president needs to do if the republicans take control of the house, let's talk about the areas that we can agree on. >> and the big issue is for the republicans. how can you keep pushing this whole notion of extending the bush tax cuts and then get the deficit under control? they are going to have to answer that question. >> and here's how republicans do it. you say, mr. president, which economy would you like to grow? washingtons or americans? we'd like to take this out to grow america's economy. how about you? that's why we need tax cuts for everybody. >> there were an important eight years. >> we all agree that still plus spending -- >> tax cuts. >> no. >> yes or no? >> no. we've got to take a break.

we will be right back. our coverage continues right after the break. [ man ] november 15th. go ahead. mark your calendars. because that's the first day you can switch your medicare part d plan. we're ready, and we can't wait to switch. [ male announcer ] make the switch to an aarp medicarerx plan, insured through unitedhealthcare. call unitedhealthcare now and receive a free quote based on your personal prescription needs. discover why these part d plans are so popular with over 4.3 million members. [ man ] what i wanted was simple. the most value for my dollar. so now that it's time, we're making the move to a plan that really works for us. plus, we'll be covered at like 60,000 pharmacies. [ male announcer ] call now and get predictable copays with no annual deductible, which means you could start saving with your first prescription.

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let's move our high-tech two questions in this campaign, will the tee party that gave the momentum in the primary season actually hurt the republican party chances to keep the senate to win back the senate on election day? and how will we know if there's a true, massive republican wave on election night?

these are the 37 races for senate and republicans need a net gain of ten to go there. some of you at home won't like what we have done. this is all hypothetical. new hampshire we believe will stay republican. arkansas, a republican pickup, now held by democrat. louisiana will stay. florida we believe the republicans will keep. arkansas, alaska will stay, a republican. we've given the democrats connecticut and both new york seats and the delaware seat. what you have in the middle here are eight toss-up seats and they will most likely win this one here in california. so what would you get then? 44 for the republicans under this scenario? 49 when we give them to get to 51. if they only get to 50, the republicans would have to win all through these toss ups. virginia, illinois, nevada, colorado, washington state, and pennsylvania, and colorado, and

other candidates have been stronger and we'll ask the political team with that. and they fall just short of the and is there a wave happening? like in 1994? let's go up to the matrix to look at that. it's the decline of the republican party in new england and can they change that around? here's one seat in rhode island. patrick kennedy is not running this year. the former mayor of providence is the mayor there. president obama had to campaign in this district. that tells you the democrats are worried about the northeast. massachusetts, ten, a former prosecutor came to congress. democrats are very worried about this seat. can they make a comeback in new england.

a couple other things to look at here, you look at congress and see seats in the pennsylvania suburbs, chris carney further up near scranton. and it's a huge and including here a republican charlie bass wanting to get his seat back. and it starts to topple for republicans and you'll see the early bricks in the wave. and when we come back, the low-tech team we'll discuss. can they get the senate? and is it easier?

so we talked a little bit about what the gop does. what does president obama do assuming he loses the house. what lesson does he take? does he learn a lesson? >> it's interesting. as we talk about bill clinton and it took him a year essentially to learn the lesson.

he first gave a press conference saying, i am still relevant. then he went off on a foreign trip which i think the president is also scheduled to do. he came back and a year later he passed welfare reform. so i think there's the stages of grief that you have to go to to working with the republicans. but i do believe that in the end it will work for barack obama. and if the democrats believe the message is voters just don't get a breakthrough then? >> i think he's going to have to. he wants to continue to be president. although mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, has said that his goal is to make barack obama a one-term president. so it's kind of hard to work together and america has to

decide and it's been talked about. >> right. >> so if there's a confrontation, maybe he remakes himself or -- >> somebody who walks the halls of congress every day and did especially interested in this question for the first two years of the obama presidency, the whole m.o. of the democrats is we don't have to compromise because the majority is so big. the senate is always difficult. in general, the majority is so big, which is why they have to push through and that's got to change. it has to change. voters need to understand us better. we need to understand the voters

better or we're going -- >> the other side of this equation is, there is -- there's a reason that nancy pelosi is in the ads and not president obama. he still has a high like ka built. republicans should not want the senate. that's disaster for them because they would be in control. one house it's easier to kind of frame the dynamic. but i think that the president still enjoys, you know, if not the approval at least they'd like him very much. he scores high in those polls. so they have to keep that in mind. they can't run against them. >> a 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 -- >> people in nevada, washington, vote for us. >> anderson, we can sit here and talk about how he's going to govern in terms of with republicans. but one of his biggest issues is really his own base. i mean, when you look at the difficulty that the president has had in trying to deal with progressives and trying to get them excited, if you look at even young voters, the polling data in terms of last year's election in virginia, in massachusetts, in new jersey, you also see the difficulty they've had in trying to get them excited, he has to confront the reality of what does he say to his face after 2008? now how do you operate after 201 # 1? >> you don't see him doing what president clinton did? >> no.

there are several things that he had to do. >> it's not doing the clinton, do anything like bill clinton. what he can do is say, i'm not changing. americans have changed. i work with him and guess what, now you've sent me this other congress that wants to cut spending and do something about the deficit. i'm going to work with them. i think republicans want to be prepared to confront that president because the basis that has gotten him in trouble and will cost him the election. he loflt the center and independence. >> one of the things that he has

to focus on, you need your base in order to win. >> two interesting notes to talk about. we'll be right back. people like watching it rain, as long as they're not outside. but, i'm a home. i'm always outside. i make being inside possible. look, do me a favor. get flood insurance. floods can devastate your home. fred, how you doing over there? i think this is gonna be a problem. see what i mean? hey, i know what i'm talking about. because i'm a home people. and, there's no place like me. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. for a free brochure, call the number on your screen.

two former presidents threw the pitch shot at the giants world series. george w. bush and george h.w. bush. a former owner of the texas rangers. they were there. 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, ted sorenson died

today at the age of 82. he was the youngest senior advisor to president kennedy. he left his mark over the years, including the hand he had in writing these memorable words. >> and so my fellow american, ask not what your current tree can do for you, ask what 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 was 82 years old. ed, you remember? >> i knew him.

he was an amazing man. he was the ultimate staffer, unlike a lot of speechwriters who lay claim for everything, he never laid claim for everything. people knew that he was one of the principle writers. he served his president well and basically over the years he's been very quiet about what he did and didn't do. >> he was also really the patron saint of speechwriters. >> and that wonderful rice university speech in which president kennedy committed this country to putting a man on the moon in a decade and he wrote the words urging america not to take counsel of our fears. it was extraordinary. >> his rhythms. and there are specific themes and they work as a whole.

he was in the other ballpark. >> a sense of humor, i think president kennedy started it by saying you can imagine a man like his brother who was his older brother. he basically had to write that speech for a president that they didn't ultimately like. >> remarkable, candy. >> yes. and, you know, i remember -- and if you'll forgive me, it started in the age of ronald reagan. we went from amazing speeches to bumper stickers. things came from, you ain't seen nothing yet. very effective. but he had a lyrical way and the president wrote from an assist of a loyal aid who remained

anonymous. >> the other thing is that president kennedy during the letter of the missile cuban crisis. he was really behind so critical moments. >> stay a part of the kennedy family. he was always in ted kennedy's universe. see him from time to time. he always would be let me wrap it up, programming notes, i'll of course be here tomorrow with the entire team, 5:00 p.m. eastern. we'll be back starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern.