President Obama on 60 Minutes: Transcript (11-16-08)

Read the complete transcript.

Kroft: Has this been easier than the campaign trail?

Mr. Obama: Well, it's different. I think that during the campaign it is just a constant frenetic, forward momentum. Here, I'm stationary. But the issues come to you. And we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of problems, a lot of big challenges.

Kroft: Have there been moments when you've said, 'What did I get myself into?'

Mr. Obama: Surprisingly enough, I feel right now that I'm doing what I should be doing. That gives me a certain sense of calm. I will say that the challenges that we're confronting are enormous. And they're multiple. And so there are times during the course of a given a day where you think, 'Where do I start?'

Kroft: What have you been concentrating on this week?

Mr. Obama: Couple of things. Number one, I think it's important to get a national security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack. We wanna make sure that there is as seamless a transition on national security as possible. Obviously the economy. Talking to top economic advisors about how we're gonna create jobs, how we get the economy back on track and what do we do in terms of some long-term issues like energy and healthcare. And how do we sequence those things in a way that we can actually get things through Congress?

Kroft: Are you in sync with Secretary Paulson in terms of how the $700 billion is being used?

Mr. Obama: Well, look, Hank Paulson has worked tirelessly under some very difficult circumstances. We've got an unprecedented crisis, or at least something that we have not seen since the Great Depression. And I think Hank would be the first one to acknowledge that probably not everything that's been done has worked the way he had hoped it would work. But I'm less interested in looking backwards than I am in looking forwards.

Kroft: The government has spent almost $300 billion out of the TARP program.

Mr. Obama: Right.

Kroft: Money that was set aside to help the financial industry. And nothing much has changed if you look at it. Nothing much has changed. It’s $300 billion. Why is that?

Mr. Obama: I think the part of the way to think about it is things could be worse. I mean, we could have seen a lot more bank failures over the last several months. We could have seen an even more rapid deterioration of the economy, even a bigger drop in the stock market. So part of what we have to measure against is what didn't happen and not just what has happened.

Having said that, there's no doubt that we have not been able yet to reset the confidence in the financial markets and in the consumer markets and among businesses that allow the economy to move forward in a strong way. And my job as president is gonna be to make sure that we restore that confidence.

(CBS) Kroft: Once you become president, are there things that you'll change?

Mr. Obama: Well, you know I think we still have to see how this thing unfolds over the next couple of months. One area that I'm concerned about, and I've said this publicly, is we have not focused on foreclosures and what's happening to homeowners as much as I would like. We have the tools to do it. We've gotta set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes. That is gonna have an impact on the economy as a whole. And, you know, one thing I'm determined is that if we don't have a clear focused program for homeowners by the time I take office, we will after I take office.

Kroft: Are you being consulted by Secretary Paulson?
Is he telling you what's going on?

Mr. Obama: You know what we've done is we've assigned somebody on my transition team who interacts with him on a daily basis. And, you know, we are getting the information that's required to and we're making suggestions in some circumstances about how we think they might approach some of these problems.

Bush Expresses Regrets in CNN Interview: Transcript (11-11-08)

The outgoing President talks about his regrets in interview with CNN. Read the complete Transcript. Excerpt below:

President Bush: Being the commander in chief is as high an honor as you can possibly imagine and I have given it my all to support our military and to support our veterans. What does that mean? It means going to Congress and saying let's make sure our military families have good housing, health care, educational benefits. It means helping to work with the Congress to get money for our veterans, but it really means saying to our troops, "I will make decisions based on what is best for our country, not what is best for me politically." I don't want your troops thinking that the decisions I have made were about politics or about my standing. The decisions were made how to secure this country, how to protect ourselves from the long run. And that was important for those troops to know that their commander in chief not only supported them but stood with them in their mission

CNN: As you stand with them in their mission there are two months left of your presidency. How will that feel to leave office in the middle of two wars? Video Watch Bush discuss his regrets »

Bush: I'm trying to figure it out because there's a lot going on. We've got an economic situation, the campaign just ended, we still have troops in harm's way. I'll be meeting with families of the fallen today. This job will end on January 20 and so this is a better question answered on the 21st. I'm not sure what to tell you because I know I'm going to go from 100 mph to near zero overnight. I'm not sure what to expect. I know I'll miss certain things about the presidency. I also know I'm looking forward to getting home, so I've got mixed emotions.

CNN: What will you tell -- and maybe you talked about this yesterday with President-elect Obama -- about taking care of America's veterans and active servicemen and women?

Bush: To the extent that he asked my advice -- and he may want to ask it again -- and the best way to make sure he feels comfortable asking it again is for me not to tell you in the first place on what I advised him. We had a very private conversation. It was relaxed. It was interesting to watch someone that is getting ready to assume the office of the president. It will be a fantastic experience for he and his family. He didn't need my advice about supporting the military. He knows he must do that. We had a good conversation. I was very pleased. Remember the conversation I had with my predecessor Bill Clinton, as a matter of fact called him yesterday and said, Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president and I remember how gracious you were to me. I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me. It was interesting yesterday. One of the things President-elect Obama was interested in, after we had our policy discussions, was his little girls, how would they like the White House. It was interesting to watch him go upstairs. He wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep. Clearly this guy is going to bring a sense of family to the White House and I hope Laura and I did the same thing, but I believe he will and I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure that first and foremost he is a good dad. And I think that's going to be an important part of his presidency.

Sarah Palin on the 'Today Show': Video (11-11-08)

This video is of Matt Lauer's interview of Sarah Palin on the Today Show shown this morning. Complete Transcript.

Excerpt:

LAUER: There is this feeling -- and some of this comes from leaks and other just perception, people getting a gut -- that there was increasing tension between you and Senator McCain in the final stretch of this campaign. Tell me what the relationship was like.

S. PALIN: We have a great relationship. Had from day one. Had the first time that I met him last year, he and his wife. I just have been great admirers of them, of their family, of all that Senator McCain has accomplished. Never once was there any inkling of tension between the two of us. Perhaps within the campaign there were campaign staffers who...

LAUER: Well, describe that for me. Who was butting heads?

S. PALIN: You know, I don’t even know. That inside baseball stuff regarding the way a campaign works on that level -- I certainly didn’t get bogged down in any of the potential skirmishes or perceived problems.

LAUER: Have you listened to some of the leaks that have come out since the election where -- where they’re saying that the McCain people leaked anonymously -- are saying, “We couldn’t control her, she was a rogue, she didn’t want our consultants around her and it became tense.”

Where did stories like that come from?

S. PALIN: I honestly do not know, because it’s not true, Matt. And Senator McCain and I, we have a great relationship. I have nothing but honor and admiration and love for him and for his family, and I think that is mutual. In fact, I talked to him just today, again, and we -- touching base nearly every day.

LAUER: So, it’s a warm and friendly relationship even to to this day?

S. PALIN: Very warm and friendly and professional. And I -- I -- again, I have nothing but honor and admiration and love that I will show for this great American hero.

LAUER: According to a recent article in Newsweek and some other reports, on election night, you showed up at the Biltmore in Phoenix...

S. PALIN: Yes.

LAUER: ... and things weren’t going well. And you had some copy in your hands. You had some remarks that you would have liked to have given to that audience, and, in effect, to the nation, prior to Senator McCain giving his concession speech. And you were told, “No”.

S. PALIN: Well, I had a speech that, you know, I was going to give that we’d worked on about a week. And the speech was...

LAUER: Had you cleared with anyone? Had anyone -- anyone said it might be an opportunity for you to speak?

S. PALIN: Oh, certainly, the -- the speech was written in -- in cooperation and conjunction with a couple of the speech writers in the campaign -- and had written that as an introduction to this great American hero. And of course, we had two speeches in our back pocket.

LAUER: Right.

S. PALIN: One was a concession speech that would introduce him, and it would do what John McCain just can’t seem to do for himself -- bless his heart, because he’s not that kind of man -- where I was going to brag him up and say, “You know, truly he’s an American hero, has faced great adversity, knows how challenges are overcome. And let us -- let us be thankful for this man, who with a servant’s heart had offered himself up to...

(CROSSTALK)

LAUER: So that sounds like a good idea. Why weren’t you allowed to do it?

S. PALIN: I don’t know. It was a great speech because it also then, also said, “OK, but American voters have spoken, so now, let’s all come together. I know Senator McCain wants to lead in an effort of unity here in our nation, and let’s work with President-elect Obama and let’s go forward.”

LAUER: So you walked up and you said to somebody in the campaign, “Look, I’ve got these comments I’d like to make. I want to,” as you say, “brag on him a little bit?”

S. PALIN: Yes.

LAUER: Who said no?

S. PALIN: Somebody said no, they said that it would be unprecedented, that a V.P. candidates wouldn’t introduce someone in a concession speech. And you know, all I could say was...

Meet The Press Transcript (11-2-08)

Read the complete transcript.

MR. BROKAW: All right. Thanks, Chuck. We'll see you later on MEET THE PRESS in our roundtable.

We're joined now by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who has been a surrogate and an advocate for his friend John McCain.

I hope you understand the spirit in which I say this, but when I was a kid hanging around Bud's pool hall, you're the kind of guy I thought I probably would encounter. So you, you know the meaning of the phrase "run the table."

FMR. SEN. FRED THOMPSON (R-TN): I've heard of it, yes.

MR. BROKAW: Your senator have to run the table?

SEN. THOMPSON: Well, he has to get several of these, these battleground states, there's no question about it. Some people liken it to an inside straight. I think that's probably making it too tough, tougher than it is. It looks to me like it pretty much boils down to the undecided vote, which a lot of experts think will break heavily for John McCain. If they're decided, they're probably already for Obama. And so he's got a shot. He's, he's closing. I think the direction things are going in is, is equally important as where the numbers are today. And the direction is, is--they've been pretty much--seems to be going in John's direction.

I've been in Ohio and Pennsylvania recently and I've seen the turnout. I think Sarah Palin had about 25,000 in rural Missouri the other day. The enthusiasm is tremendous. People are really focusing now on what's at stake. And John's a closer, he always has been. He often is given up for dead, you know, literally and politically. People have been wrong about him before. He's in his element now, and he's, he's feeling good about it. So I would not count him out by any stretch of the imagination. I think the, the election is yet to be decided.

MR. BROKAW: The Economist has described a group of voters that has crossed over to vote for John McCain. They call them "Obamacans." These are disaffected Republicans and Libertarians. A couple of very prominent conservative columnists have commented on all this. We want to share with our viewers this morning what Charles Krauthammer in The Washington Post had to say on Friday.

"The National security choice in this election is no contest. The domestic policy choice is more equivocal because it is ideological. McCain is the quintessential center-right candidates. Yet the quintessential center-right country is poised to reject him. The hunger for anti-Republican catharsis and the blinding promise of Obamian hope are simply too strong. The reckoning," he says, "will come in the morning."

And then Michael Gerson, who was a speechwriter for President Bush said, "Yet there is little doubt, given a likely (though not certain) McCain defeat, that the conservative movement would enter a period of intense soul-searching. The issues that have provided conservatives with victories in the past - particularly welfare and crime - have been rendered irrelevant by success. The issues of the moment - income stagnation, climate disruption, massive demographic shifts and health-care access - seem a strange, unexplored land for many in the movement. And McCain, though a past reformer, did little to reaffirm that reputation during his campaign."

The senator is at the head of a ticket in a--of a party that's been in power eight years now. The president, who's the head of that party, has historically low approval ratings. The country is saying, 85 percent, we're off on the wrong track. Isn't he swimming against a tsunami?

SEN. THOMPSON: Yeah. Yeah. He is--he's going into the strongest headwinds that I've ever seen for a candidate in a presidential race. Some might say that it's, it's amazing that he has a chance to win this race. You mentioned the factors, plus the fact that in this country, you know, we swing the pendulum. We, we have one side in for a while and then another side in for a while. The president gets credit or blame for anything that's happening. We know the numbers, we know the generic ballot and all those kinds of things, and then, you know, shortly before the election, the bottom seems to drop out of the economy. I mean, just to, you know--in case we hadn't gotten the point yet, it seems, that fate's playing with us. So, yeah, it's, it's remarkable. We nominated the, the only fellow that'll have a chance, I think, under these circumstances. And it's because of, of several things. But, but because of the character of, of the man. Here is a guy who has spent his entire life demonstrating courage, honor, dedication, duty, putting his country first, sacrifice. Someone who has been willing to stand up to power, whether it be Democratic or Republican power, whose entire life has equipped him to be the leader of the free world. Charles is right about the national security part. It's really no question. Here's a man who has been involved one way or another in the major issues facing this country for the last 25 years.

On the other hand, you have a fellow who is the most inexperienced and least qualified from a national security standpoint of any Democratic candidate I've seen in my lifetime.

McCain Interview with ABC's Charles Gibson: Transcript (10-31-08)

Read the complete transcript.

GIBSON: You said irresponsible to measure the drapes. But do you have in mind a spreadsheet of people that you would bring into a McCain administration?

MCCAIN: Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. A long list of these or acquaintances and people that I've known for a quarter of a century, but there's also people who are wise people who may not come into the official position -- Henry Kissinger. Henry Kissinger is a man I've admired and respected ever since the day I came out of prison camp in Vietnam. I call Henry all the time.

Now, is Henry and I always in agreement? No. George Schultz, secretary of the Treasury, secretary of state, probably wouldn't want to come back and work in Washington, but I'm in constant contact with him.

GIBSON: But are these new faces we would see in a McCain administration? You've talked about change?

MCCAIN: Well, Democrats as well as Republicans. And if I start going down a list of names -- but they are respected people in America.

GIBSON: But it would be a nonpartisan Cabinet?

MCCAIN: Oh, sure.

GIBSON: Democrats?

MCCAIN: Of course.

GIBSON: More than just a token?

MCCAIN: No, no. A lot of Democrats. But I think the key now, restoring trust and confidence. How do you do that? By having trusted and respected people in your government, people -- Meg Whitman, founder of eBay. People say, gee, that's the person that turned the 10-employee business into one that employs 1.3 million people in America. That's a person -- a woman we can identify with, a leader we can identify. Those kinds of people.

Of course, I would look to Silicon Valley as well. Some of the success stories there. John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco. Fred Smith, who's made a great success out of FedEx. Obviously, I would want the advice of someone like Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker and others who are respected Democrats. Rubin is another one. Others that Americans can say, hey, this will give us some confidence and trust back.

GIBSON: Clean break, though? No holdovers from the Bush administration?

MCCAIN: I think that Secretary Gates, as secretary of defense, has done a fantastic job. And I think that people all agree with that. I'm not sure that he would want to stay permanently. That is one of the toughest jobs in America. But I'd like for him to at least stay on for awhile while we arrange whatever transition may be necessary.

Quietly, he's taken on some of the bad practices in the Pentagon itself. He's quite a guy.

GIBSON: First priority of a -- President-elect McCain.

MCCAIN: Any president. Any president is to ensure America's security. You've got -- that is a first priority of any president throughout our history, particularly, in the 20th and 21st centuries. We're in two wars. We face the existential threats of radical Islamic extremism.

So, obviously, that has to be any chief executives first responsibility. The second -- and, obviously, right now, the highest priority of the American people get the economy out of the ditch and moving again and create jobs. And national security and military security and economic security are not -- they are inextricably tied. No nation in history has had a terrible economy and maintained its military strength.

GIBSON: What would you want out of a lame-duck session of Congress? Second stimulus package?

MCCAIN: No. I'd like to sit down and talk with the members of Congress and find out exactly what's needed. But I'll tell you one thing. I'd lay down the law. No more pork. No more pork. We can't afford it. We -- we can't afford it.

Now, that will be a big fight that I will have with my own party as well as the Democrat Party. But there's a 9 percent approval rating of Congress today. We just had one of our most senior -- the most senior Republican in the Senate convicted by a jury of his peers. OK? We have members of Congress residing in federal prison. There are investigations going on.

And I can tell you what my friend Tom Coburn says, earmarking is a gateway drug. And it leads to corruption and I've seen it. And we've got to stop it. And don't think that it's, quote, always been there. It hasn't. It's grown worse and worse like any other evil that goes unchecked. So we'd take that on right away.

ABC's 'This Week' Transcript (10-26-08)

Appearing on the program with George Stephanopoulos were SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C., REP. RAHM EMANUEL, D-ILL., and JACK WELCH, FORMER CEO, GE. Read the complete transcript.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Heading into this final full week of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama is holding a steady lead. Our latest ABC News tracking poll shows him with a 9-point advantage over John McCain . One big reason -- fewer Americans now call themselves Republicans. Four years ago, the parties were even -- 37 percent of likely voters were Democrats; 37 Republicans. Today, Democrats are still at 37 percent, but Republicans have dropped to 29, the biggest gap in a generation.

With that, let me bring in our debaters this morning, two of the candidates’ closest friends and advisers. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He’s actually in Iowa with John McCain today. And joining us in the studio, Congressman Rahm Emanuel . Welcome to you both.

Senator Graham, let me begin with you. As you saw in that poll there, the GOP brand has really taken a beating. How can you get them back in this final week without turning off moderates and independents?

GRAHAM: Well, I think the independent voter will decide the election, and Senator Obama doesn’t show much independence when it comes to saying no to the Democratic leadership since he’s been in Congress. His budgets increase spending, they increase taxes, and all Americans -- Republicans, Democrats and independents -- generally don’t like the idea of having taxes increased on anyone in a weak economy or making Washington larger.

So we have to make our case to the independent voter that John McCain is truly an independent, stood up to his own party, will keep your taxes low, and rein Washington spending in, and I think that’s a winning message for us. It’s not time to raise taxes or increase spending.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Congressman Emanuel, he raises the issue of taxes. Senator McCain and Governor Palin are also raising the prospect of having Democrats in control of the entire government. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: We can’t have Obama, Pelosi, Reid running Washington and running our country.

GOV. SARAH PALIN, R-ALASKA: If big government spenders control the House and the Senate, and heaven forbid, the White House too, they will be unchecked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Independents in our poll do say they would prefer to have Republicans in control of Congress and a divided government.

EMANUEL: First of all, this is a party that for six years run up the largest national debt, $4 trillion, under a Republican watch. When you had a Democratic president, we balanced the budget. The records are clear.

Second, there is a point here, and I think it’s a very, very important point, which is, in 2004, when Republicans won the White House, the House and the Senate, they went off and tried to prove their ideology by trying to privatize Social Security, and thank God Democrats stopped them. Second, they ran off on a tangent on Terry Schiavo, which the nation rejected.

The warning is to make sure you stay to your knitting and focus on the challenges facing this country and the middle-class families. Reforming energy to make sure you have independence and alternatives. Reforming health care to make sure you have cost control and expanded coverage. Reforming taxes so it’s simple and fair. Reforming regulatory oversight for the financial sector to make sure you have transparency and accountability.

If the Congress is known as the reform Congress, which I think the 111th will be known for, then we will have done our policy job and our political job. And the main problem, and why the country has rejected the Republicans and basically less people are identifying themselves in your poll as Republicans, George, is because the Republican Party has basically ran up a huge, $4 trillion nation debt; they have seen jobs be shredded, and we will be -- what the Republican record will be known for is an endless occupation and a jobless economy.

Palin Interviewed by Brian Williams pt3: Video (10-24-08)

This is part 3 of the interviews done by NBC's Brian Williams of John McCain and Sarah Palin. The final segment (shown Friday) is an interview done with Palin about her medical records, press coverage of her, and her future plans.

Palin, McCain Interview by Brian Williams Pt.2 Transcript (10-23-08)

Read part two of the interview done by John McCain and Sarah Palin with NBC's Brian Williams. Read the full transcript. See the video here.

WILLIAMS: Are we changing--it's been said that to gives it a vaguely post-9/11 hint, using that word that we don't normally associate with domestic crimes. Are we changing the definition? Are the people who set fire to American cities during the '60s terrorists in--under this definition? Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under this definition, Governor?

Gov. PALIN: There's no question that Bill Ayers, via his own admittance, was one who sought to destroy our US capital and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist. There's no question there. Now, others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that it would be unacceptable to--I don't know if you're going to use the word terrorist there, but it's unacceptable, and it would not be condoned, of course, on our watch. But I don't know--if what you're asking is if I regret referring to Bill Ayers as an unrepentant domestic terrorist, I don't regret characterizing him as that.

WILLIAMS: No, I'm just asking what other categories you would put in there, abortion clinic bombers, protesters in cities where fires were started, Molotov cocktails were thrown, people died?

Gov. PALIN: I would put in that category of Bill Ayers anyone else who would seek to campaign, to destroy our United States capital and our Pentagon and would seek to destroy innocent Americans.

WILLIAMS: Senator McCain, the head of your campaign...

Senator JOHN McCAIN: Let me--let just mention one thing in addition to that. It's not the unrepentant terrorist who stayed on the run from and said, as short time ago as 9/11, that they wished they'd have bombed more.

Gov. PALIN: More.

Sen. McCAIN: His wife was on the top 10 FBI most wanted list. It's the relationship with Mr. Ayers which Senator Obama has not been forthcoming. That's what Senator Clinton said in their debates. That's what I say.

WILLIAMS: Are you going to keep your promise not to involve Reverend Wright in the campaign?

Sen. McCAIN: Look, I have not involved Reverend Wright, and people can make up their minds as, again, I say about Mr. Ayers, is the full extent of the relationship with Senator Obama is not known. And Senator Obama has not been forthcoming. He has not told the complete truth to the American people, nor did he tell the truth to the American people when he said he would take public financing and signed a piece of paper if I would, back when he was a long shot candidate.

Gov. PALIN: And also, it is not mean spirited. It is not negative campaigning to ask someone about their record. And Barack Obama does have a record of association with Bill Ayers. I don't think of that as off base. In fact, Barack Obama challenged you to bring up Bill Ayers in the debate.

Sen. McCAIN: Yeah, he asked me to. He asked me to.

Gov. PALIN: Yeah, yeah.

WILLIAMS: Governor, what is an elite? Who is a member of the elite?

Gov. PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they're better than anyone else. And John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American, hard working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track, and winning these wars, and America starting to reach her potential. And that is opportunity and hope provided everyone equally. So anyone who thinks that they are, I guess, better than anyone else, that's my definition of elitism.

McCain, Palin Interview by NBC's Brian Williams pt.2: Video (10-23-08)

- Related Post:

• NBC's Brian Williams Interviews Palin and McCain: Transcript, Video (10-22-08)

John McCain on CNN's 'Situation Room': Transcript (10-22-08)

McCain was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Read the complete transcript.

BLITZER: Let's talk about Issue No. 1, as we call it, the economy. Colin Powell was pretty biting in his criticism. He said you were a little unsure of how to deal with the economic crisis. You seem to have, he said, a different approach. He sensed you didn't have a complete grasp of the economic crisis the American people are going through right now. I wonder if you'd like to respond to Secretary Powell.

MCCAIN: Except to say that I'm happy to have the endorsement and support and belief of five former secretaries of state, Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Jim Baker, Larry Eagleburger and Gen. Al Haig, and over 200 retired military generals and admirals that have supported my campaign.

I respect Gen. Powell, but I respectfully disagree. I especially disagree when he said the comments that he made about Gov. [Sarah] Palin, the most popular governor in America, a governor who knows energy issues, $40 billion pipeline reformer, took on the governor of her own party. And I hope that sometime Gen. Powell will take time out of his busy schedule to meet with her. I know she'd be pleased to meet with him.

BLITZER: But on the economic issues, his criticism was that you were going back and forth on some of the specific issues, and he didn't like that. He thought that Sen. Obama had a consistency in his approach.

MCCAIN: Well, all I can do is laugh. We've been very consistent about cutting spending, cutting taxes and the fundamentals of our economic message.

Sen. Obama's been all over the place, including wanting to "raise taxes on only the rich," 95 percent -- a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans, when 40 percent of them pay no federal income taxes as it is. You know, whatever it is he's changed with -- look at the positions that he held on tax increases when he was first running in the primary, and look at them now. They're vastly different.

And the fundamental difference -- and maybe Secretary Powell agrees with him; I don't know -- but to spread the wealth around is certainly not something that I would ever do, that I would ever do.

BLITZER: Do you agree with Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, who said this week -- he said that it's now a good time for a second economic stimulus package, seeming to join hands with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Is it a good time to do that, to come up with another $150 billion stimulus package?

MCCAIN: I would be glad to look at anything that could be helpful to our economy. I respect Ben Bernanke. I'm sick and tired, and the American people are sick and tired of the pork barrel spending. Why don't we cancel the $18 billion in pork barrel projects that we put in last year at a minimum and use some of that money to help stimulate the economy as well? Instead of bridges to nowhere and projectors and planetariums such as Sen. Obama asked for -- he asked for nearly $1 billion in pork barrel projects. Why don't we ask him to make sure that money that was given to pork barrel projects back to helping American families? And then I think that Americans would be more likely to support such a thing.

Approval rating of Congress at 9 percent. No wonder. We've got a $10 trillion debt to our kids, $500 billion to China. We don't want to continue that spending practices, and Americans are sick and tired of it.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama on Meet The Press: Transcript (10-19-08)

Read the complete transcript.

MR. BROKAW: General Powell, actually you gave a campaign contribution to Senator McCain. You have met twice at least with Barack Obama. Are you prepared to make a public declaration of which of these two candidates that you're prepared to support?

GEN. POWELL: Yes, but let me lead into it this way. I know both of these individuals very well now. I've known John for 25 years as your setup said. And I've gotten to know Mr. Obama quite well over the past two years. Both of them are distinguished Americans who are patriotic, who are dedicated to the welfare of our country. Either one of them, I think, would be a good president. I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire all he has done. I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that's a choice the party makes. And I've said to Mr. Obama, "You have to pass a test of do you have enough experience, and do you bring the judgment to the table that would give us confidence that you would be a good president."

And I've watched him over the past two years, frankly, and I've had this conversation with him. I have especially watched over the last six of seven weeks as both of them have really taken a final exam with respect to this economic crisis that we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say that I've gotten a good measure of both. In the case of Mr. McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as to deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem. And that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had. And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.

On the Obama side, I watched Mr. Obama and I watched him during this seven-week period. And he displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this and picking a vice president that, I think, is ready to be president on day one. And also, in not just jumping in and changing every day, but showing intellectual vigor. I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well. I also believe that on the Republican side over the last seven weeks, the approach of the Republican Party and Mr. McCain has become narrower and narrower. Mr. Obama, at the same time, has given us a more inclusive, broader reach into the needs and aspirations of our people. He's crossing lines--ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines. He's thinking about all villages have values, all towns have values, not just small towns have values.

And I've also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that, because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow, Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate.

Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration. I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

McCain Interviewed on 'FOX News Sunday': Transcript (10-19-08)

Read the complete transcript of John McCain's interview with Chris Wallace.

WALLACE: Let's start with where this race stands now, 16 days before the election. According to the latest RealClearPolitics average of national polls, you trail Obama by seven points, 50-43.

And take a look at the latest electoral map from Karl Rove based on public state polls. He has Obama leading in states with 313 electoral votes, 43 more than he needs to win the presidency. You lead in states with 171 electoral votes.

Senator McCain, aren't you in a world of trouble?

MCCAIN: All right, look. First of all, there are polls this morning — reliable — Zogby, Rasmussen, Gallup — all those that show us in the margin of error or somewhat behind. Are we behind? Sure. I'm the underdog.

I've always — I've been the underdog in a number of races, and we're very happy with the way the campaign is going. I'm very happy with the debate — went there the other night.

And look, I've been on enough campaigns, my friend, to sense enthusiasm and momentum, and we've got it, and I — again, I don't have to look at polls, but the polling numbers have closed dramatically in the last few days.

We're going to be in a tight race and we're going to be up late on election night. That's just — I'm confident of that. I've been in too many campaigns, my friend, not to — not to sense that things are headed our way.

It's going to be tough. Sure, it's tough. I mean, Senator Obama raised $150 million in — I understand, during the month of September, completely breaking whatever idea we had after Watergate to keep the costs and spending on campaigns under control — first time, first time since the Watergate scandal.

And I can tell you this, that has unleashed now in presidential campaigns a new flood of spending that will then cause a scandal, and then we will fix it again.

But Senator Obama has broken it, and he broke his word to me and the American people when he signed a piece of paper when he was a longshot candidate that he would take public financing if I would. He signed a piece of paper.

Then, twice on national television he looked into the camera with Senator Clinton sitting there and said, "I'll sit down and talk to John McCain before I make a decision on public financing or not." He didn't tell the truth.

And finally, there's $200 million of those campaign contributions — there's no record. They're not reported. You can report online now — $200 million that — that we don't know where the money came from — a lot of strange things going on in this campaign.

The American people should know where every penny came from. They know where every penny of my campaign contributions came from.

WALLACE: Well, let me ask you about the money, because, as...

MCCAIN: Sure.

WALLACE: ... as you alluded to it — I was going to ask you about it. Obama today announced that he raised $150 million in September. By way of comparison, accepting public financing, you're getting $84 million for the entire campaign.

He's outspending you on advertising 4-1. In the key state of Virginia, for instance, he has three times as many field offices. Is he buying this election?

MCCAIN: Well, I think you could make that argument, but we're not going to let him. We're not going to let that happen.

But what I worry about is future elections, too, not only mine. I worry about — most about mine at the moment, but what's going to happen the next time around, four years from now?

What's going to happen, particularly if you've got an incumbent president, and we no longer stick to the finance — the public financing, which was a result of the Watergate scandal?

So what's going to happen? The dam is broken. We're now going to see huge amounts of money coming into political campaigns, and we know history tells us that always leads to scandal.

Bill Clinton on Meet the Press: Transcript (9-28-08)

Also on the program were opposing presidential campaign heads, David Axelrod and Schmidt. Also, a debate between the Colorado Senate candidates (obviously only includes the two major parties). Read the complete transcript.

MR. BROKAW: But has he been making specific suggestions about what needs to be in this bill? When he came back on Friday, the House Republicans said to him, "This won't fly because we want an insurance program, not just a buyout."

MR. SCHMIDT: Does appear that there will be insurance as part of the final package. But importantly, Senator McCain laid out a number of principles, saying, for example, that CEOs cannot benefit from taxpayer dollars, the CEOs of these firms who have ripped off the American people. That there be oversight, that there be accountability. Those principles appear to be contained in legislation. But what Senator McCain was able to do, the reason he suspended his campaign, the reason he came back to Washington was to help get all of the parties to the table. There had been announcements by Senate leaders saying that a deal had been reached earlier in the week. There were no votes for that deal. Senator McCain knew time was short and he came back, he listened and he helped put together the framework of getting everybody to the table, which was necessary to produce a package to avoid a financial catastrophe for this country.

MR. BROKAW: Mr. Axelrod, I think it's fair to say you have a skeptical expression on your face. Your candidate left Mississippi, however, and resumed campaigning. He didn't come back to Washington. Has his role in this been primarily as a man who's been getting information from Democrats on the hill?

MR. AXELROD: Well, I'll tell you what his role has been from the beginning. He's been in touch with Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke, the leaders of Congress, and he is the one who has been urging these principles that Steve has now embraced today. The fact is, when the--when this crisis emerged, Senator McCain's first reaction was to say the economy is fundamentally strong. The next day he suggested a commission to study this and by eight days later he said it was such a crisis that he was going to suspend his campaign. He showed up a day later in Washington. It isn't clear what his role was, so it's a little bit of fiction to now claim credit for it. That's not the important thing, though. The important thing is that the principles that Senator Obama outlined originally are now embraced and taxpayers will be protected.

[...]MR. BROKAW: But the picture economically is darker with every passing day, and here's what Robert Bixby, who is with the Concord Coalition, had to say about your two candidates. "I don't think either candidate is treating the deficit, or the debt, seriously. I don't see any proposals from either one that would make the situation any better." This is a nonpartisan observer who is looking at it. Senator Obama the other night was asked to name one program that he would cut given the economic realities. We're going to be at war in two countries, he wants to reform healthcare, have alternative energy and early childhood. He didn't name one program, Mr. Axelrod.

MR. AXELROD: That's not true, Tom. He talked about the Medicare Advantage program, which is a big giveaway to the insurance companies within the Medicare program. That's $15 billion a year right there. Another big item that we have to deal with is the $10 billion a month we're spending in Iraq while Iraq has a $79 billion surplus. Senator McCain would like to continue there indefinitely. The American people want to come home from Iraq, to send some troops from Afghanistan, and to begin investing that money here at home. So there are many things that we can do. Obviously, we're going to have to look at the budget, and Senator Obama said he's going to go through it line by line, and he's going to get rid of things that don't work. We have, for example, a one--a reading program that was installed by the Bush administration that turned out to be a big boondoggle. It's not helping any kids learn. We ought to say that doesn't work, let's get rid of it. And that's the approach he's going to take. If we're going to do the things we need to do, the things you mentioned, the things that are going to strengthen the middle class in our economy, we're going to have to be very, very flinty-eyed about what we can keep and what we don't.

Obama NY Times Interview: Transcript (9-21-08)

"The following is a transcript of an interview with Senator Barack Obama by John Harwood of The New York Times and CNBC." Read the full transcript.

HARWOOD: You've been briefed on this plan the Treasury is putting forward, working out with Congress. How confident are you that this is going to work?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, I don't think it's completely a plan yet. What we have is a request, a massive amount of money that the Treasury would have discretion over, and we know that it's going to potentially take a while to work this thing out. We haven't seen all the details. But we have to remember, first of all, how we got here. We had years of regulators looking the other way. We had, I believe, a economic theory that's failed, that says anything goes at the top and we're not going to worry about what's happening on Main Street. Regardless of how we got there, we now have a situation where people's jobs, people's savings, people's retirement accounts, their job security, all that is at risk. And so we've got to take some firm and decisive steps. I think that it has to be bold, and I am supportive of the need for quick action, but there's some principles that I think have to be included.

Number one, I think we have to have oversight. I don't think it can be a blank check. We can set up a system where there's an independent overseer, maybe the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Democrats and the Republicans each appoint somebody to oversee the system. But we have to make sure that this is--there's some accountability mechanism in it.

A second principle that we have to have is that the taxpayers have to share in the upside of this process. If we are buying up assets and are eventually selling them, we want to make sure that it's structured in a way that taxpayers aren't left holding the bag and it ends up costing a lot more than it should.

Third principle is that we've got to have relief for the homeowners. The underlying problem in this whole situation is that home values are declining, foreclosures are going haywire. We've got to make sure that we're addressing that underlying problem and that relief flows to homeowners and it's not just a bailout for Wall Street.

And the fourth principle that I think is important is that as we increase liquidity in the system as we restore market confidence; that we're also making sure that CEOs and executives, large investors, that they are not walking away with billions of dollars in profits or added value. I think there's got to be some constraints on what they benefit in terms of making sure that the program works and the taxpayers aren't paying for multimillion dollar bonuses.

HARWOOD: It looks as if there's the bipartisan will to move this through quickly in Congress, and if that happens then the government will have just taken on $700 billion of obligations that you haven't planned on throughout your two-year campaign for president. So how do you adjust your agenda in light of that, whether it's the scale of your plans for spending on health care, energy or other issues, whether it's on the advisability of raising taxes on capital gains and dividends, even staffing your administration? Would you ask Hank Paulson, for example, to stay on as Treasury secretary?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, I'll take the last question first. I think that the transition from the current administration to the next one is going to be something we've got to pay a lot of attention to; not just because of the financial crisis, but also because we're in the middle of two wars and we are still vulnerable to terrorist attacks. So without saying specifically what we'll do, I think it's important to make sure that that transition is seamless and that we pass the baton effectively.