Sunday Snapshot -- The Passion Of McCain

John McCain was on "This Week":

McCain, on ex-Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) saying his temper would place the U.S. at risk in int'l affairs and "the world perhaps in danger": "Yes, I served with him, and had significant differences on several issues. ... The point is that I feel passionately about issues. I work across the aisle. I've been successful in getting legislation done. ... Do I get angry from time to time, when I'm investigating Mr. Abramoff and find out they ripped off Indian tribes? When I see bridges to nowhere? And you know what, the American people are angry, too. They want change. They want action. And they're fed up and they're angry with the way things have been going here in Washington."

On the economy: "The worst thing you can do is raise taxes. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama want to raise taxes. That's out of touch. ... [Obama] obviously doesn't understand the economy, because history shows every time you have cut capital gains taxes, revenues have increased, going back to Jack Kennedy. So out of touch? Yes, they are out of touch when they want to raise taxes at the worst possible time, when we're in a recession."

On whether he'll be able to balance the budget in his first term: "Well, that still should be a goal, but the goal right now is to get the economy going again."

Asked if he has any doubt that Obama shares his sense of patriotism: "I'm sure he's very patriotic. But his relationship with Mr. Ayers is open to question. ... Because if you're going to associate and have as a friend and serve on a board and have a guy kick off your campaign that says he's unrepentant, that he wished bombed more -- and then, the worst thing of all, that, I think, really indicates Senator Obama's attitude, is he had the incredible statement that he compared Mr. Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist, with Senator Tom Coburn ... a physician who goes to Oklahoma on the weekends and brings babies into life. ... It's very insulting to a great man, a great doctor, a great humanitarian, to compare to him with a guy who says, after 2001, I wish we had bombed more."

After the jump, more from McCain and camp strategists/supporters go one-on-one (KATHERINE LEHR).

ABC's Stephanopoulos: "You say he should condemn these comments. ... A lot of Senator Obama's allies and others say that you should condemn the comments of Reverend John Hagee."

McCain: "Oh, I do. And I did. I said, any comments that he made about the Catholic church I strongly condemn, of course."

Asked if he no longer wants Hagee's endorsement: "I'm glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. But thanks for asking."

Asked if voters should take his age into account: "Sure. ... They took it into account in the primary. And they saw me outcampaign my opponents" (ABC, 4/20).

A STRATEGIST-OFF

Obama strategist David Axelrod and Clinton strategist Geoff Garin appeared together on "Meet the Press."

Garin, asked if Clinton will stay in this race through all the primaries in June: "There's not a reason not to, but, look, I think that will be dictated by, by events. Her commitment now is to let the process play through, to let voters vote."

Axelrod, on trade issues: "Your predecessor, Mark Penn, is not here tonight because he angled on down to the Columbian Embassy at the time that Senator Clinton said that she was opposed to that treaty to plot strategy with him about how to pass that treaty. Her chief strategist. Doesn't that cause some concern for people? I think it does."

Garin: "Well, A, as you note, he's not here today. And second, is that the co-chair of your campaign writes editorials in favor of the Columbia free trade agreement. ... Nobody would say that Barack Obama is going to take a position different from the one he believes in because the co-chair of his campaign feels that way. Nobody says that Tom Daschle shouldn't be the co-chair any longer."

Axelrod: "So why did Penn leave? If there's nothing wrong with it, why did Penn leave?"

Garin: "I think that he made an error in judgment."

Garin, on Clinton taking on MoveOn during a closed fundraiser: "We agree with MoveOn on lots of issues, disagree with them on some. ... They’ve endorsed Senator Obama, and they have been very effective in these caucuses."

Garin, asked how MoveOn or liberal activists intimidate Clinton voters: "I'm here for two weeks now, so this comment was made in, I believe, at the beginning of March. But, look, the truth is Senator Clinton, as she said in that other clip, respects the, the right of MoveOn to be involved in this process and respects the role that activists in our party. I think the larger point is that when you move from the caucuses to the primaries, where participation is much, much greater, she has done extremely well. ... We're not looking to pick a fight with MoveOn. They play an important role in the Democratic Party. I think she was making an observation about the caucus rocess."

Axelrod, asked if he wants to go all the way to the convo with this battle: "I'm not looking to go all the way to the convention, but I don't think we will. I think this will be settled long before the convention" (NBC, 4/20).

ONE-ON-ONES

Clinton supporter/Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appeared with Obama supporter/Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on "Fox News Sunday."

Schumer was asked about Hillary Clinton saying at a closed fundraiser that she "has been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn.org didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan."

Schumer, on whether MoveOn.org intimidates Clinton voters: "No, not at all. MoveOn and many of these other activist groups are very, very positive for the Democratic Party. They've motivated a whole lot of people. ... They're very vocal, and sometimes they take little shots at every one of us, and that's part of the game. But overall, we in the Clinton campaign believe they're a very positive and good thing."

Durbin: "I think this kind of activism is really going to make a difference in the November election. When it comes to all these comments behind closed doors, we're living in this YouTube era now where almost anything can be taped and played back. That's the reality of political campaigning" (4/20).

Clinton supporter/PA Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and Obama supporter/Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) appeared together on "Face the Nation", where they were both asked if the Dems will know who their candidate is by the convo.

Casey: "Yes, I think we will. And I think we must do that. I think we've got to come together a lot longer -- I should say a lot earlier than the convention week."

Rendell: "Well, that would be a preferable result. But it really depends on what happens in the next nine states. You can't answer that question without knowing the results. There is a chance that it could be over before the convention, but there's a chance it could go to the convention. ... There's a chance that Senator Clinton will capture the overall popular vote by the end of the voting, particularly if you count, as you should, the votes in Florida" (CBS, 4/20).

Obama supporter/ex-Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and Clinton supporter/NJ Gov. Jon Corzine (D) were on "Late Edition."

Bradley, on DNC Chair Howard Dean saying he needs superdelegates to start saying who they're for now: "I think it's a good idea that superdelegates come forward and state who they're for, as soon as they feel comfortable, sooner rather than later."

Corzine: "First of all, superdelegates do want to see change in Washington. They want a new president. They want a Democratic president that deals with those fundamental issues. And so they need to assess who can win; who's got the greatest electability potential in the fall? And the second thing they need to do is they need to understand that the person who is running has the ability to stand up to those challenges. And I think that is a real question in people's minds" (CNN, 4/20).

THE KEY TO THE KEYSTONE STATE

Clinton supporter/Philly Mayor Michael Nutter (D) and Obama supporter/Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) also appeared together on "Late Edition."

Fattah, on the PA primary: "[Clinton] obviously has a home court advantage, not only with Mayor Nutter ... but Governor Rendell and 100 other mayors across the state of Pennsylvania. ... She was up almost 30 points 30 days ago in the polls. Senator Obama's campaign is focused on the issues. He's come and he's worked hard. And I think he's going to be rewarded for that on election day. We're trying to get every single person who supports Senator Obama to come out and cast their vote and win every delegate."

Nutter, asked if Obama is tough enough to be the Dem nominee: "I would have to say I'm sure he is. I mean, I don't know him that well" (CNN, 4/20).

Rendell, on saying Clinton has to win "big" in PA: "I guess the rub is what's big? Senator Obama has set an all-time record for spending during a six-week period. He spent over $2.9 million on TV last week in Pennsylvania. That's almost obscene. And we've been outspent 3.5-to-1. So to win by four, five, six, seven points under that type of spending differential, that would be a huge and very significant victory. ... Would I like to win by double digits? Sure. But I don't think that's going to happen. ... When I made that statement, I had no idea that the spending would be at a record level."

Casey: "From Senator Obama's perspective, he's made tremendous progress in the last six or seven weeks. I don't know if it's enough progress to have a close race or a winning race, but I think it will lay a foundation for the fall" (CBS, 4/20).

Durbin: "The math is very unforgiving at this point when it comes to delegate counts, and that's what it's all about. At this point, Senator Clinton needs more than 60 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania. ... If you look at the remaining contests, you understand that the Clinton campaign is running out of real estate. There are only a handful of states left. She needs over 60 percent of the vote in each one of them to catch up with Barack Obama" ("Fox News Sunday," 4/20).

Karl Rove, asked if Clinton needs 60% in PA: "Senator Durbin was correct. From here on out, she needs to win just about 59.8 percent of the delegates -- of the 898 delegates who have yet to be elected. She has to win just under 60 percent of them in order to secure the nomination. ... She's not going to get 60 percent. The polls are pointing ... to a six-point victory for her, which would mean that she would win 84 delegates to the 74 delegates of Obama and ... pick up about 10 delegates" ("Fox News Sunday," 4/20).

ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

The "This Week" roundtable discussed WH '08.

George Will, on Clinton taking on MoveOn at a closed fundraiser: "I think she's written them off. She knows that the candidate of the left -- and, again, this is rational -- the electorate has figured out that Obama is the most left wing candidate. ... She has to win some other way."

They also critiqued McCain's interview with Stephanopoulos.

Cokie Roberts: "The temperament thing will keep coming up because there are lots of people with stories. But as he says, they're old stories. ... But age is an issue, and voters are saying it."

Sam Donaldson: "We all have these moments. I have these moments. So you can't be too harsh on John McCain for this one. But in your program, just a few minutes ago, he was quoting about Senator Obama about raising or lowering taxes. He meant to say below $200,000. He said above $200,000. Everybody misspeaks but people catch that and they pick up on that. That's one of the problems he's going to have to face" (ABC, 4/20).

The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the U.S. and WH '08.

Weekly Standard's Kristol, on the PA primary: "Like in Ohio, eight points, 10 points, I think, strong enough to keep on going, which I certainly once again encourage [Clinton] to do" (4/20).

The "Late Edition" roundtable discussed WH '08.

Newsweek's Zakaria, on McCain not releasing Cindy McCain's tax returns: "It's potentially a big deal. I don't know that we've ever had a president before who had a prenuptial agreement in his current marriage. I think people will find that interesting" (CNN, 4/20).

The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed WH '08.

Dem strategist Joe Trippi, on Rendell's "win big" in PA comments: "I think Rendell is really talking to a lot of the superdelegates out there. And I think his comments ... that we really need to win big is reflective, I think, of when he was chairman of the DNC, knows a lot of these superdelegates and knows that if they don't win big, you're going to see them move towards Obama. I think he's actually got his hand, finger on the pulse of superdelegates more than maybe the Clinton campaign does" (CBS, 4/20).

The "Meet the Press" roundtable discussed WH '08.

Washington Post's Dionne, on the PA primary: "When you look at these numbers right now, the most likely outcome is that [Clinton]'s got a five point lead. ... Those undecideds look an awful like her people, and they seem if you push them that they're going to go to her. So if you sort of just do it on the numbers, she probably should win a healthy victory."

More Dionne: "The parts of the state that are most pro-Obama actually voted for Ed Rendell. The parts of the state that actually voted for Casey are most pro-Clinton. So this is not a choice on any traditional ground you've seen. It is very much a choice about style. And these primaries have become like a census. If, you know, the state is this percentage African-American or that percentage old, you can predict pretty much how it's going to come out" (NBC, 4/20).