All Blog Posts from From The Road

By CBS News’ Director of Political Coverage Steve Chaggaris:

(WASHINGTON) – When former Gov. Tom Vilsack, D-Iowa, became the first candidate to announce - two years ago - a 2008 presidential run, no one could have envisioned the ups-and-downs, the surprises and the history that would be made over the course of Campaign ’08. Here at CBS News, we chose eight talented producers in the summer of 2007 and sent them on the campaign trail to witness those twists-and-turns first-hand – to be our eyes and ears on the presidential campaigns.

Over the course of those 14 months, the off-air reporters, as we called them, watched that history unfold right in front of them: from Barack Obama's victory in January's Iowa caucuses and Hillary Clinton's insurmountable setback on Super Tuesday - which set the stage for Obama’s eventual nomination - to the battle of Republican heavyweights that resulted in the inevitable-to-improbable nomination of John McCain.

“It seems more like 14 years ago than 14 months,” said Scott Conroy, who was our producer covering Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin.

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From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:

(KETTERING, OHIO) - While the Obama campaign denies using ageism as part of their campaign strategy, a document obtained by CBS News shows that they planned to use McCain’s last birthday in August to point out McCain’s age.

A memo reveals they planned to make an issue of his age beginning on Aug. 29, McCain’s 72nd birthday, “hoping to hit him on being so old.”

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From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

(DES MOINES, IOWA) - Barack Obama was back in Iowa today – a state that he says was critical to his run for the presidency.

“On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated,” Obama said. “What you started here in Iowa has swept across the nation.”

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From CBS News' Dean Reynolds:

(DES MOINES, IOWA) - The Obama campaign plane, which smells much better these days by the way, is alive with Halloween decorations now.

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From CBS News' Scott Conroy:

(ST. LOUIS) - Recent political developments in the Midwest have not been promising for the Republicans. John McCain and Sarah Palin pulled out of Michigan early this month. Palin hasn’t visited Wisconsin in more than two weeks and hasn’t touched down in Minnesota in over a month.

But Iowa is one Big Ten state where the Republicans are still fighting hard. Palin holds rallies on Saturday in Sioux City and Des Moines, and McCain will follow in his running mate’s heels as he travels to Waterloo Saturday night.

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From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

(CHICAGO) Barack Obama heads to Missouri today, in what will be his seventh trip to the state since securing the Democratic nomination. Although Obama hasn’t been to Missouri since the end of August, a recent boost in poll numbers may have given the campaign confidence that they could take the state on November 4th.

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From CBS Radio Correspondent Barry Bagnato:

(AKRON, OHIO) A man pulls up to Chez Marchele, gets out with his wife, and sees an Obama sign in the window. "I don't know if I'm gonna vote this year," he tells the owner. He's tired of politics. Marchele Sneed puts down her clippers and slips into her second job, selling her customers on Barack Obama, "just giving them any information they need and how he stands on the issues."

Her neighborhood business here is part of a network of barbershops and beauty salons recruited to be Obama campaign "outposts." Located mainly in African-American neighborhoods, they deal directly with voters the Illinois Senator needs to win this important election state. "It's kind of the one-on-one attention you can give somebody just sitting in your chair," Sneed says. Her shop and the others helped register voters before the deadline passed. "My job now is to get them the information they need to make that final decision and also to let them know they can vote early."

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From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

(HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.) - The star of the final presidential debate was Joe Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber." John McCain mentioned Wurzelbacher tonight shortly after the debate began, and both he and Obama said his name more than 25 times during the 90-minute debate. How many times did the word Iraq come up? Six. How many times was the word economy used? 16.

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From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:

(WARREN, OHIO) - Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, stood before a crowd in Warren at a Joe Biden rally this morning and made a prediction on what the back-and-forth conversation between Fox News commentators will be on election night.

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From CBS Radio Correspondent Barry Bagnato:

(WEST MIFFLIN, PA.) So much is being made about racism in this race and the negatives, especially for Barack Obama the bigger story may be lost. This campaign is forcing groups such as labor unions to openly confront the issue because race preferences are threatening the union's political goals.

In United Steelworkers Union Local 2227's concrete block hall here, international Secretary-Treasury Jim English took the stage at a "Steel Blitz for Obama" rally. Teaming with the Pittsburgh Steelers, union leaders and activists are being bused around to train and motivate activists to go door-to-door. English's entire speech was about racism, not something you normally hear in these halls. "If we all do what we're supposed to do, five years, ten years from now, we won't be saying, I won't vote for somebody because of the color of their skin." Fading photos of Democratic Presidents from FDR to LBJ sagged from a wall. Referring to JFK, English said, "It was always a source of puzzlement to me that people said they wouldn't vote for him because he was Catholic. Well, history repeats itself, doesn't it?"

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