CNN news 2010-11-04 加文本

cnn news 2010-11-04

CARL AZUZ, cnn STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: There's an old saying: It's not what you know, it's who you know. It might also be how you act. We're gonna make sense of that in just a bit. I'm Carl Azuz. Welcome to cnn Student News!

First Up: Midterm Elections

AZUZ: The primaries, the rallies, the debates: Let's call all that the pre-game. The big show kicks off today, Election Day in the U.S. This has been the most expensive midterm election in U.S. history. And it wraps up today as voters cast their ballots all over the country. What's at stake: control of Congress. You've heard us talk about it. The Democrats currently have a majority in both chambers. Republicans are expected to make gains today. In order to take over that majority, the Republicans need to hold onto the seats that they currently have, plus win 39 more seats in the House of Representatives, 10 more in the Senate. Sandra Endo checks in now with a report on the final push leading up to today's election.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

SANDRA ENDO, cnn CORRESPONDENT: One last cry to rally the troops. President Obama was on the campaign trail trying to get out the vote in Cleveland.

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Because if everyone who fought for change in 2008 shows up to vote in 2010, we will win this election. I am confident in that.

ENDO: Former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama are fanning out across the country to help in key races, like in Kentucky, Nevada and Delaware. For the Republican Party, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is stumping for GOP Senate candidate John Raese in West Virginia. Republican leaders are looking for big wins, a shift in power, in at least one chamber of Congress.

MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: My goal in talking to our team out in the field is let's get our folks to the 39, because that's the momentum point you really want to go for, and then you can continue to build from there.

ENDO: In fact a new cnn/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday shows a majority of Americans think Republicans will take over control of Congress after the midterm elections: 51 percent to 36 percent. According to the poll, 34 percent say the country will be better off if Republicans win back Congress; 28 percent say the nation will be worse off; and 36 percent say it won't make a difference. Another poll out today shows 75 percent of Americans think things are going badly in the country. It's the worst outlook going into a midterm election since the mid '70s, and the economy remains issue number one on voters' minds. In Washington, Sandra Endo, for cnn Student News.