Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/with-a-week-to-go-candidates-make-final-pitches-to-voters Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript With Election Day nearing, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are racing around the nation's battleground states in a final attempt to shore up voter support. Political analysts discuss closing campaign strategies. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: For more on what the two candidates are doing to seal the deal, we turn to Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of the Hotline, National Journal's political daily, and Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today.Susan Page, based on what we heard Barack Obama say today, what is the substance of his closing argument? SUSAN PAGE, USA Today: Barack Obama is saying, "It's been a tough eight years. We need a change. I'll offer you change. The other guy won't." I think that's the essence of his closing arguments. It's been, in fact, the essence of his campaign for the last six months. GWEN IFILL: It sounded, Amy, like the essence of his opening argument. AMY WALTER, Editor-in-Chief, The Hotline: Of his opening argument for the rest of — yes, for his tenure as president, is that what you're suggesting? Yes.I mean, I think that what he's doing right now, it's really interesting watching these two candidates, which is Obama seems to be sort of opening his message, where — and trying to sort of bring it, as we've heard all along, bring as many people together as possible, the blue states and the red states, and the hope, and all those words.And McCain is much more focused and his message is much more closed, as it would be — focused much more on his base and in turning out those voters that he's worried are not enthusiastic enough to come out on Election Day.So one's trying to expand the map, and one's focusing much more narrowly. GWEN IFILL: Well, let's talk about the McCain message. There seemed to be a lot in that today. It was a full basket full of different messages. SUSAN PAGE: Well, I think Senator McCain is looking for a message that's going to work for him, that'll get some traction, that will convince some voters who are for Obama now, but maybe aren't quite so sure about it, to peel off, or those dwindling number of undecided voters to come to his side.So for some of those, it might be taxes, might be the risk of electing someone who's inexperienced. Really, whatever argument will work for you is an argument John McCain is willing to make now, because he's in this unfortunate position of being on the struggling side of this campaign.So he needs to be more negative. He needs to hammer at Senator Obama. He needs to raise questions about him, if he is to have any hopes of making this — threading this difficult course to him to 270 electoral votes.