Q: Tucker Bounds is the national spokesperson for the McCain campaign. I'm laughing because it's always good to talk to Tucker. On this tough day the numbers seem to be working against you, Tucker.

Bounds: Tammy, I'm happy to be here, first of all. Second of all, I'm happy to talk about these numbers, because I think that there's some flexibility in the undecided vote that we're going to capitalize on Election Day. If you look at the way the data breaks down, there is a traditional voting bloc, and then there are some new models that include millions and millions more voters. I think that in that traditional bloc, the existence of 8 to 10 percent of undecideds -- there's a distinct possibility those voters will break our way on Election Day, which would put us over the top in these key states and deliver John McCain's leadership to the White House. That's what we're confident in, and we're working toward that every day.

Q: There's a Yahoo poll out today that says one in seven Americans have not decided yet. Is that hard for you to believe?

Bounds: No. You know, it is hard on one hand, because Barack Obama has worked the airwaves, outspending us four to one, five to one in some places. He's moving his money around very liberally around the country. And, you know, he's capitalized the airwaves to the extent that you would think that these voters would have made their decision if they were going to go towards Obama. I think the existence of undecided voters is a compelling argument that John McCain has a life to live in this campaign and that we could see a drastic turn on the closing days of this election toward a McCain victory -- but would probably not really manifest itself until midday of Election Day, when we would start to see returns where those undecideds have broken our way.

But until then we live in a state of limbo where there is a lot of analysis, and there are a lot of folks around Washington, D.C., who are trying to second-guess this campaign. I would argue that John McCain is running in the sternest, steepest headwinds that any presidential candidate has ever faced, in the sense that his party is incredibly unpopular, the incumbent president is incredibly unpopular. And it is because John McCain is a different type of Republican, he is a different type of leader, that we are here to live another day. We think we can be successful on Election Day because of those key facts.

Q: Well, more headwinds for you, my friend, because the Obama campaign is putting up ads in Arizona, Georgia and North Dakota.

Bounds: Well, I'll tell you this, Tammy, I'll tell you this: We do face headwinds across this country, whether it be in Ohio or Florida or Pennsylvania -- those are going to be hard-fought states.

But it is always sunny in Arizona. John McCain is going to win that state like he has every single election he's ever put his name in for. And I think that's just some attempts to dance in the end zone a little early. They're attempting to, I think, put money where -- there's no chance that they're going to win in Arizona. People will reject tax increases. They reject nearly a trillion dollars in new federal spending, and they'll reject Barack Obama's inability to work across the aisle and show leadership. That's a state where you really have to have the mettle tested, and Barack Obama just doesn't bring that.

Q: I wonder what your reaction is to the reports -- and the Obama campaign has confirmed -- that they've tossed off the Washington Times, the New York Post, as well as the Dallas Morning News -- three papers that have endorsed McCain -- off their plane.

Bounds: Well, Barack Obama is the least vetted candidate, he's the least transparent candidate, and now he's going to be the least accessible candidate. It's no surprise to us.

You know, I think those are three publications that have endorsed John McCain because they know John McCain actually has a record of reforming government, he has a record of working across the aisle, and that if we really want to change government, the way business is done in Washington, we are going to have to make a change, we're going to have to turn the page on the leadership in the White House, but we need to put someone in the White House that's tested, that has shown they can lead. Those papers' editorial boards agreed that Barack Obama was underqualified and not ready.

And I think, you know, what's most disturbing is that they would take it out on some reporters that've been following them throughout this election cycle, because I know some of those reporters. They're accomplished. They're smart people that have put a lot of legwork in. They've stayed at a lot of hotels, a lot of sleepless nights, and to kick them off in the last few days to make room for their entourage to document their final days toward what they think is going to be victory -- I think will not only provide a unique glimpse into the type of hubris that would be present in the White House if Barack Obama were elected, but I also think, frankly, it's just low-class. Those are folks that have been put in a lot of work, and they shouldn't be kicked off the plane with just a few days left.

Q: Well, you guys took Maureen Dowd and Joe Klein off your plane, right? Early on?

Bounds: Sure, those were opinion writers.

Q: Oh, so you look at...

Bounds: These are beat reporters that've been on the plane covering the race. They're writing straightforward news articles. These aren't opinion writers. Maureen Dowd is a columnist, a commentary writer. She is not a reporter.

Q: Now, today Obama said, "John McCain has been right next to George Bush. He's been sitting there in the passenger seat ready to take over every step of the way." Your reaction.

Bounds: We are ready for this. We are -- I mean, this is what I'm really frustrated with, Tammy, is people need to recognize that John McCain's record is unique on his own. He has worked across the aisle. He has the record of leadership that is demonstrating that he can take on real challenges, rise up, and work across the aisle with Democrats, as he has throughout his career, to build coalitions, to make government more effective like it should have been over the course of the last eight years. Growing the government by 40 percent in the last eight years, opposing sensible legislation that would combat climate change, opposing generic prescription drug reform, opposing 9/11 commissions, opposing a sensible working strategy in Iraq until John McCain absolutely fought this administration tooth-and-nail to implement a post Rumsfeld-ian strategy in Iraq that is succeeding today -- I just don't buy the argument, in that these are the same -- this sidekick argument that [Joe] Biden is promoting and this one-and-the-same argument that Barack Obama has promoted throughout this campaign -- is just going to be lost on the American people. And I think the last three days are going to prove that.

Q: Well, your own conservative commentators have talked intensively, extensively about Sarah Palin -- that so many have turned against the McCain campaign because of his selection of Sarah Palin. Do you regret it?

Bounds: Absolutely not. And I think that a few conservative commentators who haven't taken the time to meet Governor Palin, to go out on the trail and see her and the work she's doing -- or go to Alaska. I challenge these columnists to -- how many times have they interfaced with Governor Palin? Have they taken a close examination of her record? Do they recognize that she took on the entrenched interests in Alaska, that it was a Republican governor, good-old-boys club, that she actually went in there with her elbows out and worked her way into the governor's mansion, taking on [Frank] Murkowski's corrupt and ineffective administration, proving that Republicans can take on Republicans to get work done? I think this is a perfect example of where people are afraid of change.

Q: Right. But maybe they're just mad at you because you -- I say you meaning the McCain campaign -- chose to go around them right to Katie Couric. I mean, maybe if you introduced her to them and had more behind the scenes discussions with her they would have been on your side. Do you think it's tit-for-tat?

Bounds: Well, I think that it may be tit-for-tat in the perspective of their minds, but we chose to introduce Governor Palin to the American people before we did a few choice columnists. If that's a mistake when you're running for president -- perhaps. But I think, frankly, as our campaign has continued to stress and continued to focus on, introducing our candidates to the American people is more important than a few conservative columnists that are pouting on the pages of some major newspapers.

I think that if you look at some of the other columnists that have taken the time to examine her record, whether it's Bill Kristol, Fred Barnes, some very trusted conservative minds in this country that have taken a very close examination of her record and taken some time to travel to go meet her, they would tell you a different story than some of those that are sitting on the sidelines and doing what they do best, which is to critique the lives and records of others without taking, I think, a justified and close examination.

Q: Well, Bill Kristol has been such an advocate for Sarah Palin, but she's also really criticized you guys for not rolling her out properly. I mean, he's on both sides...

Bounds: Well, I don't think that Bill has been overly critical except to, you know, say what is on his mind, which is his job, and I think that he's been very proactive in saying that she needs to be talking directly to the people. And some of these other columnists that we're talking about without names are just the type of people that he's taking stabs at who have not given her a fair chance.

You know, the criticisms that have started, not only in the opinion pages of his paper -- I think one of the most revealing things that any American could do if they wanted to spend some time on their computer is go back and look at what the New York Times editorial page said in 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro was running for vice president and then go back and examine what the New York Times editorial page said when Governor Palin was announced. It is so ironic, because they are exactly opposite. In '84 they argued that the American people should be open-minded to someone that isn't from Washington, that maybe doesn't have the inside-the-Beltway experience but has shown that they can be a change agent in their own sector. And then, you know, years later when Governor Palin is announced, it is that she is unqualified and doesn't have the requisite Washington experience. It is unbelievable to me.

And that's just the perfect demonstration of what we face, which is elite media types that have not given Governor Palin a fair shake and really scrutinized her record for what it is, which is of a reformer, somebody that takes on her own party, someone that's not afraid to make change. If that's not the recipe that the American people are looking for, I'm completely out of touch with what the American people are looking for. And that may be possible -- it's certainly a possibility -- but I think when I go out on the trail I see a lot of people that are smitten with the idea that someone different, outside of Washington, is going to come to Washington and make the change that they need and they want.

Q: Well there's a very interesting...

Bounds: So you know that's...what's that, Tammy?

Q: I'm sorry to interrupt, Tucker. I was going to ask you about Jane Mayer's piece this week in the New Yorker which describes how Bill Kristol and others got to know Sarah Palin when they were on a Weekly Standard -- and then there was a National Review boat cruise up in Alaska. And she had invited them over, and it really seemed as if she was really advocating for herself and really pushing herself in front of these very, very famous, important conservatives. Do you have any problem with that story? Did you think that it made her look too ambitious, or properly ambitious?

Bounds: Well, I don't -- first of all, I don't think that there's anything wrong with a certain amount of ambition. Certainly to go from being a PTA mom to a city councilor to a mayor to an oil and gas commissioner in the biggest oil and gas-producing state in America to the governor, all in the span of, you know, 10 years, shows that she's ambitious to get in there and make change inside of her civic surroundings. So I don't think that there's anything particularly wrong with that. But I think that the characterization that she was out promoting herself to be on this ticket is preposterous and out of step with the reality of the events that occurred.

Also, I think that -- you know, I've talked to reporters from other countries that have visited Anchorage, and they described Governor Palin's, you know, open way about her, inviting them into her office, into her home. This is not exclusively to the conservative media. I think that there aren't a lot of people that write for a few choice publications that have taken the time to go to Alaska before she was announced for the ticket and get to know her. And you know what? That's just -- I think that the matter -- that's just the result of you know, some of the tendencies of the way reporters do cover races; I don't expect them to travel to every single state.

But she was a new entity. I mean, let's call it what it is. She was someone that wasn't known well to the elite media types on the East Coast. She was introduced to them unexpectedly, and they were reeling to find out what exactly they could report about her, and I think were more prone to report things that were unsavory and untrue, in many circumstances, than they were to evaluate her record on truthful terms.

Q: Is she upset...

Bounds: And I think that's unfortunate. She's suffered from it to a certain extent, but you know what? Every day that has passed she's become more popular. Her crowds this morning were amazing. She was with Mike Ditka, and people are turning. The people in Pennsylvania are going to vote for John McCain and his trusty sidekick, Governor Sarah Palin. I absolutely guarantee it.

Q: Is she upset by the criticism?

Bounds: Absolutely not. I think that she's learned a lot from this experience -- that when you run for elective politics at the national level people are going to want to evaluate you in negative terms if you are affiliated with the Republican Party at the time when the Republican Party is very unpopular.

I think that -- you know, it's so amusing to me that people are trying to compare her to Bush's third term. I mean, this is a person that was a city public official when George W. Bush became president of the United States. She's been working on the Oil and Gas Commission in Alaska, you know, more than 1,000 miles from Washington, D.C., someone that has probably met the president just a handful of times. And I think it's probably more accurate to say that some of these journalists that are covering Governor Palin represent a closer alignment to George W. Bush than actually Governor Palin does.

It's an absurd claim, but it's something that Barack Obama does well, and he does it on the campaign trail every day. And if people write what he says on the campaign trail, and they write it straight out of his mouth, American people are going to start believing it. But I think if you were to look at her candidacy more closely and look at her achievements and accomplishments, I think people would be as impressed as I am, and I think more and more Americans are.

Q: Tucker Bounds. Good luck on Tuesday.