Transcript of Obama's New Albany, Indiana Press Availability

Barack Obama Press Avail

New Albany, Indiana

April 23, 2008

Q: [paraphrase] Senator I am sure you are well aware that Indiana has a long history of voting Republican, you talk about reaching out to Republicans in this election and yet the National Journal earlier this year said that you had the mostly stridently partisan voting record in the U.S. Senate of any Democrat-

BO: I don't know if they said it that way. That is your characterization. But-

Q: That's essentially a paraphrase.

BO: It's a big paraphrase, go ahead what's your question.

Q: My question, sir, is how do you reconcile that voting record with your rhetoric?

BO: Actually what they said was I have the most liberal voting record.

Q: Yes Sir, they did.

BO: I didn't remember the word strident in there. And the rating that they made was based on a handful of votes, one included -- just to give you an example -- my support of an office of, an independent office of public integrity that would figure out whether or not people were violating ethics rules in the Senate and according to the National Journal that was a liberal position. Now, I don't know conservatives who want to see ethics violations in the Senate. That doesn't strike me as a liberal or a conservative perspective. And I think that gives you an example of why some of these old arguments and categories that are being used in Washington just don't really jive with how people are thinking. I think people want more accountable government. I think they want reduced influence of lobbyists and special interests in Washington and that's the reason why in Illinois and in Washington I've been able to work effectively with Republicans to solve problems on everything from nuclear proliferation to making sure that people have healthcare who didn't have it before. Alright.

Q: Senator, we know that there won't be any delegates from Michigan and Florida as a result of, you know, the commotion there. Should the votes count toward the popular vote?

BO: Well, I mean, I guess there have been a number of different formulations that the Clinton campaign has been trying to arrive at to suggest that somehow they're not behind. I'll leave that up to you guys, if you want to count them for some abstract measure, you're free to do so. But, you know, the way that the popular vote is translated is into delegates. That's how these primaries and these caucuses work.

Q: [inaudible] They are certified though?

BO: Oh, I understand. But what I'm saying is that the number of votes that you get then speaks to how many delegates you get. That's true in every election. And so, you know, we have simply been playing by the rules throughout this process and we think that if at the end we end up having won twice as many states and having the most votes then we should end up being the nominee. But I will let you guys sort through the various permutations of what should count and what shouldn't that the Clinton camp is presenting.

Q: [inaudible question. ] paraphrased-Question about efforts to win over white middle class voters?

BO: You know, I would have to say if you look at -- and I know my staff has talked about this to you guys. If you look at the numbers, in fact, out problem has less to do with white working class voters. In fact, the problem is that, to the extent there is a problem, is that the older voters are very loyal to Senator Clinton. And I think, you know, part of that is they've got a track record of voting for not just Senator Clinton but also her husband. And, you know, we want to make sure that they know that on issues that are of importance to them, like prescription drugs or pension and retirement security that I've got a strong track record on those issues and very specific plans to make sure they're getting the kinds of help that they need. And, you know, if we do that effectively, which we have tried to do in all the states, then I think that we will end up doing very well here in Indiana.

Q: The North Carolina Republican Party has produced an ad which is using snippets of Reverend Wright and saying you're too extreme for North Carolina. I'm wondering what your reaction is to that and whether you think John McCain's request that it not air is sincere?

BO: Well my understanding is is that the Republican National Committee and John McCain have both said the ad is inappropriate. I take them at their word. And I assume that if John McCain thinks that it's an inappropriate ad that he can get them to pull it down since he's their nominee and standard bearer.

Q: This notion that after Pennsylvania that you can't deal closer that you are not a deal close. What do you say to people to prove that you can [inaudible].

BO: You know the way we're going to close the deal is by winning. And right now we're winning. And what we'll do is keep on campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina and Oregon and these other states. And at the conclusion of all these contests, people will go back and take a look and say, who's won? And once we have, you know, I think a pretty strong case to make, that we've won more delegates, we've won more states and we've won more votes, then it will be, I think, apparent that we'll be in the strongest position to win in November.

Q: Senator?

BO: Go ahead.

Q: Senator, the demographics here in Indiana, though, are very similar to Ohio and Pennsylvania. If you can't win there, how do you win here?

BO: Well, you know, I think that there's a big difference between Indiana and those other two states. And that is that people are a little more familiar here with me in Indiana. Look, what's been interesting, I think, during this process is that when we win states by 15 or 17 or 18 points, somehow those have all been discounted. In all the states that have been the focus of attention -- Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas -- we started off 20 points behind.

Q: [paraphrase] Aren't these states you were supposed to win?

BO: I'm sorry, sir, let me just finish responding to the question. These are states that -- where we were 20 points behind before the Reverend Wright controversy, we were 20 points behind before my bitter comments, we were 20 points behind when we had momentum and everybody here was talking about how we were going to be locking up the nomination. You know, these were states where Senator Clinton had a strong base partly because of name recognition and the fact that we hadn't campaigned there before.

And so, you know, I think that it's important to put this in perspective. We made enormous ground in all these states, made up enormous ground in all these states; but when you start off that far behind, obviously it's going to be a little bit tough. What we did do in Pennsylvania was to create an organization, make voters familiar with me, close the gap significantly, which creates an organization for us in November in a general election -- it's a strong base to build on -- in both Pennsylvania and Ohio there was Democratic Governors who were strongly supportive of Senator Clinton. If I'm the nominee, they will be strongly supportive of me and we'll be in a strong position to win.

And so -- and by the way, you know, among all these groups that people have been focused on, you know, blue collar workers or, you know, white working class folks, we did better in Pennsylvania than we did in Ohio. So we're continually making progress. We haven't gone backwards. We're actually going forwards. As far as aren't these states that I'm supposed to win, if you look at the polling, I actually do, I think, if not as well than better than Senator Clinton relative to Senator McCain in some of these states. And, on the other hand, in states like Virginia and Colorado, Wisconsin and Iowa, which are also battleground states which I won handily, we have a much better chance of winning. So we're very confident about, you know, where we're going to be once we're the nominee. But we've just got to make sure that this process plays itself out. Jeff?

Q: [paraphrase] Are Democrats losing valuable time--do you plan to turn your attention to McCain moving forward?

BO: There is no doubt that if we have additional time to bring the Democratic Party together and the focus on the Republican nominee then we'll be stronger for it in the fall and that is why we would like to wrap up this campaign as quickly as possible. So yes there has been some time lost. On the other hand I do think having campaigned in Pennsylvania, having campaign indeed Ohio, having to campaign here in Indiana and in North Carolina and Oregon, some of these other states, increases registration levels, increases participation in the Democratic primary, builds organization. And so those are all pluses. Those are all benefits for a longer campaign. and, again, I'm confident that whoever the nominee is that the Democratic Party will be unified in August and will be unified throughout the fall. I think that nominee will be me. I'm confident that we will be able to win this nomination. But we're going to work as hard as we can in the remaining contests and try to make sure that we continue to get my message out, which is we've got to change how Washington works. That Senator Clinton and I share good policy ideas. But I have a commitment to shaking up the status quo in Washington that I think is going to be necessary to get those good ideas to get those into law. And given the frustrations the American people feel with our current politics I think we will be in a strong position to make that case in the remaining states.

Q: [paraphrase] Senator Hillary Clinton portraying herself as a fighter—in her ad she is saying you can't stand the heat, how are you approaching this?

BO: Well look, Senator Clinton has been trying a lot of different approaches and a lot of different criticism. This is sort of the kitchen sink strategy. And the argument about not being able to stand the heat--that I don't really understand. As I mentioned earlier, nobody has complained more about the press about questions at debates, about being mistreated than Senator Clinton has or President Clinton. And so we have been pretty tame in terms of taking our shots and just rolling with them. And in fact I think that one of the things that has characterized this campaign is that we don't get too up when we are up and we don't get too down when we are down. We just keep on plugging away and talking to the American people about the issues that they care about the most. And you know I know that people like to talk tough and use a lot of rhetoric about fighting and obliterating and all that stuff. You know that I have always believed that if you are tough you don't have to talk about it. And I have a 20 year track record of fighting for working families and that is what they are looking for. They are not looking for politicians to be calling each other names and acting with a lot of bluster. That's been the politics we have had for the last 20 years. They are looking for is somebody who is tough enough to stand up to the political tides when it is the right thing to do. They are looking for somebody who has been consistent in advocating on behalf of working families whether it is in the spotlight or not, whether it is politically convenient or not, when you are running for president or not. They are looking for somebody who is willing to speak honestly and truthfully about our challenges even when it is not convenient to do so. That is the kind of toughness I have shown for my entire career and public life. And that's is why I think I am going to be the democratic nominee.