Obama on the bus

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called into the Radio Iowa newsroom this afternoon as he was riding in his campaign bus from Knoxville to Newton.

"This is going to be a very close election, but if we go into caucus with the same enthusiasm and energy we see out here, we think we’re going to do very well," Obama said to open the call.

Henderson:  "It seems as if both you and your wife are trying to impress upon people that this is your time and you will not run for president again.  Are you doing that to address the ‘he’s too young’ argument and to make clear you are no Al Gore circa 1988?"

Obama:  "The point we’ve been trying to make is that the reason I’m running now is because I believe I have the skills to lead the country now. I think what we desperately need is somebody who can bring the country together, somebody who can push against the special interests in Washington, somebody who is straight with the American people, who has a bias for inviting the American people into the conversation as opposed to excluding them from decision-making and that’s what I offer, so I think that I am the person best able to deliver on health care reform, best able to have a strong energy policy, best able to chart a new course and a new direction in our foreign policy and, you know, who knows where I’ll be years from now but I know that I’m ready to lead today."

Henderson:  "On Meet the Press, you suggested that you might consider running again, you kind of hinted at…"

Obama:  "No, Kay.  Let me say this:  we haven’t even had the Iowa Caucuses yet (Obama laughs).  The main circumstance that I plan to run again is for re-election as president of the United States."

Henderson:  "You’ve raised a lot of concern about these ad buys on John Edwards’ behalf  They are no attack ads and I guess when you tally all of the ad dollars spent in Iowa, you would have outspent Edwards and these groups.  Why so much concern about this advertising?"

Obama: "The main concern is that if you have undisclosed donors, people writing half-million dollar checks to finance your campaign, then you’re basically circumventing the campaign finance laws and that’s not the way we’re going to bring change in Washington.  You know, you can’t on one hand argue that you’re going to go after the fat cats and then we have hundreds of thousands of dollars coming in from who knows who and it means that there’s less accountability, less disclosure, and if that’s the game that we play then there’s nothing to prevent those same corporate lobbyists that John Edwards decries from doing the exact same thing to us so there’s just go to be some consistency and, you know, straightforwardness in how we approach these issues."

Henderson:  "Your newly retooled speech talks about gambling and stakes.  Is that a direct response to President Clinton using the phrase rolling the dice in regards to you?"

Obama:  "Yes.  It’s pretty explicit.  I mean in fact sometimes I say it explicitly.  I mean President Clinton argues that it would somehow be risky to elect me.  This is a theme that ironically George H.W. Bush used against Bill Clinton back in 1992.  You know, you always have resistance from Washington and the status quo when change is coming and, you know, this is a pretty classic way of describing that change or describing what change will look like by making it sound scary and trying to get voters or Caucus-goers to fall back on the same old stuff even if they’re unsatisfied with it and it’s not working.  I don’t think that’s going to be successful this time.  As I point out, I think the real gamble in this election is to have the same old folks doing the same old things over and over again and expecting a different result.  We need different results.  We need new leadership and that’s why I’m running for president."