Meet the Press’ transcript for Nov. 11, 2007
Barack Obama
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MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday, our Meet the
Candidates 2008 series continues. An exclusive interview with Democrat
Barack Obama. He was elected United States senator in 2004 and served
in the Illinois state senate for eight years prior. This morning Barack
Obama joins us for the full hour and tells us why he should be the
Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
And we continue our celebration of 60 years of MEET THE PRESS this
morning in Iowa. Why? The caucuses are just 53 days away, and here
with us is Senator Barack Obama.Welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): Thank you, Tim. Always great to be here.
MR. RUSSERT: The Wall Street Journal, NBC News went out and talked to viewers last week, asking them about the Democratic candidates, asking them to give marks, grades to the candidates. Likeability, this is what they said: Obama, 72; Hillary Clinton, 49, very strong grade. Then we asked knowledgeable and experience to handle the presidency: Clinton, 76; Obama, 41. These are members of your own party. Why are people in your own party skeptical about your knowledge and experience to be president?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, look at—I have not been on the national scene as long as some of the other candidates in this race, and so part of our job throughout this campaign is to give people some sense of what I’ve done before I got to Washington; what I did as a constitutional law professor, as a civil rights lawyer, as a state legislator. And what we discover is when people actually find out my track record, they’re pleasantly surprised. And so that’s why our focus on the early states like Iowa and New Hampshire’s been so important, because we can interact much more intimately with people and give them a sense not only about my track record but also my vision for the future.
MR. RUSSERT: Hillary Clinton was first lady in Arkansas, first lady at the White House for eight years, U.S. senator for seven years. Can you compete with that?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, if you’re comparing how long I’ve been in public office, I’ve actually been in public office longer than her. I think that Senator Clinton is a capable and, and intelligent person. I think she’s been a fine senator from New York. But when it comes to the issues that are really moving the American people right now—healthcare, energy, how we deal with a shifting economy—those are all issues that I’ve been working with at every level of government.
MR. RUSSERT: Mayor Giuliani said Obama, Clinton have never managed a city, managed a state, run a business, met a payroll. How can they possibly want the top executive job in the country?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I think I have shown through my legislative work my knowledge of the issues, my judgment and character, and those are the qualities that I think the next president is going to need. One of the things that I’m very clear about during the course of this campaign as I’m meeting voters all across the country is they don’t expect the president to be the next chief operating officer. What they want is somebody who understands the struggles they’re going through, is going to be thinking every day about how to make their lives better, has a grasp of the issues that not only Democrats, but Republicans and independents are worried are not being attended to in Washington. And if I provide that kind of leadership, I think that they will feel confident that I’m going to be able to do the job.
MR. RUSSERT: Charles Rangel, the Democrat from Harlem, very important in the Democratic Party, was giving an interview. And he said, “I don’t think on-the-job training is going to be a great asset for the next president of the United States.” Question: “That’s what we would have to have with Obama?” Rangel: “Of course.”
SEN. OBAMA: Well, look, the only real training for the presidency is the presidency. I mean, the fact of the matter is it’s a unique job, and every president who’s ever taken that job acknowledged—acknowledges that that’s the case. What right now I think the American people need is somebody who can bring the country together to overcome the gridlock that has become so pervasive in Washington. I think they need somebody who is willing to push against the special interests that have come to dominate the agenda in Washington. And maybe most importantly, what they are looking for is a president who can lay out in a honest and clear and convincing fashion what are the choices that we face? If we’re serious about climate change, what does that mean in the lives of ordinary people? What decisions do we have to make, what costs and sacrifices are going to be involved? If we’re serious about healthcare, how do we move a process forward that’s transparent and accountable, so the drug and insurance companies aren’t dominating the debate? Those are the questions I think people are going to be asking.
MR. RUSSERT: A year ago, you were asked about Hillary Clinton. And this the exchange. “Where do you find yourself having the biggest differences with Hillary Clinton, politically?” Obama: “You know, I think very highly of Hillary. The more I get to know her, the more I admire her. I think she’s the most disciplined—one of the most disciplined people I’ve ever met. She’s one of the toughest. She’s got an extraordinary intelligence.” “She is—she’s somebody who’s in this stuff for the right reasons. She’s passionate about moving the country forward on issues like healthcare and children. So it’s not clear to me what differences we’ve had since I’ve been in the Senate.” Do you still hold to that? There aren’t any differences?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think that I, as I said earlier, I have admiration for Senator Clinton. I think she’s a fine public servant. The reason I’m running is because I think we’re in a unique moment in American history right now. The nation’s at war; our planet is in peril. We’ve got a series of decisions that we’re going to have to make. And I believe that I can more effectively than any other candidate in this race bring the country together, overcome some of the same old arguments that we’ve been having since the 1990s. I think I can reach out to Republicans and independents more effectively than any other candidate that...
MR. RUSSERT: What arguments do you want to put behind you?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, look, when we think about, let’s say, foreign policy, we have had a tendency to, to argue along the spectrum of you’re either a hawk or a dove. Either you’re willing to engage in military action and oftentimes think military action first and diplomacy second, or you’re a dove, you’ve got post-Vietnam syndrome, you’re suspicious of any military action. I think that the way we have to think about it is to say that right now we live in a dangerous world. There are times where we’re going to need to act militarily. We should not hesitate to act on behalf of the national interest. But we have to understand that we’ve got more power than just the military at our, our disposal, and that’s something, obviously, the Bush administration has forgotten.
Having the ability to focus on getting the job done, as opposed to getting embroiled in ideological arguments, which have become so common in Washington, I think, is going to be important for the next president, and that’s what I intend to do as president.
MR. RUSSERT: You had an exchange with The New York Times. It says here, “In an interview, Obama said Hillary Clinton was deliberately obscuring her positions for political gain. Asked if she had been fully truthful with voters about what she should do as president, Mr. Obama replied, ‘No.’” On which issues has Hillary Clinton not been truthful?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think that what Senator Clinton’s been doing is running what’s considered a textbook Washington campaign, and what that says is that you don’t answer directly tough questions. You don’t present tough choices directly to the American people for fear that your answers might not be popular, you might make yourself a target for Republicans in the general election. So on Social Security, for example, she has maintained, it appears, that if we just get our fiscal house in order that we can solve the problem of Social Security. Now, we’ve got 78 million baby boomers that are going to be retiring, and every expert that looks at this problem says “There’s going to be a gap, and we’re going to have more money going out than we have coming in unless we make some adjustments now.” Now, I think that Social Security is the single most important social program that we have in this country, and I want to make sure that it’s there not just for this generation, but for next generations. So that means that we’re going to have to make some decisions, and it’s not sufficient for us to just finesse the issue because we’re worried that, well, we might be attacked for the various options we present.
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, you said last year—earlier this year that everything should be on the table for Social Security, including looking at raising retirement age, indexing benefits, and then suddenly you said, “No, no. Those aren’t off—on the table; I’m taking them off the table.”
SEN. OBAMA: Tim, that’s not—that’s not what I said. What I said was that I will convene a meeting as president where we discuss all of the options that are available. That doesn’t mean that as president I will not have strong opinions on how we should move forward. And when you look at how we should approach Social Security, I believe that cutting retire—cutting benefits is not the right answer. I meet too many seniors all across the country who are struggling with the limited Social Security benefits that they have. That raising the retirement age is not the best option, particularly when we’ve got people who ware still in manufacturing. By the time they’re 67, their bodies, oftentimes...
MR. RUSSERT: But in May you said they would be on the table.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, when I—I am going to be listening to any ideas that are presented, but I think that the best way to approach this is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like myself are paying a little bit more and the people who are in need are protected. That is the option that I will be pushing forward. But, look, even as president I’m not going to be able to get this done by myself, and that means that I’m going to be listening to any other ideas out there. It doesn’t mean, though, that I’m not going to have a strong position on it.
MR. RUSSERT: But they would be on the table?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I will listen to all arguments and the best options, finding out what is it going to take to close that gap. But what I’m going to continue to insist on is that the reason we need to fix it now is precisely to protect our senior citizens and maintain not only Social Security as a social
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