Iowa Public Television

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  Program: Iowa Press #3510
  Broadcast Date: Nov. 9, 2007
  

• Collection: Iowa Press: The Presidential Candidates

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Sen. Barack Obama talks about the "national mood" and whether he thinks Democrats will win in November (2008).

This interview took place on November 9, 2007, at Iowa Public Television. www.iptv.org/campaign08/

Glover: Let's talk about the national mood, if you would. The conventional wisdom among the pundits is that next year is going to be a pretty good Democratic year. There's an unpopular war out there. President Bush is not terribly popular. But when you start looking at a match-up between some of the leading Republican candidates and the Democratic candidates, it's pretty close.

Obama: Right.

Glover: What kind of a year are we looking at? Is it a Democratic year? A Republican year?

Obama: I think there is no doubt that Democrats have an opportunity to, as I said before, create a new majority, to go beyond the fifty plus one strategies that we've seen where the whole fight is in Ohio and Florida and you eke out a victory or you don't. I think that we can go beyond that. That's one of the reasons I'm running is because I think I can take advantage of that opportunity. But there are some dangers for Democrats if we don't provide the kind of bold leadership and honest leadership that's needed to do advantage. Republicans and independents I think have become so disillusioned with George Bush, they're ready to listen. But they've got to hear that we're serious about some of these issues that we're not just pandering to our own special interests and our traditional bases, but that we're willing to also talk tough.

You know, when I went to -- when I proposed, for example, raising fuel efficiency standards on cars, I didn't do it in front of the Sierra Club. I went to Detroit in front of the auto makers and auto workers, and that I think communicated the fact that I'm serious about this issue. That's the way I think Democrats are going to do well come November of '08.

Glover: What do you bring to this race that makes you appeal to independents and Republicans that your rivals don't? What quality is it?

Obama: Well, part of it I think is tone. It has to do with the fact that historically I've been somebody who's able to disagree without being disagreeable; that I don't assume that Republicans are bad; I don't assume the Democrats are always virtuous; I don't think that we've got a monopoly on wisdom; and I'm willing to listen to different ideas. And that non-ideological approach to politics, you know, coming together, setting some goals, and then being practical about how do we solve problems, I think that is a style of politics that I've adopted ever since I got into the state legislature in Illinois.

Tags:

• Democrats
• Barack Obama
• campaign 2008
• politics
• voters
• Bush
• Republicans

Post Date: June 4, 2008