CBS "Early Show" - Transcript

Interview

CBS "Early Show" - Transcript

MR. SMITH: Hillary Clinton, of course, locked in a dead heat with Illinois Senator Barack Obama. We talked to him just moments ago.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

MR. SMITH: Senator, good morning. The question of the hour: What's going to happen tonight?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think it's going to be a huge turnout. And people are excited and energized. If the crowds that we've seen over the last week are any indication, the people of Iowa are hungry for change. And so we have done everything that we could on the ground. I've got unbelievable young volunteers, people knocking on doors, people making phone calls. And now what we have to do is just wait and let the people speak.

MR. SMITH: So much of your success really hinges on young voters, independents, new caucus-goers. This is an intangible sort of category here. In the past these folks have not been counted on to actually show up. How badly do you need them to show up in order for you to get a victory tonight?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, we have a lot of traditional caucus- goers who are going to be turning out for us tonight. And so we feel confident that we start off with a terrific base of people who want to see a different kind of politics, who are interested in making sure that we can pull the country together to actually solve problems like health care and energy policy.

But there's no doubt that we have attracted young people, independents, even some Republicans who have switched over and want to participate in the Democratic caucus process. And so I'm pretty confident that we're going to see a huge turnout, and that will do well for us.

But you're right; this is very unpredictable at this point. This is going to be a close race. We've got a lot of strong candidates. What I do know is that the people of Iowa, like people all across the country, feel that they are not being heard in Washington. And they no longer want special interests to set the agenda. They want to set the agenda themselves.

MR. SMITH: All right. We have several polls showing you out in front. Some have had you in front for a while already. If you don't win tonight, can you be anything but disappointed?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, obviously we want to do as well as possible here in Iowa. We've put in a lot of energy and a lot of time and a lot of money into this effort. But in some ways we already have won. We didn't expect to be in the position that we were in so early. We've seen a growth surge right at the end. There's energy and excitement. And we expect that we're going to do well. But there's no way to entirely predict what's going to happen, and that's the great thing about this democratic process.

MR. SMITH: There you go. Senator, thank you very much. Good luck tonight.

SEN. OBAMA: Great to talk to you. Thank you, Harry.

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