FOX News Sunday - Transcript

Interview

FOX News Sunday

MR. WALLACE: I'm Chris Wallace and this is "FOX News Sunday."

Barack Obama. His candidacy changed the Democratic race for president as he moved from contender to front-runner. But recently he's suffered a series of big defeats. Now Obama sits down for an exclusive interview. We'll ask him questions he's never faced before about his campaign and what he would do as president -- only on "FOX News Sunday."

Then, after Hillary Clinton's big win in Pennsylvania, what are her real chances of winning the Democratic nomination? We'll ask our Sunday Regulars -- Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, and Juan Williams.

And the going gets even tougher On the Trail.

All right now on "FOX News Sunday."

MR. WALLACE: And hello again from FOX News in Washington.

Well, as most of you know, six weeks ago we started something called the "Obama Watch," the amount of time that had passed since the senator promised me he would come on "FOX News Sunday." It has been 772 days, but now it's time to stop the clock.

Yesterday we traveled to Indiana for an exclusive "Choosing the President" interview with the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. We caught up with Obama after a rally at a high school in Marion, Indiana.

Senator Obama, welcome to "FOX News Sunday."

SEN. OBAMA: Thank you for having me.

MR. WALLACE: Long time no see.

SEN. OBAMA: (Laughs.) Well, it takes me about 772 days to prepare for these questions. But although I think there was -- this was a leap year in there, so I think it's only 771.

MR. WALLACE: No, I think we checked that. (Both laugh.) Anyway --

Your defeat in Pennsylvania raises new questions about your candidacy and especially about some of the pillars of the Democratic base. Let's take a look at the numbers.

Among white, union households, Clinton beat you 72 percent to 28 percent. Among white Catholics, again, same margin, 72 percent to 28 percent.

Senator, why are you having such trouble convincing white, working-class voters that you're their guy?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, keep in mind that Senator Clinton was well regarded in the state of Pennsylvania, just as she was well regarded in the state of Ohio. The fact that they voted for her shouldn't come as a huge surprise. We started up 20 points down in that race, just like we started 20 points down in Ohio. And we actually made significant progress there.

And when you look at the polling that's now being done post- Pennsylvania about how we match up in a general election, I think Senator Clinton maybe does a couple of points better than I do. But it's not substantial. Most of those voters will vote for me. But they are more familiar with her, they shared a -- she's from a bordering state.

On the other hand, in Wisconsin, I won those same voters over Senator Clinton. In Virginia, I won those voters over Senator Clinton. In Iowa, I won those voters over Senator Clinton. So I think that --

I am confident that when you come to a general election and we are having a debate about the future of this country -- how are we going to lower gas prices, how are we going to deal with jobs losses, how are we going to focus on energy independence -- that those are voters who I will be able to appeal to.

MR. WALLACE: But some observers, and some liberal observers, say that part of your problem is that you come off as a former law professor who talks about transforming politics, when the lunch bucket crowd really wants to know what you're going to do for them.

Bob Herbert, columnist for The New York Times, happens to be a black man, says that Hillary Clinton seems tougher than you do.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, look. After you lose, then everybody writes these anguished columns about why did you lose. After Iowa, everybody was saying Obama's transforming folks because he's bringing in all these voters who we never expected would vote for a black guy. I mean, this is the nature of politics.

The fact of the matter is that we have done well among every group because people are less interested in dividing the country along racial lines or regional lines. They're really focused on how are we going to solve these big problems right now.

MR. WALLACE: But when you see yourself among these groups losing 70 percent to 30 percent, you aren't troubled by that? Don't you think to yourself maybe I need to have a different message or anew message? A different way of reaching out to them?

SEN. OBAMA: Look, you know, what we've done has been successful throughout. I mean, it's not like I've been winning in states that only have either black voters or Chablis-drinking, limousine liberals. (Chuckles.) I mean, we've been winning in places like Idaho. We've been winning in places like Colorado.

There is this selective memory about how this campaign has proceeded. There's a reason why we won twice as many states and won more delegates and won a larger popular vote.

Now, what I think is absolutely true is that Senator Clinton ran good campaigns in Ohio. She ran good campaigns in Pennsylvania. She deserves credit for that. What I also think is true is that I am less familiar with some of these blue-collar voters than -- she is less familiar -- they are less familiar with me than they are with her. And so we probably have to work a little bit harder.

I've got to be more present. I've got to be knocking on more doors. I've got to be hitting more events. We've got to work harder because, although it's flipped a little bit, we've always been the underdog in this race. I mean, think about it.

When we started off, I think nobody thought that we would ever be where we are today.

And part of the reason is because I'm relatively new to the national scene and I'm running against the best brand in Democratic politics.

MR. WALLACE: There's something else that we saw in Pennsylvania -- and take a look at this -- whites backed Clinton 63 percent to 37 (percent), while blacks voted for you 90 percent to 10 (percent). And if anyone has any doubts, 12 percent of those whites admitted that race was a factor and they went for Clinton by more than three to one.

Senator, for all your efforts to run a post-racial campaign, isn't there still a racial divide in this country that is going to make it very hard for you to get elected president?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, Chris, if you look at the general election polls, we are doing better against John McCain than Senator Clinton is. We are putting states in play like Colorado and Virginia that have not been in play for a very long time. Here in Indiana we just -- you just saw polling by the Indianapolis Star showing me beating John McCain.

And so, look, is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that. Is that going to be the determining factor in a general election? No, because I'm absolutely confident that the American people, what they're looking for is somebody who can solve their problems.

What they're looking for is somebody who can pull the country together and push back some of the special interests that have come to dominate the agenda, who will tell them the truth about how we're going to bring down gas prices, how we're going to bring back jobs. And if I fit the bill, then they will vote for me.

If I lose, it won't be because of race. It will be because, you know, I made mistakes on the campaign trail, I wasn't communicating effectively my plans in terms of helping them in their everyday lives. But I don't think that race is going to be a barrier in the general election.

MR. WALLACE: Congressman James Clyburn, one of the top African American politicians in this country, said this week that blacks are furious with Bill Clinton for playing the race card. Do you agree with him that there's been a deliberate effort by the former president and some Clinton supporters to make race an issue in this Democratic race?

SEN. OBAMA: I don't think there's be a deliberate effort. You know, I take the president at his word that, you know, he is --

MR. WALLACE: Which one?

SEN. OBAMA: (Laughs.) Well, oftentimes, you know, I think that he's been going after me hard. He may not have intended it in a racial way. I think he just sees me as competition against his wife, and that's what, you know, husbands do, hopefully -- or, spouses do -- in political contests.

MR. WALLACE: Lumping you in with Jesse Jackson --

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I, you know, I thought that that was probably somewhat dismissive, after we had won that contest pretty handily.

But look, I'm confident that once this primary is over, the Democratic Party will come together. And I know that everybody's feeling anxious right now and fretful and -- you know, all these articles are being written about -- isn't the base being divided?

But the fact of the matter is that come August, that convention, whoever is the nominee, I think the Democratic Party will say look, we've got a big fight ahead of us in November, and we are going to be unified to take the country in a different direction.

MR. WALLACE: I wasn't sure whether I was even going to ask you about your former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, but he made it easy for me, because he's now begun this public campaign to redeem his reputation.

The other night he said to Bill Moyers that he has been the target of a smear campaign.

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT: (From videotape.) I felt it was unfair; I felt it was unjust, I felt it was untrue. I felt that those who were doing that were doing it for some very devious reasons.

MR. WALLACE: Question, do you think that Reverend Wright is just the victim here?

SEN. OBAMA: No, I think that people were legitimately offended by some of the comments that he had made in the past. The fact that he is my former pastor, I think makes it a legitimate political issue. So I understand that.

I think that it is also true that to run a snippet of 30-second sound bites, selecting out of a 30-year career, simplified and caricatured him and caricatured the church. And I think that was done in a fairly deliberate way.

And that is unfortunate because, as I've said before, I have strongly denounced those comments that were the subject of so much attention. I wasn't in church when he made them. But I also know that -- you know, I go to church not to worship a pastor; to worship God.

And that ministry, the church family that's been built there does outstanding work, has been, I think, applauded for its outreach to the poor. He built that ministry, and I think that people need to take a look at the whole church and the whole man in making these assessments.

MR. WALLACE: Did you talk to Reverend Wright recently about his decision to make a public -- a series of public appearances at this particular point?

SEN. OBAMA: You know, I didn't talk to him about that. I had talked to him after all this had happened, partly because I regretted -- I always regret people who are civilians, essentially -- (chuckles) -- being dragged into these political fights. And the -- and I expressed to him; I said, look, we have very strong differences. I do not agree with the comments that you made. On the other hand, I regret that you have drawn so much attention.

And I also regretted the church drawing so much attention. I mean, you had reporters who were coming in and taking church bulletins, the sick and the shut-in, and they were getting phone calls from reporters. And so that was something that I regretted, and I talked to him about that.

MR. WALLACE: But you didn't try to discourage him from going public? It obviously isn't helpful to your campaign to have him on the public scene right now.

SEN. OBAMA: Yeah, I understand. But, look, he is a former pastor of mine. He is somebody who has obviously been the subject of some pretty sharp attacks over the last month. And it's understandable that somebody, after an entire career of service, would want to defend themselves.

MR. WALLACE: By the way, in your speech on race you said that while you haven't heard these remarks that have been public, that you had heard controversial remarks from the pulpit.

SEN. OBAMA: Right.

MR. WALLACE: But you've never said what those were.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I didn't have any particular examples --

MR. WALLACE: Can you tell us anything that you heard him say that was --

SEN. OBAMA: Sure -- (inaudible). I think that he has oftentimes talked about some of the problems in the black community in very controversial ways. I mean, I think -- or in sharp ways, in ways that are provocative. He will talk about the failure of fathers to look after their children in ways that sometimes people might be taken aback by. He can use street vernacular in his sermons in ways that people wouldn't expect to hear in church.

MR. WALLACE: But did he ever say anything about America or about white racism that troubled you?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think that he has certainly preached in the past, when I was there, about the history of race in this country in very blunt terms -- talking about slavery, talking about Jim Crow. The problem, and I've pointed this out in my speech in Philadelphia, was where oftentimes he would err, I think, is in only cataloguing the bad of America and not doing enough to lift up the good.

And that's probably where he and I have the biggest difference. But some of --

MR. WALLACE: Did you ever go to him after a sermon and say, you know --

SEN. OBAMA: Well, but keep in mind, it's not as if his sermons were constantly political. I mean, I think most of the time he was talking about church and family and faith and scripture, and that's what I got out of -- out of church. So I don't want to exaggerate this notion that somehow he was on the soapbox each and every day.

The important point, though, is -- that I tried to make in Philadelphia -- is that some of this is generational. I mean, some of it is -- he went through experiences that I never went through. I'm the beneficiary of the Civil Rights movement.

I mean, people have, I think, noted that if you run back some of Dr. King's speeches -- we always play "I Have a Dream." But if you look at his sermon in Riverside Church, for example, when he spoke out fiercely against the Vietnam War, there are some pretty jarring comments there as well. And part of it has to do with a very specific experience of a generation that was raised under Jim Crow, saw a lot of violence, saw a lot of racial discrimination.

I have a different experience and, in part, have a much more hopeful vision of where America has been and where it can go in the future.

MR. WALLACE: Senator, you say a lot of this stuff -- Reverend Wright, flag pins -- are distractions from the real issues. But especially for someone like you, who's a newcomer to the national scene, who people don't know a lot about --

SEN. OBAMA: Right.

MR. WALLACE: Don't voters have a legitimate interest in who you are and what your values are?

SEN. OBAMA: Absolutely. And so the question becomes how do voters draw conclusions about my values? Do they talk about -- do they look at the 20 years in which I've devoted my life to community service? Do they talk about the work I did as a community organizer working with Catholic parishes and churches to bring people together, to set up job training programs for the unemployed and the poor? That's a reflection of my values.

Do they look at how I've raised my children and how I speak about my family? That's a reflection of my values. I don't think that the issue of Reverend Wright is illegitimate; I just think that the way it was reported was not, I think, a reflection of both that church that I attend and who I am. I don't think --

MR. WALLACE: Let me --

SEN. OBAMA: Let me just use another example, on flag pins. You know, I've work flag pins in the past. I will wear flag pins in the future. The fact that I said that some politicians use flag pins and then aren't acting in a particularly patriotic way, for that to somehow be translated into me being anti-patriotic or anti-flag, I think that is a distraction. I think that that is not reflective of me or the love that I have for this country.

Keep in mind, I came on the scene nationally at the Democratic Convention giving what I would say was about as patriotic a speech about what America means to me and what this country is about as any speech that we've heard in a long time.

MR. WALLACE: Let me ask you one other question in this regard, which some will call a distraction; some will call values. In the last debate you were asked about your relationship with William Ayers, the former '60s radical. And you said that you were no more responsible for what he did back in the 1960s than for your friendship with Tom Coburn, senator from Oklahoma, pediatrician, who has made comments about possibly taking the death penalty for cases of abortion.

Do you really see a moral equivalency between what Ayers did and what Tom Coburn said?

SEN. OBAMA: No, of course not. The point I was making -- and I actually called Tom Coburn afterwards, because I thought that people were suggesting that I had drawn a moral equivalence. That's what I was -- wasn't what I was doing.

All I was saying was that the fact that I know somebody, work with them, have interactions with them, doesn't mean that I'm endorsing what they say. And Chris, I'm sure that you've got people who you serve on a board with or have dinner with who you would never expect to somehow have that seen as an endorsement of their views.

Now, Mr. Ayers is a 60-plus-year-old individual who lives in my neighborhood who did something that I deplore, 40 years ago when I was six or seven years old. By the time I met him -- he is a professor of education at the University of Illinois -- we served on a board together that had Republicans, bankers, lawyers, focused on education. He worked for Mayor Daley. Mayor Daley -- the same Mayor Daley, by the way, who, when he the state's attorney, prosecuted Mr. Ayers' wife for those activities in the '60s.

MR. WALLACE: I --

SEN. OBAMA: So the point is that to somehow suggest that in any way I endorsed his deplorable acts 40 years ago because I serve on board with him --

MR. WALLACE: No, I'm surprised that you brought Coburn in, because it seems to me it's so apples and oranges.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, no, no, no. The point I was making was that I've got a lot of --

Nobody is saying, you know what, Barack, he's got a bunch of Republican friends. Or, he's got a bunch of people who are considered on the religious right who he gets along with, who he shares stories with, who he does work with.

The focus is on this one individual whose relationship -- with whom I have a relationship that is far more tangential than it is with somebody like a Tom Coburn, who I'm working with all the time and who I consider a close friend. And yet that's the relationship that gets the focus.

MR. WALLACE: Senator Obama, we have to step aside for a moment, but when we come back we will ask Barack Obama about his plan to change the way Washington works. Back in a moment.

(Announcements.)

MR. WALLACE: And we are back now with Senator Barack Obama.

Senator, one of the central themes of your campaign is that you are a uniter who will reach across the aisle and create a new kind of politics. Some of your detractors say that you are a paint-by-the- numbers liberal, and I'd like to explore this with you.

SEN. OBAMA: Right.

MR. WALLACE: Over the years John McCain has broken with his Party and risked his career on a number of issues -- campaign finance, immigration reform, the -- banning torture.

As a president, can you name a hot-button issue where you would be willing to buck the Democratic Party line and say, you know what? Republicans have a better idea here?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think there are a whole host of areas where Republicans, in some cases, may have a better idea.

MR. WALLACE: Such as?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, on issues of regulation. I think that back in the '60s and '70s a lot of the way we regulated industry was top- down command and control. We're going to tell businesses exactly how to do things. And I think that the Republican Party and people who thought about the markets came up with the notion that, you know what, if you simply set some guidelines, some rules and incentives for businesses, let them figure out how they're going to, for example, reduce pollution, and a cap-and-trade system, for example, is a smarter way of doing it -- controlling pollution -- than dictating every single rule that a company has to abide by, which creates a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and oftentimes is less efficient.

I think that on issues of education, I've been very clear about the fact -- and sometimes I've gotten in trouble with the teachers union on this -- that we should be experimenting with charter schools; we should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers. That --

MR. WALLACE: You mean merit pay?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, the merit pay, the way it's been designed, I think, that is based on just a single standardized test, I think is a big mistake. Because the way we measure performance may be skewed by whether or not the kids are coming into school already three years or four years behind.

But I think that having assessment tools and then saying, you know what, teachers who are on career paths to become better teachers, developing themselves professionally, that we should pay excellence more. I think that's a good idea. So --

MR. WALLACE: But Senator, if I may --

SEN. OBAMA: Yeah, Chris.

MR. WALLACE: I think one of the concerns that some people have is that you talk a good game about let's be post-partisan, let's all come together -- just a couple of quick things, and I don't really want you to defend each one; I just want to speak to the larger issue.

SEN. OBAMA: Right.

MR. WALLACE: The Gang of Fourteen, which was a group of bipartisan coalition to try to resolve the issue of judicial nominations. Fourteen senators came together; you weren't part of it. On some issues where Democrats have moved to the center -- partial birth abortion, defense of marriage act -- you stay on the left and you are against both.

And so people say, do you really want a partnership with Republicans, or do you really want unconditional surrender from them?

SEN. OBAMA: No, I -- look, I think this is fair. I would point out, though, for example, that when I voted for a tort reform measure that was fiercely opposed by the trial lawyers, I got attacked pretty hard from the left. During the Roberts --

MR. WALLACE: John Roberts, Supreme Court.

SEN. OBAMA: John Roberts nomination, although I voted against him, I strongly defended some of my colleagues who had voted for him on the Daley coast, and was fiercely attacked as somebody who is, you know, caving in to Republicans on these fights. In fact, there are a lot of liberal commentators who think I'm too accommodating.

So here's my philosophy -- I want to do what works for the American people, and both at the state legislative level and at the federal legislative level, I have always been able to work together with Republicans to find compromise and to find common ground. That's how I was able to provide health care for people who needed it in Illinois. That's how I passed ethics reform, both at the state and the federal level. That's how -- you know, I've worked with people like Dick Lugar from here in Indiana on critical issues like nuclear proliferation.

It is true that when you look at some of the votes that I've taken in the Senate that I'm on the Democratic side of these votes, but part of the reason is because the way these issues are designed are to polarize. They're intentionally designed to polarize.

On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother. And many of the bills that came before me didn't have that.

Now, part of the reason they didn't have it was purposeful, because those who are opposed to abortion -- and I don't begrudge that at all; they have a moral calling to try to oppose what they think is immoral -- oftentimes what they were trying to do was to polarize the debate and make it more difficult for people so that they could try to bring an end to abortions overall.

So the point I'm simply making is that as president, my goal is to bring people together, to listen to them -- and I don't think there's any Republican out there who I've worked with who would say that I don't listen to them, I don't respect their ideas, I don't understand their perspective. And I do not consider Democrats to have a monopoly on wisdom.

And my goal is to get us out of this polarizing debate where we're always trying to score cheap political points, and actually get things done.

MR. WALLACE: I want to ask you about one more area during this segment -- tax and spending. The Republicans are keeping a running total of all your plans. They say it's $662 billion over four years.

SEN. OBAMA: (Chuckles.) (Inaudible.) Right.

MR. WALLACE: They say for all your promises not to raise taxes on the middle class that in fact you want to raise the cap on the Social Security payroll tax and you also want to increase capital gains.

Question, John McCain is going to go after you as another classic liberal tax-and-spender.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I'm going to go right back at John McCain. Because look at his tax proposals. He just went out there and not only wants to continue some of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, he actually wants to extend them, and he hasn't told us really how he's going to pay for them. It is irresponsible, and the iron is he said it was irresponsible.

When George Bush initiated these tax cuts in 2001, he said this is shameful. He said it offended his conscience, he said, for us to give tax breaks to the wealthy, particularly at a time of war. Well, somewhere along the line, you know, his conscience took flight, because he was looking to get nominated for the Republican -- as the Republican nominee.

And so I am happy to have that debate. If you look at my approach to taxation, what have I said? I said I would cut taxes for people making $75,000 a year or less. I'd cut taxes for seniors who are making $50,000 or less. It is true that I would roll back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans back to the level they were under Bill Clinton, when I don't remember rich people feeling oppressed.

In terms of capital gains, I've suggested we might go back up to 20 (percent), because --

MR. WALLACE: You had suggested 28 (percent).

SEN. OBAMA: Well, what I've said is I certainly would not raise it higher than it was under Ronald Reagan. But the fact is that I'm mindful that we've got to keep our capital gains tax to a point where we can actually get more revenue.

But that's not something that's going to affect the average person with a 401(k).

When people start talking about how, well, there are millions of Americans who own stock, most of them own stock in 401(k)s that -- where their taxes are deferred and they pay ordinary income taxes when they finally cash out.

And in terms of raising the payroll tax -- raising the cap on the payroll tax, right now, everybody who's making $102,000 or less pays 100 percent -- a payroll tax on 100 percent of their income. There are about 3 (percent) to 4 percent of Americans who are above $102,000 in income every year.

So if you want to talk about who's middle class -- me giving cuts to folks making $60 (thousand), $70,000 and potentially asking more from friends of mine like Warren Buffett, who -- I have no idea what he made last year, you know, that's a debate I'm happy to have with John McCain.

Because it's the people making 75 (thousand dollars), 50 (thousand dollars), $60,000 who are hurting. And when John McCain promises tax cuts to corporations that are not paid for, then what we are doing is loading up this nation with debt. And if we're not paying for it now, our kids and our grandkids are going to have to pay for it, and I think that's objectionable.

MR. WALLACE: Senator, we have to take one more break, but when we come back, we'll ask Barack Obama some questions about foreign policy and also how he thinks this long, tough Democratic campaign will finally get resolved.

Stay tuned.

(Announcements.)

MR. WALLACE: And we are back for one final segment with Senator Barack Obama.

Senator, this week President Bush named David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to be the head of Central Command, which controls overseas military operations across the Middle East and Central Asia. Will you vote to confirm his nomination?

SEN. OBAMA: Yes. I mean, I think Petraeus has done a good tactical job in Iraq. I think as a practical matter, obviously, that's where most of the attention has been devoted from this administration over the last several years.

I was also a big respecter of Admiral Fallon, who Petraeus is now replacing. And I think it was unfortunate that the administration wasn't listening more to the observations of Fallon that we have to think about more than just Iraq; that we've got issues with Iran and Pakistan and Afghanistan. And our singular focus on Iraq, I think, has distracted us.

My hope is that Petraeus would reflect that wider view of our strategic interests.

MR. WALLACE: I want to ask you about presidents and listening to generals. Petraeus is, I don't have to tell you, is the architect of the troop surge, a strong advocate of our continued engagement in Iraq.

If you become commander in chief, and he says your plan to get out of Iraq is a mistake, will you replace him?

SEN. OBAMA: I will listen to General Petraeus, given the experience that he has accumulated over the last several years. It would be stupid of me to ignore what he has to say.

But it is my job as president, it would be my job as commander in chief, to set the mission, to make the strategic decisions in light of the problems that we're having in Afghanistan, in light of the problems that we are having in Pakistan, the fact that al Qaeda is strengthening, as our National Intelligence Estimates have indicated, since 2001.

And so we've got a whole host of tasks, and I've also got to worry about the fact that the military has no strategic reserve right now. If we have an emergency in the Korean Peninsula, if we had an emergency elsewhere in the world, we don't have the troops right now to deal with it. And that's not my opinion; that's the --

MR. WALLACE: So would you replace him, or would you just say I'm the commander in chief; follow my order.

SEN. OBAMA: What I would do is I would say -- what I will do -- is say we have a new mission. It is my strategic assessment that we have to provide a timetable to the Iraqi government. I want you to tell me how best to execute this new assignment. And I am happy to listen to the tactical considerations and any ideas you have. But what I will not do is to continue let the Iraqi government off the hook and allow them to put our foreign policy on ice while they dither about making decisions about how they're going to cooperate with each other.

MR. WALLACE: Well, Senator, we sometimes do a "lightening round" here, quick questions, quick answers.

SEN. OBAMA: I'll try to be quick.

MR. WALLACE: So try to --

SEN. OBAMA: That's always tough.

MR. WALLACE: Let's clear up some campaign business. Why are you ducking another debate with Hillary Clinton?

SEN. OBAMA: You know, I'm not ducking one. We've had 21! (Chuckles.) And so, you know, what we've said is with two weeks, two big states, we want to make sure that we're talking to as many folks as possible on the ground, taking questions from voters. You know, we will --

MR. WALLACE: No debates between now and Indiana?

SEN. OBAMA: We're not going to have debates between now and Indiana.

MR. WALLACE: You say it's premature to discuss running mates. Are you at least open to the possibility of running with Hillary Clinton with the places on the ticket to be determined?

SEN. OBAMA: I am going to punt on that question until I'm actually the nominee.

MR. WALLACE: (Laughs.) That's quick.

If the voting ends in June and you're still leading in the popular vote and delegates and the superdelegates hand the nomination to Hillary Clinton, can -- do you think that the young people, the African American people, the young, first-time voters that you have brought into this campaign, aren't they going to be awfully angry?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think there would be some frustration there. It's not just young people, by the way. This event that we just had here in Marion, Indiana, I had a 48-year-old white woman come up to me and say she's voting for the first time. Never voted before. She probably would not vote. It's possible.

But here -- here's my strong belief -- Democrats are going to be unified. I think we should find that person who is going to be best able to not just defeat John McCain, but also lead the country. I happen to think I'm that person. I will make that argument forcefully to the superdelegates prior to the convention.

MR. WALLACE: Wall Street Journal says that you are prepared to run the first privately financed campaign, presidential campaign, since Watergate. True?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, look. We've done a wonderful job raising money from the grassroots. I'm very proud of the fact that in March -- in February, for example, 90 percent of our donations came over the Internet. Our average donation is $96, and we've done an amazing job, I think, mobilizing people to finance our campaigns in small increments.

I have promised that I will sit down the John McCain and talk about can we preserve a public system, as long as we are taking into account third party independent expenditures.

Because what I don't intend to do --

MR. WALLACE: If you can get that agreement, you would go for a publicly financed campaign?

SEN. OBAMA: What I don't intend to do is to allow huge amounts of money to be spent by the RNC, the Republican National Committee, or by organizations like the Swift Boat organization, and just stand there without -- (cross talk).

MR. WALLACE: But if you get that agreement?

SEN. OBAMA: I would be very interested in pursuing public financing, because I think not every candidate is going to be able to do what I've done in this campaign, and I think it's important to think about future campaigns.

MR. WALLACE: Finally -- and we have about a minute left -- what have you learned in this campaign? And I don't mean "Gee, what a great country it is" answer. What mistakes have you made? What have you learned about running for president? What have you learned about yourself?

SEN. OBAMA: I've learned that I have what I believe is the right temperament for the presidency, which is I don't get too high when I'm high and I don't get too low when I'm low. And we've gone through all kinds of ups and downs.

People forget now that had been written off last summer. People were writing many of the anguished articles that they're now writing after our loss in Pennsylvania. (Chuckles.) On the other hand, after Iowa when everybody was sure this was over, I think I was more measured, more cautious. That, I think, is a temperamental strength.

In terms of what I've learned, or mistakes that I've made, I'm making them all the time. And usually it has to do with me talking too much instead of listening. And what I've also learned is how much I miss my family and -- my kids and my wife. And that's been the biggest hardship of this campaign. I knew I'd miss them, but sometimes you're just -- physically you need those two little girls in your arms. And so that's something that I'm looking to fix in the months to come.

MR. WALLACE: Senator Obama, thank you so much for talking with us.

SEN. OBAMA: I enjoyed it.

MR. WALLACE: Don't be a stranger. (Chuckles.)

SEN. OBAMA: I won't.

MR. WALLACE: Up next, we'll discuss the Obama interview and where the Democratic race stands now, after Hillary Clinton's convincing win in Pennsylvania. Some answers from our Sunday Regulars when we come right back.

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