Barack Obama on 'Is race a factor?'

Sen. Barack Obama talks about whether being a minority will be a problem referring to campaigning in Iowa. (Prior to the Iowa 2008 Caucus.) This interview took place on November 9, 2007, at Iowa Public Television.
http://www.iptv.org/campaign08/

Glover: Senator, you are an African American candidate for President running in a state with a very, very tiny African American population. Can you get a fair hearing here? Are you getting a fair hearing here?

Obama: I am getting a fair hearing and I will get a fair hearing and I think we're gonna win this place, because you have people who are less concerned about race and much more concerned about is this somebody who is really going to be fighting for me, is this somebody who is going to make sure that my life is a little bit better. I just had a roundtable discussion with a group of women. You listen to their stories -- you've got a single mother who is trying to go to school at the same time as she's working, just like my mother did. She can't even think about saving. She's not getting any help when it comes to day care because she works a little too many hours to get -- to get a subsidy. Stories like that exist all across Iowa. And if people feel that I can deliver for them, then I think we're going to do well. If they feel that, you know, I can make their lives a little bit better, the last thing they're going to be thinking about is my race.

Glover: You think the state has moved beyond that?

Obama: What's that?

Glover: You think the state has moved beyond that.

Obama: I do. Look, there's no doubt that race is always a factor in American society. There's no denying that. But I think we've made enormous progress in a generation, certainly since I was born in the early '60s, and I think that people right now are much more concerned with who's going to look out for them, who's going to fight for them, who's going to bring about the kind of change that's needed in Washington.

Yepsen: So if you don't do well in the caucuses, we're not going to hear David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs and all your spinners telling us, well, Barack Obama didn't do well in Iowa because it's a lily white state? I just want to lay that down.

Obama: Look, we have invested in Iowa. I have been campaigning actively in Iowa. We expect to do well in Iowa.
Yepsen: What do you say, senator, to those Democrats who very quietly, because it's not easy to talk about race in politics, who say we're not sure Barack Obama can win because a lot of voters aren't ready to vote for a black man in America?
Obama: You know, I heard this when I was running for the U.S. Senate. Illinois is 12 percent African American. It's not a majority African American state or even a substantial plurality African American state. And people said there's no way that folks down state are going to vote for you. And down-state Illinois is pretty similar to Iowa culturally and demographically. We ended up winning that primary by 20 points. We won the white vote. We won the rural vote. We won the farmer vote. There wasn't a vote we didn't win against strong candidates, one who spent $30 million, another who was the sitting state comptroller and was a very popular elected official, and we beat them. So I've heard this before. I think it gives the voters too little credit, and we're confident that we're going to be able to do well.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• IPTV
• IowaPublicTelevision
• IowaPress
• Barack
• Obama
• campaign08
• racial
• factor
• vote
• obipyt

[RealTalkTV00]

Republicans Wake Up!! We All know John McCain was only nominated because of his war record. He is not a true conservative and was a heartbeat away from running as a Dem. This is a man who ran out on his wife and kids after she was in a car accident and never gave up on her husband. He ran out on his family to be with a 21 year old rich girl at the age of 45. This is a man who has flip flop on almost every issue. Who met a women once had a 15 min phone call with her and picked her for VP.

[selemawit14]

we love you man*

barack's the one

we've been waiting for

[wiibot15]

@selemawit14 Hahaha I bet you're looking back on your comment you made 2 years ago and are slapping the shit out of yourself. Obama wasn't what we needed, who would of thunk he was a fucking little pussy.

[Kailyeh]

I think I heard him say Yo at 1:06

[larrylive23]

People people, if you are not rich vote for Obama. If you are a wealthy ass, silver spoon motherfucker, vote for McCain. The rich people of America are depending on McCain winning. Let me remind you, the majority of the rich are well connected or hand me down people. They don't work for shit.

[beverlycromwell4]

VOTE FOR OBAMA

[FuzzDrone]

You're not paying for me asshole, I make my own, as do most hard working Americans. But when you make dumb ass, ignorant comments like "Why would Democrates pick such a pussy," you better expect to handle the response. Back your facts and statements up with intellect, fact, and proper argument... or go back to school which is where you sound like you need to be.

[facebookgeek]

Or possibly both?

[pandaspanker]

I am rich bitch. I don't want to pay for you poor fucks who want to live off of welfare. Do something with your life. Don't sit back and watch others work for your worthless pos.

[GospelPete]

OBAMA AND BIDEN BOTH VOTED FOR THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE EVEN WHEN THEY COULD HAVE DIVERTED THOSE FUNDS TO KITRINA!!!!

See For Yourself:

govtrack . us / congress / amendment . xpd?session=109&amdt=s2165

govtrack . us / congress / vote . xpd?vote=s2005-262

Are these the kind of two-faced hypocrites you want having complete authority over your lives?

[crisannette18]

i hope "OBAMA" will win!!!after watching roots of African American lives,if i can vote there,i will vote for him so he can change something in the present that are connected in the past...i wish he will do good things for the people...

[FuzzDrone]

And exactly what makes him a pussy in your eyes? Perhaps the fact that he wants to improve the economy, establish better health care for Americans, sees the truth behind the "war on terror" which is more accurate to say a quest for oil and improving big business. You must be the idiot if you enjoy paying these gas prices and paying way too much for everything else. How could any fool want McCain in office to give us 4 more years of the same garbage? You're either stupid, or rich.