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'Meet the Press' transcript for May 4, 2008
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 Netcast May 4: “Meet the Press” originates live from Indianapolis - an exclusive interview with Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) - for the full hour. |
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MR. RUSSERT: Senator Clinton also called for an umbrella of deterrence in the Middle East, defending not only Israel, but she said "other countries in the region," suggesting that perhaps Saudi Arabia, Jordan, other places in that region. Should the U.S. have an umbrella of deterrence to protect Arab nations?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, it--look, this is presupposing something that I'm unwilling to presuppose, and that is that Iran's going to get nuclear weapons. My intention is to make sure they don't. And the way we do that is, as I indicated before, to rally the international community, to engage direct talks with Iran, to send a clear signal about the consequences of continuing to develop nuclear weapons, but also to send a signal that if they are willing to stand down, that we can provide them with the kind of assistance that they need in order to help their people. So my central goal is to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons.
I, I'm troubled by the idea that, as a throwaway line in the debate, you start expanding the U.S. nuclear umbrella potentially to a whole host of other countries without any clear idea of what these criteria are, who might be involved and so forth. I think there's no doubt that we need to think about what our strategic posture is with respect to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other ally--other friends in the region. But, you know, right now we don't have a formal alliance with many of these other countries. And if we are to develop that, we should do it prudently, cautiously, in consultation with Congress.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you think the American people would want to send American men and women to Saudi Arabia to defend them against Iran?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, that's, I think, part of the debate that should be taking place. Obviously, we've got national security interests in oil supplies in the region. And as president, that's something that I would factor in. But I am not willing, at this point, to suggest that somehow we are going to extend our nuclear umbrella or that we have the same sorts of alliance with Saudi Arabia that we do with NATO countries or that we do with Israel.
MR. RUSSERT: Afghanistan. The situation, according to some, is deteriorating as the Taliban continues to reconstitute itself. Would you, as president, be willing to have a military surge in Afghanistan in order to, once and for all, eliminate the Taliban?
SEN. OBAMA: Yes. I think that's what we need. I think we need more troops there, I think we need to do a better job of reconstruction there. I think we have to be focused on Afghanistan. It is one of the reasons that I was opposed to the war in Iraq in the first place. We now know that al-Qaeda is stronger than any time since 2001. We've just received additional intelligence reports from our agencies, showing that they are growing in capability. That is something that we've got to address.
And we're also going to have to address the situation in Pakistan, where we now have, in the federated areas, al-Qaeda and the Taliban setting up bases there. We now have a new government in Pakistan. We have an opportunity to initiate a new relationship. We've got to send a signal to them that we are interested in national security, but we also recognize they're interested in figuring out how do they feed their people and how do they prosper economically? And instead of just focusing on our issues, we've got to focus on some of theirs, so that we can get better cooperation to hunt down al-Qaeda and make sure that that does not become a safe haven for them.
MR. RUSSERT: In the remaining minutes, let me talk to--about some politics. You said, "Indiana may end up being the tiebreaker." Right? That's where we are. So if Hillary Clinton wins here, she wins?
SEN. OBAMA: No. I...
MR. RUSSERT: She wins the nomination?
SEN. OBAMA: No. I--what I, what I said was is that--this was in the context of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana, the three largest states that are remaining--I said clearly Senator Clinton was favored in Pennsylvania, I was slightly favored in North Carolina, Indiana was one that was a toss-up. So, between those three states, that would be the one that was hardest to gauge in terms of where the voters might go. But we've got more contests remaining, and I'm confident that Senator Clinton's going to stay in until, until the very end, and then we're going to have a decision about who's going to be the nominee. And, and my argument to, to the American people, and my argument to the voters, and my argument to the superdelegates is that this is a time where we can't just settle for business as usual, that we've got to have a different kind of politics, we've got to push back the special interests in Washington, we've got to engage in some truth telling, and that's why this gas tax debate has been so important. And I think we have to unify to country to solve problems.
You know, you asked earlier in the interview about, you know, issues of my patriotism and being attacked by Republicans. One thing I'm absolutely confident about, Tim, the more I travel around the country, people don't think of themselves first as Republicans or Democrats, they don't think of themselves first as black or white; they think of themselves as Americans. And if we can tap into that spirit and that core decency and generosity, then we can solve health care, we can solve energy. If we don't, if we're continued to be distracted by the kind of games that we see typically out of Washington, then we're going to have missed our, missed our opportunity.
MR. RUSSERT: So if you win Indiana and North Carolina, you don't think the race is over?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I don't think the race is over until Senator Clinton decides that she's getting out or until all the primaries and caucuses have taken place. And we know that's all--you know, that's only a month away.
MR. RUSSERT: But if you lose Indiana and North Carolina, are you on your heels?
SEN. OBAMA: No. I--you know, we are going to keep on going, and we feel confident that, ultimately, I'm going to be the Democratic nominee.
MR. RUSSERT: Here's the latest elected delegate count. These are the elected delegates: Obama, 1492; Clinton, 1338; an advantage of 154. The superdelegates: 274 declared for Clinton, 253 for Obama, 268 are uncommitted, which gives you an overall lead of about 133 if you combine those two numbers. This is what you said in New Albany, Indiana, the other day.
(Videotape)
SEN. OBAMA: If we've won the most delegates from the voters, seems to me that it might be a good idea to make me the nominee.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: It's doesn't appear mathematically possible that Senator Clinton can overcome your lead of elected delegates.
SEN. OBAMA: Hm.
MR. RUSSERT: If the superdelegates got together, the undecided superdelegates and said, "You know, Senator Obama, we think that Hillary Clinton is a stronger candidate against John McCain. Here are the latest polls in the swing states, the overall national polls. You've run a wonderful race, but we're going to go with Senator Clinton as our nominee," what would you do?
SEN. OBAMA: I don't think that's going to happen. I--let, let me say at the outset, I want a Democrat to win in November, so even if Senator Clinton were the nominee instead of me, I would still be campaigning for Democrats because we haven't talked much about John McCain today, and the one thing I'm clear about is he wanted--wants to continue George Bush's foreign policy, he wants to continue George Bush's economic policies. He said George Bush had, had made great progress economically. And his proposals, which are essentially $300 billion worth of corporate tax cuts that aren't paid for that would add to our deficit and increase the imbalance in our tax code, I think is the exact wrong prescription for America. So, so, so...
MR. RUSSERT: The Republicans suggest your plans don't add up either, but that's a whole different discussion.
SEN. OBAMA: So, so, so...
MR. RUSSERT: But do the superdelegates have the right to override, in effect, the decision of the elected delegates?
SEN. OBAMA: I, I think the superdelegates, by rule, can make their own decision. I think the superdelegates are going to take a look not at momentary snapshot polls, but they're going to take a look at who's run the campaign that can bring about change in American and can actually govern after the election. And the number of new people that we've brought in, the organizations that we've set up in all 50 states, the enthusiasm, the energy that our campaign has displayed indicates to me and should indicate to the superdelegates that the American people are ready to move in a new direction, and that's what we're offering. And I'm confident that, if I am the nominee, that I offer Democrats the best chance of winning in November.
MR. RUSSERT: And if the superdelegates decide otherwise, you will abide by it.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, as, as I said, I'm committed to making sure Democrats win in November.
MR. RUSSERT: Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois, we thank you for joining us for the full hour right here on MEET THE PRESS.
SEN. OBAMA: Thank you so much.
MR. RUSSERT: And we'll be right back.
(Announcements)
MR. RUSSERT: Our thanks to the great folks here at WTHR Channel 13 in Indianapolis, you guys have been terrific. That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it is MEET THE PRESS.
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