I think what's important is to make sure that we don't get so obsessed with gaffes that we lose sight of the fact that this is a defining moment in our history.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, your campaign has sent out a cascade of e-mails, just about every day, questioning Senator Clinton's credibility. And you yourself have said she hasn't been fully truthful about what she would do as president.
Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been fully truthful about her past?
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, look, I think that Senator Clinton has a strong record to run on. She wouldn't be here if she didn't. And you know, I haven't commented on the issue of Bosnia. You know, I --
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Your campaign has.
SENATOR OBAMA: Of course, but --
SENATOR CLINTON: (Laughs.)
SENATOR OBAMA: Because we're asked about it.
But look, the fact of the matter is, is that both of us are working as hard as we can to make sure that we're delivering a message to the American people about what we would do as president.
Sometimes that message is going to be imperfectly delivered, because we are recorded every minute of every day. And I think Senator Clinton deserves, you know, the right to make some errors once in a while. I'm -- obviously, I make some as well.
I think what's important is to make sure that we don't get so obsessed with gaffes that we lose sight of the fact that this is a defining moment in our history. We are going to be tackling some of the biggest issues that any president has dealt with in the last 40 years. Our economy is teetering not just on the edge of recession, but potentially worse. Our foreign policy is in a shambles. We are involved in two wars. People's incomes have not gone up, and their costs have. And we're seeing greater income inequality now than any time since the 1920s.
In those circumstances, for us to be obsessed with this -- these kinds of errors I think is a mistake. And that's not what our campaign has been about.
What our campaign has been about is offering some specific solutions to how we move these issues forward and identifying the need to change the culture in Washington, which we haven't talked at all about, but that has blocked real reform decade after decade after decade. That, I think, is the job of the next president of the United States.
That's what I intend to do. That's why I'm running.
2 comments
#1 Matthew Burton May 18, 2008
Good for Obama for having the guts to say these are stupid questions. Granted, it was at a time where his back was against the wall, but he did it gracefully and professionally. And he's right.
#2 colleen Jun 18, 2008
hi matt! just to add to the debate --- i think obama's conflicted over how to best rise above the fray of politics (not jump on the "gaffe" bandwagon) but also criticize his opponent (his campaign jumped on the bosnia gaffe bandwagon against hillary). in this clip, he had trouble admitting that he (aka his campaign) did contribute to the nation's obsession over petty gaffes. at the same time, he criticizes those who harp on gaffes. i like his point but he seems hypocritical here.