Photos: Barack Obama today at a roundtable discussion about economy, women's issues in San Francisco

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in a meeting Thursday with the editorial board of The Chronicle:

On his rationale for running:

"This is one of those moments where ambition is not a sufficient justification for the presidency. ... There were a set of things that I can do that no other candidate can do. I can bring the country together around a working majority for change in a way that Sen. Clinton, for example, cannot.

"Rather than simply duplicate the elections of 2000 and 2004, where 47 percent of the country is on one side, and 47 percent of the country is on the other, and 5 percent are in the middle - all of them living in Ohio and Florida, apparently - I believe I can expand the political map, get people involved who haven't been involved before, get independents and Republicans to rally around a progressive, although nonideological, agenda. And I think I can do that more effectively than any of the other candidates in the race."

On whether he has the experience to handle the toughest challenges as president:

"If the question is, do I have the internal fortitude to make tough decisions and take on tough issues, I would say throughout my career I have dealt with very difficult issues.

"Sen. Clinton keeps touting her experience, but has no management experience that I can see in her resume. It's presumed through osmosis, as a consequence of having been first lady. But I would point to this campaign, where I went from zero, starting from scratch, to compete with a legendary political organization 20 years in the making built by a former president.

"That's not an accident. It shows my capacity to put together a team and point it in a direction that I think is important.

"The skill sets that are required to move the country are not different from the skill sets that are required to move somebody across the table. It means listening to them, it means having very clear principles - what you're willing to fight for, where you're willing to compromise. And it means being willing to walk away from the table.

"Those skill sets are the ones, I think, I am most confident I can apply ... where I think I have an edge over Sen. Clinton, who I think has a tendency - when confronted with somebody who doesn't agree with her - to demonize them or push them away."

On his own view of what makes his campaign different:

"I do think that I have tried to conduct my political career and my campaign in a way that is honest and candid and straightforward and minimizes spin.

"It doesn't mean that I have no political sense about me, and that I'm above modulating my tones or positions as I go through ... my career. But generally speaking, I tell the truth.

"And that's part of the reason why I think we have been getting people who are turned off to politics attracted to my campaign. ... They sense that I don't try to trim my sails.

"If I'm asked in a debate what my biggest weaknesses are, I don't answer by saying, 'I'm just too passionate about poor people' . Or that I'm too impatient to solve the problems of America. I say, well, you know, my desk is messy - so I need somebody around me."

Asked what he meant when he said, "Generally speaking, I tell the truth," Obama said with a laugh, "What I meant was that I always tell the truth, but sometimes you avoid telling hard truths.

"And one of the things I've tried to in this campaign is to tell people what they need to hear, as opposed to just what they want to hear." He said observers have noted that "there is a core there. ... I think that core is something that I communicate."

On his foreign policy experience:

"There's going to be a lot of repair work to be done internationally. This is an area where Sen. Clinton and others have suggested they are most concerned about my experience. It's actually the area where I most trust my judgment, because I've lived, traveled, have family overseas. If you look at my track record over the last three or four years on big issues - like opposition to the war in Iraq, the need to engage directly with Iran, our approach toward Pakistan and putting all the eggs in the Musharraf basket - on big strategic issues, I've been right and the conventional thinking in Washington has been wrong."

On how an Obama presidency would change the country:

"The day I'm elected and sworn in, not only does this country look at itself differently, but I think the world looks at itself differently. And that's not just symbolic. When I go to a poor country and talk to them about America's obligations, but also that poor country's obligations to help itself by dealing with corruption or to reduce ethnic tensions, I do with credibility as somebody with a grandmother who lives in a small village in Africa without running water. If I convene a meeting of Muslim leaders ... I do so with the credibility of somebody who lived in the most populous Muslim country on Earth for four years and has a sister who is half-Indonesian. ... That will allow me ... to be an effective spokesperson for a different version of American foreign policy."

On differences between himself and Sen. Clinton on health care:

"I admire the fact that President Clinton and Sen. Clinton tried to reform health care (in the 1990s). But I believe they did it in the wrong way. It goes to the point of accountability. Their theory was you go behind closed doors, you come up with your theory with the help of your technical experts. You don't even invite members of Congress from your own party into the negotiations and discussion. And while they were behind closed doors, the insurance company was busy shaping public opinion as well as maneuvering Congress, and by the time they released it ... it was dead in the water. Now, I would do things differently. I would have a table, around which you'd have doctors, nurses, patient advocates. The insurance ...companies would get a seat at the table; they just would not get to buy every chair.

"And I would put my plan forward ... and these negotiations would be on C-Span ... so the public would be part of the conversation and would see the choices being made. ... That builds in accountability in the system."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/MNSNUH7GC.DTL&type=politics