I'll put a few highlights below, so if you don't want to read the whole thing, you can get a taste for it, and maybe entice you to read more anyway.
Also if you prefer, it is in 10 parts on youtube. (If you want a high quality version, there is one available, you just have to click the button under the video on youtube.)
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Warren: ...we believe in the separation of church and state, but we do not believe in the separation of faith and politics because faith is just a worldview and everybody has some kind of worldview and it's important to know what they are.
Warren: Who are the three wisest people you know in your life and who are you going to rely on heavily in your administration?
Obama: You've mentioned one person I'd -- I'd be listening to and that's Michelle, my wife, who is not only wise, but she's honest. And one of the things you need -- I think any leader needs is somebody who can get up in your face and say, Boy, you really screwed that one up. You really blew that.
Another person in that category is my grandmother who's an extraordinary woman. She was -- never went to college. She worked on a bomber assembly line during World War II when my grandfather was away, came back, got a job as a secretary and worked her way up to become a bank vice president before she retired. And she's just a very grounded, common sense, no fuss, no frills kind of person. And when I've got big decisions, I often check in with her.
Now, in terms of the administrations or how I would approach the presidency, I don't think I'd restrict myself to three people. There are people like Sam Dunn, a Democrat, or Dick Luger, a Republican, who I'd listen to on foreign policy.
On domestic policy, you know, I've got friends ranging from Ted Kennedy to -- to Tom Colbert who don't necessarily agree on a lot of things, but who both, I think, have a sincere desire to see this country improve.
What I found is very helpful to me is to have a table where a lot of different points of view are represented and where I can sit and poke and prod and ask them questions.
McCain: First one I think would be General David Petraeus, one of the great military leaders in American history who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq. One of the great leaders and I'm so proud to know him.
Fourth of July a year ago, Senator Lindsey Graham and I were in Baghdad. 688 brave young Americans whose enlistment had expired swore an oath of reenlistment to stay and fight for freedom. Only someone like General David Petraeus could motivate someone like that.
I think John Lewis. John Lewis was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Had his skull fractured. Continued to serve. Continues to have the most optimistic outlook about America. He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest.
Meg Whitman. Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay. Meg Whitman. 12 years ago there were five employees. Today, there are one and a half million people that make a living off eBay in America in the world. It is one of these great American success stories. And in these economic challenging times, we need to call on the wisdom and knowledge, background of people like Meg Whitman who have been able to make such a great American success story part of the world's folklore.
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Warren: Now, in America, we've got to learn to disagree without demonizing each other and we need to restore civility. We need to restore civility in our civil discourse and that's the goal of the Saddleback Civil Forum so let's get started.
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Warren: Who are the three wisest people you know in your life and who are you going to rely on heavily in your administration?
Obama: You've mentioned one person I'd -- I'd be listening to and that's Michelle, my wife, who is not only wise, but she's honest. And one of the things you need -- I think any leader needs is somebody who can get up in your face and say, Boy, you really screwed that one up. You really blew that.
Another person in that category is my grandmother who's an extraordinary woman. She was -- never went to college. She worked on a bomber assembly line during World War II when my grandfather was away, came back, got a job as a secretary and worked her way up to become a bank vice president before she retired. And she's just a very grounded, common sense, no fuss, no frills kind of person. And when I've got big decisions, I often check in with her.
Now, in terms of the administrations or how I would approach the presidency, I don't think I'd restrict myself to three people. There are people like Sam Dunn, a Democrat, or Dick Luger, a Republican, who I'd listen to on foreign policy.
On domestic policy, you know, I've got friends ranging from Ted Kennedy to -- to Tom Colbert who don't necessarily agree on a lot of things, but who both, I think, have a sincere desire to see this country improve.
What I found is very helpful to me is to have a table where a lot of different points of view are represented and where I can sit and poke and prod and ask them questions.
McCain: First one I think would be General David Petraeus, one of the great military leaders in American history who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq. One of the great leaders and I'm so proud to know him.
Fourth of July a year ago, Senator Lindsey Graham and I were in Baghdad. 688 brave young Americans whose enlistment had expired swore an oath of reenlistment to stay and fight for freedom. Only someone like General David Petraeus could motivate someone like that.
I think John Lewis. John Lewis was at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Had his skull fractured. Continued to serve. Continues to have the most optimistic outlook about America. He can teach us all a lot about the meaning of courage and commitment to causes greater than our self-interest.
Meg Whitman. Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay. Meg Whitman. 12 years ago there were five employees. Today, there are one and a half million people that make a living off eBay in America in the world. It is one of these great American success stories. And in these economic challenging times, we need to call on the wisdom and knowledge, background of people like Meg Whitman who have been able to make such a great American success story part of the world's folklore.
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Warren: ...tell me in a minute why you want to be president.
Obama: You know, I remember what my mother used to tell
me. I was talking to somebody a while back and I said, The one time that she'd get really angry with me is if she ever thought that I was being mean to somebody or unfair to somebody. She said, Imagine standing in their shoes, imagine looking through their eyes, that basic idea of empathy. And that I think is what made -- what's made America special is that notion that everybody's got a shot. If we see somebody down and out, if we see a kid who's -- who can't afford college that we care for them too.
And I want to be president because that's the America I believe in and I feel like that American dream is slipping away. I think we are at a critical juncture economically. I think we are at a critical juncture internationally. We've got to make some big decisions not just for us, but for the next generation and we keep on putting it off.
And unfortunately, our politics is so broken and Washington is so broken that we can't seem to bring together people of goodwill to solve these common problems.
I think I have the ability to build bridges across partisan lines, racial, regional lines to get people to work on some common sense solutions to critical issues and I hope that I have the opportunity to do that.
McCain: I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest. I believe that America's best days are ahead of us, but I also believe that we face enormous challenges, both national security and domestic, as we have found out in the last few days in the case of Georgia.
And I want to be -- make sure that everybody understands that this is a time for us to come together. Throughout my life from the time I was 17 and raised my hand and was sworn in as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, I've always put my country first. I put my country first when I had the honor of serving in the military, and I had the honor of putting
my country first as a Member of the House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.
America wants hope. America wants optimism. America wants us to sit down together. I have a record of reaching across the aisle and working with the other party, and I want to do that, and I believe, as I said, that Americans feel it's time for us to put our country first, and we may disagree on a specific issue, and I won't review them now, but I want every American to know that when I go to Gee's Bend, Alabama and meet the African-American women there who are so wonderful and lovely and an experience I'll never forget, and when I go to places where I know they probably won't vote for me, I know that my job is to tell them that I'll be the President of every American, and I'll always put my country first.
Obama: You know, I remember what my mother used to tell
me. I was talking to somebody a while back and I said, The one time that she'd get really angry with me is if she ever thought that I was being mean to somebody or unfair to somebody. She said, Imagine standing in their shoes, imagine looking through their eyes, that basic idea of empathy. And that I think is what made -- what's made America special is that notion that everybody's got a shot. If we see somebody down and out, if we see a kid who's -- who can't afford college that we care for them too.
And I want to be president because that's the America I believe in and I feel like that American dream is slipping away. I think we are at a critical juncture economically. I think we are at a critical juncture internationally. We've got to make some big decisions not just for us, but for the next generation and we keep on putting it off.
And unfortunately, our politics is so broken and Washington is so broken that we can't seem to bring together people of goodwill to solve these common problems.
I think I have the ability to build bridges across partisan lines, racial, regional lines to get people to work on some common sense solutions to critical issues and I hope that I have the opportunity to do that.
McCain: I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest. I believe that America's best days are ahead of us, but I also believe that we face enormous challenges, both national security and domestic, as we have found out in the last few days in the case of Georgia.
And I want to be -- make sure that everybody understands that this is a time for us to come together. Throughout my life from the time I was 17 and raised my hand and was sworn in as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, I've always put my country first. I put my country first when I had the honor of serving in the military, and I had the honor of putting
my country first as a Member of the House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.
America wants hope. America wants optimism. America wants us to sit down together. I have a record of reaching across the aisle and working with the other party, and I want to do that, and I believe, as I said, that Americans feel it's time for us to put our country first, and we may disagree on a specific issue, and I won't review them now, but I want every American to know that when I go to Gee's Bend, Alabama and meet the African-American women there who are so wonderful and lovely and an experience I'll never forget, and when I go to places where I know they probably won't vote for me, I know that my job is to tell them that I'll be the President of every American, and I'll always put my country first.
2 comments:
I know we are staring at each other across a fence but I hope it's a short, picket one and not a tall, barbed-wire, electric one. I really like John McCain. I actually think that we are lucky to have two very admirable candidates running for office this year. I know that whoever the president is, I will have deep respect for his ability to make decisions for the good of our country. Do you think that's a change in the quality of people who are running or is it a change in the media and the way we perceive them? I hope it's the former.
It's a short picket one. When the primaries were just beginning, Janardan and I were talking about what a miracle it would be if the election ended up being McCain vs. Obama, and the American people would have an actual choice for good people in the election. I really like McCain. I love Obama, but once the primary decided it was between Obama and McCain, I knew America had already won a small victory.
I think the success of McCain and Obama is something that should give us great hope. Here we have two great, not just politicians, but two great leaders, two great people. I think it is a combination though. It is not just that we have great people running, but that they can get that across.
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