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RD: What would the first one hundred days of an Obama presidency look like?Obama: My hope is that we have made progress on Iraq and we’ve seen enough Republican Congressmen and Senators conclude that the course we’re on isn’t sensible, that we’ve got a timetable in place and we’ve begun an orderly withdrawal of our combat troops. I’m not wildly optimistic, and so I anticipate that despite the efforts of myself and others over the next several months in the Senate, that we will still be dealing with Iraq. And my first job is to bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and the commanders on the ground, and come up with a sensible plan that combines a change of course militarily with an aggressive ramping up of our diplomatic efforts. So that would be priority number one, because I don’t think we can make progress internationally so long as that cloud lingers over us.
And the second thing will be to introduce a universal health bill within the first 100 days. We put forward a rather specific plan about how we would save money, drastically reduce the cost of the system, gain efficiencies, improve quality, take the money that’s saved to provide coverage for those who need it. Part of that process would be re-negotiating the prescription drug bill, the Medicare drug bill, so that our seniors can start benefiting from lower costs of prescription drugs or at least we can close the doughnut hole that I think has been tough for them. I would make sure that we are providing Medicare and care for the chronically ill, that insurance companies are participating in the pools that we’ve set up and can’t discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions. So there are a whole host of steps, but my goal would be … and by the way, I’d want to present this plan not as a done deal but present a basic outline to work with Congress and members of both parties to get it done. And say to the insurance companies and drug companies. You can have a seat at the table -- you just can’t buy all the chips.
So that would be my number one domestic priority. In subsequent days, I would want to move aggressively on an energy bill because I think that’s another area where we have a potential convergence between national security hawks, environmental greens, people who are just concerned with their pocket book and what’s happening at the gas tank. I think we can really bring the country together around an aggressive energy plan that will involve increasing fuel efficiency standards, ratcheting down greenhouse gas emissions and setting up an auction for those emissions that generate monies we can use to create a very aggressive exploration for alternative fuels.
RD: Hillary Clinton has been saying a lot lately that she’s ready to be President. You’re her chief rival, and the implication to many is that she’s saying she’s ready, and you’re not. Do you think she has it exactly opposite—do you think you’re ready, and she’s not?
Obama: I think that I am prepared to bring about the changes that the country is looking for in a way that no other candidate in this political race can accomplish. When you say lead, the question is always where? And I have tremendous respect for Senator Clinton and the other candidates in the race, but I wouldn’t be in this race if I didn’t believe that I can lead us out of the political gridlock that has characterized us for more than just the last six years, that has characterized us for the last decade and a half. That’s the challenge before us. We’re not going to be able to make progress on any of these plans, any of these issues, any of these laundry lists that all of us lay out there unless we can get a working majority in this country. And I believe I’ve got the capacity to bring in new people into the process to bridge racial divisions, partisan divisions, divisions around faith, such that we can actually start getting some things done.
RD: Thank you
Obama: Thank you. I enjoyed it.
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