by Frank James
In an interview on Wednesday, Sen. Barack Obama explained to CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith why he's taking a break from his presidential campaign later today and heading to Hawaii to visit his very ill grandmother who raised him during his adolescent years.
"My grandmother's the last one left," Obama told Smith. The senator added, "She has really been the rock of the family, the foundation of the family." Obama didn't get to his mother before she died. "Yeah, got there too late," he says. "You know, I mean, it was sort of like this, in the sense that she had a terminal illness. We knew she wasn't doing well, but you know, the diagnosis was such that we thought we had a little more time and we didn't. And so I want to make sure that I don't make the same mistake twice."
See the interview above and the transcript of the talk with Obama aired this morning on CBS News' The Early Show below:
Senator BARACK OBAMA: Yeah.
SMITH: Your grandmother was very much like a mother...
Sen. OBAMA: Absolutely.
SMITH: ...to you. How important is this trip?
Sen. OBAMA: It's very important to me. You know, my mother was a single mom, so she raised me with the help of my grandparents. And so my grandmother, my grandfather and my mom, they're really the people who took care of me all throughout my childhood. My grandmother's the last one left.
She has really been the rock of the family, the foundation of the family. Whatever strength, discipline that I have, it comes from her.
SMITH: You've said in the past that you regretted your own mother's illness, and her death came so quickly you didn't have time to get back to see her.
Sen. OBAMA: Got there too late. We knew that she wasn't doing well but, you know, the diagnosis was such where we thought we had a little more time and we didn't. And so I want to make sure that I don't--I don't make the same mistake twice.
SMITH: Some people say there's risk involved in this, with so little time left.
Sen. OBAMA: Yeah. Well, the--you know, I think most people understand that if you're not caring for your family, then you're probably not the kind of person who's going to be caring for other people.
SMITH: I want to talk about some campaign issues, not the least of which is your running mate, Joe Biden, talked about, `Well, Barack Obama's going to be tested within the first six months.' John McCain jumped on that and said, `I don't need to be tested, I'm ready.' Are you more ready to be president of the United States than John McCain?
Sen. OBAMA: I tell--all I can say is this. We've had over the last couple of months, I think, an interesting series of tests. And I think that I have been steadier. I think my advisers and my team and my organization, what we've built has performed with the kind of calm resolve and deliberation that the White House needs right now. Any president is going to be tested by the enormity of the challenges that we face.
SMITH: The rancorous tone of this campaign--I was with John McCain on Monday, and I said, `Our poll data shows that it's actually hurting you.' He says, `I wouldn't be doing it if he weren't doing it.'
Sen. OBAMA: Well, look, I mean, politics is tough. But I will say this. I don't think there's any equivalence between what we've been doing and what John McCain's been doing. Witness some of the comments that have been made just over the last several months, his--last several weeks. Socialistic, you know, pals around with terrorists. I mean, just the kinds of stuff that I can't imagine saying about an opponent of mine.
SMITH: Whoever gets elected president somehow has to put their arm around the whole country and say, `We're in this together.'
Sen. OBAMA: Yeah.
SMITH: Can you do that?
Sen. OBAMA: I can. And I think that's the tone that we've set from the beginning of this campaign. I mean, look, is Sean Hannity suddenly going to get on the airwaves and say, `You know, I was wrong about this Obama guy. He's my man'? No, that's not going to happen. I mean, there's going to be a certain wing of the Republican Party that is, you know, dug in and resistant to the notion that we need to change direction.
SMITH: You close your eyes for a moment and you think about election night. Do you win?
Sen. OBAMA: Well, I wouldn't have gotten in this race if I didn't think I was going to win. If it's tied going into Election Day, I like our chances because I think we've got enormous enthusiasm on the ground.
SMITH: And just days to go.
Comments
There's nothing more to say than I pray and hope they both have peace in this moment.
Posted by: Joe | October 23, 2008 8:40 AM
If there's no time to spare, why isn't he there already? If it were truly critical, if politics weren't entering into this, he'd have been on the first plane out.
What he's really doing (beyond going to see his grandmother, which I believe he wants to do and is committed to doing) is milking this for political advantage, first. Now we all get to hear, once again, about his humble beginnings. And by the way, a grandmother who is a bank VP -- makes a whole lot more money than most of us, so spare me the humble beginnings bit.
He gets all this positive press, several days worth. No time to spare my foot.
Posted by: Liz | October 23, 2008 8:56 AM
Liz...I guess if you want to get into the families of the candidates...maybe Palin ought to take some time off to guide Bristol and her boyfriend who has now quit school. Maybe she can use her time to try and explain to a drop out that that is not the way to be a father to a new born. Of course he could be a plumber and make like 250K a year.
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | October 23, 2008 9:19 AM
Everything Obama handles, he does it with intelligence and grace. He is a first-class human being, and it would be wonderful to have him as our president. Godspeed to you, Barack Obama.
Posted by: Tom | October 23, 2008 11:10 AM
Then, there are those that have the mentality of a rock and just take cheap shots, when ever they can !! No subject is sacred, for them to use, to further a mindless, heartless agenda, such as the Bush-McCain Republican agenda, the ticket to Nowhere !!
Continue to spew your ineffectual venom, America is watching, just as they were watching when Rep. Bachmann of Minnesota, spewed her slime !! Look what it resulted in, possibly, a lost election. I hope the same will happen to those who don't have the class, nor the intelligence, to know when it's time to lighten up, on the political rhetoric, when a family member, of one of the contestant's, is in the last stages of their life. What a bunch of rummies these Republicans turned out to be !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | October 23, 2008 11:18 AM
Been there, done that, for my mother. I was in time, but it was measured in hours. I hope he's in time, because otherwise you kick yourself even when you couldn't possibly have been earlier.
Posted by: P J Evans | October 23, 2008 11:35 AM
I think Obama has been totally appropriate in explaining his decision to leave the trail for two days. He has to explain --- after all, he has had to cancel some campaign events --- and he hasn't talked about it more than he should. He certainly hasn't shown off his family as Palin has her family.
Posted by: teddymaniac | October 23, 2008 11:47 AM
reply to Liz: Don't try to tie Barack in with GOP tactics!! You can see that he's worried and sick about it. The only people that pull political stunts are McFailin'! I am so sick and tired of The RepubliCONS doing him the way they have!! Get over it!! There will be Real Change this year!!! BARACK The VOTE!!!!!
Posted by: Terrence J. Scott | October 23, 2008 12:34 PM
Right On Barak! Grandma was there for you all your life, and I both know and understand where you are coming from. If you do not have humanity and that feeling for those closest to you, how could you ever have it for those whom you don't even know?
I would give my life for my mother, and in fact I am away from my family providing care for Mom. My wife and family totally understand and are behind me completely. There are debts in this life that require payment and taking care of those who raised and succored you is to this old chief, one of the finest attributes that any person can have.
Bravo Zulu Barak! You have my lifelong vote of confidance. May you be in time, and may you find both joy and even more wisdom from the grand dame that raised you.
Just this old chief's 2ยข
Posted by: maheanuu | October 23, 2008 12:37 PM
My mother died last week after five months in a Florida hospice; she wasn't supposed to last 72 hours. And when she seemed ready to go, and the staff told us to gather the family, she rallied because her kids were around her. Then she passed away after my sister and I had to fly back to our respective families in Illinois and Michigan.
Such things are notoriously difficult to predict. What I infer about Barack's grandmother's condition is that she's not expected to live past election day, when he might have more time to spend with her, so he's going to her now. Anyone who questions his devotion to his grandmother based on this decision is probably fortunate, never having had to walk a mile in his shoes. The same is true for those who accuse him of exploiting the situation for political gain, sad as that is.
May Sen. Obama and his family have the strength they'll need.
Posted by: Eric | October 23, 2008 12:48 PM
Thanks for this great, candid interview. I've been hoping to see Obama president since 2004 when he first gave that amazing speech at the DNC. He's the best all-around candidate for president the US has had since Kennedy, perhaps better.
Posted by: Leila | October 23, 2008 1:04 PM
Liz...I couldn't have said it better myself! I have been thinking the exact same thing! It seems suspicious to me that we heard about Grandma earlier in the week but B.O. has waited until Thursday afternoon to fly to Hawaii.
However, I do wish Mrs. Dunhum the best and I hope she makes a full recovery.
Posted by: AC | October 23, 2008 2:02 PM
I am praying for Senator Obama and for his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. She raised a beautiful, brilliant person, who will very likely be our next president, and I wish her the very best, just as I wish him peace and the opportunity to spend time with her, as much time as they both need. God bless you, Senator Obama, and Mrs. Dunham, and thank God for both of you.
Posted by: Audrey Carleton | October 23, 2008 2:10 PM
Liz, above, criticizes Obama, saying that if his grandmother were really in bad shape, Obama would've left two days ago. But here's how it is. This came out of the blue. Taking time off between now and the election would only get tougher. There are a lot of people involved in this and a lot of commitments. No one is saying his grandmother is on a ventilator being read her last rites. She's back home. But if Obama doesn't go now, when could he go? November 5 might be too late.
Posted by: David | October 23, 2008 2:57 PM
Thoughts and prayers go out to Madelyn Dunham, Sen. Obama and his family.
Politics should not come into this discussion at all. It's crass and small-minded to go there.
Posted by: Kris | October 23, 2008 3:08 PM
prayers with Obama's family. I hope that she makes it to November 5th to see the man she helped raise become the President of the United States. He is being a good son and all the creeps who make snide remarks about this must be "theJudeo- Christians"? Yikes--really shows where people's minds are.
Posted by: Janie | October 23, 2008 8:52 PM
I am happy that he cares about his family, that speaks multitudes for him as a person, especially since no one really knows how much longer she will last.
My thoughts and prayers for "Toots".
Posted by: Jos | October 24, 2008 9:03 AM
If his grandmother was so important to him why isn't she living with him? Instead she is living alone in a modest apartment in Hawaii.
Posted by: Dusty | October 26, 2008 1:43 PM