Barack Obama: 9/11 fever has broken

OBAMA:  Well, look, I think it’s been a little overdone, and, you know, as a friend of mine put it, it’s a high-class problem to have, so I don’t—you know, I don’t want to, you know, cry poor about the thing.

FREE VIDEO Can Obama live up to the hype? Oct. 20: “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann talks to Sen. Barack Obama about his political future. Countdown

But, look, I’ve been very fortunate.  And some of it has to do with timing and luck, some of it has to do with what I hope the tone and the kind of message that I’ve been delivering in politics.

I think it connects with a real hunger generally in the population for a different kind of politics.  I’m in Boston right now, and you’re seeing Deval Patrick, who nobody gave a chance of winning the Democratic nomination to be governor here in Massachusetts, with a 20-point lead over his Republican challenger, despite having been victim to withering ads, because he projects a message of hope rather than fear.

And, you know, I think you’re seeing that in candidates all across the country.  I might just be somebody who maybe came to the public’s notice a couple of years ahead of the curve.

OLBERMANN:  You’ve been on this book tour just long enough that to ask whether or not you would run in 2008 for the Democratic nomination would be pure folly.  But what might be of interest to me or to the viewers here, given the legacy that the next president of the United States, whoever he is, whatever party he’s from, or she’s from, from the Bush administration, the legacy that that person inherits, why in the world would you or anyone want that job?

OBAMA:  It—listen, it’s a good question, because we’re going to have some serious problems.  There’s no easy answer in Iraq.  I think there are bad options and worse options.  And I’ve called for a phased withdrawal starting as soon as possible, and to send a message to the Iraqis, as well as the regional powers, including Iran and Syria, that they have to take some ownership for creating some stability there.

We’ve got a deficit that’s going to make it difficult for us to move forward aggressively on some of the issues that we face on health care and energy and education.  Some of what we’re going to have to do is just dig ourselves out of the hole.

On the other hand, I think any of us who go into politics and public service hopefully think that somehow we can be useful, and that even if there are some challenging situations out there, that we can apply some pragmatic, practical, commonsense solutions to these problems.  And that’s a lot what—of what the book is about, is that if we start recognizing some of the common values and ideals that we have as a country, and get beyond ideology to think in terms of what works, that we can’t solve every problem overnight, but we can make progress.

And I think the American people would appreciate at least some progress in some of these vital issues.

OLBERMANN:  Do you have a criteria or a set of criteria or a process in place for your own thinking on this, your own decision making regarding 2008?

OBAMA:  You know, a lot of this has happened very quickly.  I’m focused on 2006.  We’ve got three weeks—less than three weeks now for what’s going to be, I think, the most important congressional races, the most important midterm election that we’ve seen in a very long time.

And so that’s my entire focus.  After the election, I’m going to sit down and take a deep breath and take a look at what’s going on and figure out how I can be useful, both in my current job and whatever plans I may have for the future.

OLBERMANN:  Yes, I didn’t ask what it was.  I just wondered if there was one.

OK, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, author of “The Audacity of Hope,” which is just wiping the floor with my book.  Thanks a lot for that, but great thanks for joining us tonight, sir.

OBAMA:  Who are you plugging in the Series?

OLBERMANN:  I picked the Tigers as from the start of spring training as the underdog team of the year and the wildcard team, so I have to stick with them, I think.  And yourself?

OBAMA:  Same thing.

OLBERMANN:  OK, we’ll see how it turns out.

OBAMA:  All right.  Talk to you soon.

OLBERMANN:   Thank you, sir.

OBAMA:  Thank you.

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