by John McCormick
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PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – As Sen. Barack Obama arrived here during the middle of the night – roughly 4:30 a.m. local time — he did so with what he said was a sense of pride in his victory in the Iowa caucuses and what it might mean for the rest of the nation.
Shortly after boarding a chartered aircraft in Des Moines, Iowa, Obama spoke with reporters for four minutes, before he excused himself to go sleep.
“Alright everybody. It is good to see you,” he said. “We had a good night. My throat is hoarse, but my spirits are good.”
Asked whether he was surprised by his relatively wide margin of victory, Obama said he was more proud about what he thought it showed about America. He called the win a “harbinger of what’s going to happen around the country.”
Obama suggested that he had a sense during the last two weeks in Iowa that things might break his way.
“We felt good for the last two weeks because we were so proud of what was happening on the ground,” he said. “We were seeing the crowds, and so regardless of how the numbers played out exactly, we were really confident about us having changed how politics operated in this caucus. And it makes me very optimistic about the country. I think we can do it for the country as a whole.”
Obama demurred when asked what his win means for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
“I don’t want to get into the prognosticating,” he said. “That’s your job. But I want to say thank you to the people of Iowa because I think they sparked a potential movement for change in the country that will be inspiring for a lot of people.”
As the questions kept coming, Obama said he needed some rest.
“That wasn’t bad guys,” he said. “Alright, let me go to sleep.”
The full transcript from the exchange in row 7 of the DC-9 is posted below the jump.
Obama spoke to reporters for four minutes, shortly after boarding the plane.
“Alright everybody. It is good to see you. We had a good night. My throat is hoarse, but my spirits are good.”
Reporter: Are you surprised by the margin? It was quite a few points.
“You know, what I’ll tell you is that, that what I was so pleased with was not just the fact that we won, or the raw numbers, but what it showed about the country. You know, I think it’s fair to say that there were some who were skeptical that young people would come out, that independents and Republicans would be voting Democratic in a caucus — caucusing in a Democratic caucus – that we would see the kind of boost in turnout that we had anticipated. And, um, and so it really was a victory for the people of Iowa that I think it’s a harbinger of what’s going to happen around the country. We went to a precinct, and … just shook hands as people were walking in, and, you know, you had high school kids who came out, you had middle-aged folks who said they’d never caucused before who said they were coming out to caucus for me. You had, ah, folks who said I’m switching, you know, my party registration to come out to caucus. And we saw that in precincts across the board and I just, I really think that, the country is interested in, um, not just change in the abstract, but a … kind of change which involves them getting involved, paying attention, holding their elected officials accountable, um, demanding straight talk, ah, wanting us to solve problems, and so, you know, so, so, that was reflected, I think, in the results. And when you go through raw numbers tomorrow, I think you’ll see that. And I’m just very happy about that. That makes me feel good.”
Reporter: Senator, how is the race different now?
“Um, we won the first caucus, so….”
Reporter: Something about changing anything in campaign (couldn’t hear on tape)?
“No. It’s not broken. Why fix it?”
Reporter: What message does it send to John Edwards and Hillary Clinton?
“I don’t want to get into the prognosticating. That’s your job. But I want to say thank you to the people of Iowa because I think they sparked a potential movement for change in the country that will be inspiring for a lot of people.”
Reporter: Would you describe personally, I mean this has been such a long campaign. Your wife said no win here, it would just be a dream. Can you just describe that moment when it first sunk into you and your family that you won the first bout?
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“We felt good for the last two weeks because we were so proud of what was happening on the ground. We were seeing the crowds, and so regardless of how the numbers played out exactly, we were really confident about us having changed how politics operated in this caucus. And it makes me very optimistic about the country. I think we can do it for the country as a whole.”
Reporters: Many asking questions at the same time.
“That wasn’t bad guys. Alright, let me go to sleep.”
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Have questions about the results of last night’s Iowa caucuses, what’s next in the race for the White House or anything related to Election 2008? E-mail them to us and we’ll answer as many as possible during our video chat scheduled for 12:30 pm central time Friday.