Senator Barack Obama was interviewed by David Gregory on MSNBC this morning. Transcript follows (apologies in advance for the bad formatting…

DAVID GREGORY: Coming up a little bit later Jerry Seinfeld and Chris
Rock from Cannes, France. But we’re very pleased right now to have
Senator Barack Obama, candidate for president of the United States and
the senator from Illinois, joining us by phone.

Senator Obama, good morning.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: David, I’m a poor substitute for Chris Rock and Jerry
Seinfeld from Cannes.

(LAUGHTER)

GREGORY: Well, I think you might have some good material here
this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

You never know how this might go.

I want to ask them about you, actually, and see if they have got
good material.

OBAMA: Absolutely.

GREGORY: How are you doing?

OBAMA: I’m doing fine, thanks.

GREGORY: How is the campaign trail?

OBAMA: Campaign is just wonderful. We are traveling all across
the country and been getting a terrific response. And I haven’t been
home enough so I’m missing my kids. But other than that, it’s been
great.

GREGORY: Where are you in this campaign right now? I mean,
you’ve had great media attention, great enthusiasm and crowds and
people showering you with money, and yet at the same time, do you feel
like you’re riding this wave as a phenomenon and you’ve got to — that
there’s a pivot point that you’ve got to take now, that people expect
you to make a pivot?

OBAMA: Well, look, I think there’s no doubt that, after a huge
surge of excitement, we’re now into the heart of the campaign where
you have to grind it out a little bit.

And I think that people seem to be very responsive to the broader
themes of my campaign. I think they believe that we need to bring the
country together and get past some of the traditional divisions. I
think they believe that we have to aspire to a higher vision of where
America can be. And recognize that we’ve got a series of challenges
on health care and energy and foreign policy that can’t be put aside;
we’ve got to address them now.

I think that what people are going to be examining, though, is
since I am new on the national scene, I think they’ll look more
closely at my policy proposals. They want to open the hood and kick
the tires. You know, they want to have confidence that I can perform
effectively as president and commander in chief. And so there’s going
to be a vetting process that takes place over the next several months.
And that’s something that I’m looking forward to, because I think
that this is a pretty important job that we’re applying for, and the
American people have the right to really get detailed knowledge of
what we intend to do with the office.

GREGORY: Let me ask you about the war in Iraq and your support,
as I understand it, of a bill that failed in the Senate to cut off
funding for the war by March 31st of next year.

If you think that kind of step is necessary, then why not take it
now? Where’s the urgency?

OBAMA: Well, keep in mind that I am somebody who’s opposed this
war from the start. Six months before the president launched it, I
said this would be a mistake and I have been consistent in that
opposition.

My view has always been that we need to be as careful getting out
as we were careless getting in; that we have responsibilities to our
troops as well as national security interests in the region.

So what I did is, in January I introduced a bill that said we
would begin a phased redeployment out of Iraq starting last week, the
1st of May, and would have our combat troops out by March 31st of next
year. The Democrats in the House and the Senate passed a very similar
bill. That’s the bill that the president vetoed.

And so, we are now at an impasse where it’s important I think to
build additional support for that responsible end to our combat
engagement in Iraq.

The vote that we had this week was largely symbolic because
nobody anticipated that we would have the votes. But I thought it was
important to send a signal to the president that we are not going to
be there in perpetuity. And if I’m given a choice between continuing
on the same disastrous path that we’re on right now and bringing this
war to an abrupt end, I’ll be forced to choose the latter, but my
preference would be that we can put together a bipartisan consensus
that starts bringing our troops home, but also says to the Iraqi
people, “We want to be a partner with you in stabilizing the country,
but we can’t do it militarily; you’re going to have to arrive at some
political accommodations.”

GREGORY: Bill Clinton has been interviewed the last couple of
days about his global warming initiative. And one of the things he
said last night is that there really isn’t any difference between you
and Senator Clinton in terms of your voting records on Iraq. Do you
think that’s about right?

OBAMA: Well, I suppose that’s true if you leave out the fact
that she authorized it and supported it and I said it was a bad idea.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, that’s a fairly major difference.

GREGORY: And to you, I gather, this becomes a fundamental
question of judgment, does it not?
OBAMA: Well, it does. I mean, I think that — I think very
highly of Senator Clinton, I think she is a wonderful senator from New
York. But — and I think very highly of Bill Clinton. But I think
that it is fair to say that we had a fundamentally different opinion
on the wisdom of this war. And I don’t think we can revise history
when it comes to that.

GREGORY: Is it your feeling that, as part of the rational for
your candidacy, that as prepared and proficient and as much of a force
as Senator Clinton is, that when you think about Hillary Clinton and
Bill Clinton, when people go into the voting booth they’re going to
pause and say, “Do we want all of this again?”

OBAMA: No, look, I’m not running against Senator Clinton. We’re
all on the same team, we’re just trying out for quarterback.

GREGORY: Well, nobody’s really going to believe you’re not
running against Senator Clinton, Senator.

OBAMA: No. What I’m saying, David, is my understanding at least
is that there are a number of other pretty capable candidates out
there who are all running. And all of them bring strengths and all of
them have some weaknesses and that includes myself.

The rational for me running is because I think I have the
potential — it’s not a certainty but there’s a potential — of being
able to bring new people into the process, reach beyond some of the
ideological divisions that we’ve had over the last several years and
maybe shape a consensus to actually move the country forward, rather
than just win an election. And that’s something that I’m very
interested in doing.

On an issue like health care, for example, we’re going to need 60
percent of the country to agree to something to actually get it done.
And I think that I may be able to get more people moving in the same
direction than some of my competitors. And that’s the reason I’m
running.

GREGORY: Senator, we’ve been talked a little bit this morning
about — you know, I’m staying here in New York and supposed to get a
wakeup call at 3:45 a.m. and I got it at 3:00 and it rally, kind of,
threw me, it, kind of, irritated me this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

And I know that’s important. But I’m just wondering, you know,
you’re out there traveling the country and your wife, Michelle, speaks
rather, you know, candidly about you and about herself and about the
family. So are you high maintenance at all when you go around the
country? Is there anything that really, kind of, irritates you on the
campaign trail?

(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Well, I’m not a morning guy, so it’s a testimony to your
persuasiveness that I’m on this early in the morning.

GREGORY: Well, I do appreciate that.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Look, the thing that is tough is your kids. I mean, I’ve
got two daughters, 8 and 5, and I don’t see them enough. And I
grumble to my staff when I’m not touching base at home.

Now, the summer’s coming up, which means they’re going to be able
to do a little traveling with us.

But that’s a very difficult thing. And I think that anybody who
decides to do this has to feel that they’ve got something to offer
because the sacrifices with respect to family life are very great.

GREGORY: But you might grumble a little bit if you don’t get a
daily phone call with them?

OBAMA: Oh, well, I always get the phone call, no matter what.

Now, they done always pay me as much attention as I want. You
know, they’re having fun and on a play date and doing stuff, and so
sometimes I just get the executive summary of their day. They said,
“Everything’s fine. Do you want to talk to mommy?”

(LAUGHTER)

LESLIE GOLD: David, could I jump in and ask the senator…

GREGORY: Leslie Gold is here as well.

Yes, go ahead, Leslie, real quick.

GOLD: Senator Obama, I have a question for you.

OBAMA: Go ahead.

GOLD: You mentioned that you were new on the national scene.
And I learned about you for the first time as just regular layman
voter when you appeared on “Oprah.”

OBAMA: There you go.

GOLD: Right.

And I wonder how important the Oprah factor is for you or was in
increasing your recognition and broadening your appeal and would you
consider making her your running mate?

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I think Oprah is far more powerful than a vice president.

(LAUGHTER)

So I think that would be a demotion for her.

(LAUGHTER)

She’s a terrific friend. You know, we’ve gotten to know each
other over the last couple of years, I’m very proud that she is
supporting my campaign.

I don’t think that there’s any single individual or factor that’s
going to make a difference in this campaign because, you know, the
job’s so important. And I think that the country understands we’re at
a critical moment in history. So, you know, they may like me a lot as
a consequence of me appearing on “Oprah.” But they’re not going to
elect me president just for that. They’re going to elect me president
because they think I can do something about the health care crisis,
that I’m going to have an agenda for energy, that I can make us more
safe and secure in the world. Those are going to be the reasons that
people make a decision to vote for me.

GREGORY: I know you have to go, Senator.

I do want to end on this, though, because it’s been a story over
the past couple of weeks: the fact that you did get Secret Service
protection after it appeared like there were some specific threats.
It is unusual on the campaign trail at this stage for that to happen.

Are these race-based threats that you’re dealing with? Is there
a uniqueness to what you’re dealing with on the campaign trail?

OBAMA: I don’t want to go into the details of it.

Sure, there are race-based threats that take place. They tend to
be general, you know. And it’s just, sort of, par for the course.

I think that, you know, security is a concern for any candidate
who’s running for president. I’m grateful that Secret Service has
been provided. It is probably the hardest thing for me to get used to
of anything that I have done so far during the course of campaign,
just because I’m not a big entourage kind of guy. When you’ve got a
bunch of folks around you, and you can’t just jump in the car and grow
to the grocery store to pick up, you know, some stuff for your wife,
then that’s a profound change.

But it’s part of process. It’s something that I’m getting
adjusted to. And I’m certainly glad that these guys are around
because they’re very professional, they do a terrific job.

GREGORY: Just on a sightly lighter note here, when you’re out on
the campaign trail, you mentioned you’re not a big entourage guy. Do
you like the “Sopranos” at all? Have you been watching that?

(LAUGHTER)

I know that’s not what you were (inaudible).

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: You know, I can’t wait for the last three episodes.

GREGORY: Really?

OBAMA: And the nice thing about the “Sopranos” and “Entourage”
is they keep on replaying it all through the week. I’m never in one
place at any given time, but usually I’m hopefully back in had a hotel
room by 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock. And if I have a chance to catch
these last three episodes, I’m looking forward to it.

GREGORY: You know, the other thing you might think about, if you
already haven’t, I do this with my Mac, you know, with my laptop, and
I’ve got the little camera in there and I actually videoconference…

OBAMA: Just bought one.

GREGORY: … with the kids at home.

OBAMA: We just bought one because the technology is so terrific
and it’s so easy to set up. So that’s something that I’m really
looking forward to implementing.

GREGORY: Because I know the kids don’t really get to see you on
TV very much.

(LAUGHTER)

So that would be, kind of, an upside for them.

OBAMA: Well, you know what? I not made an appearance on
Nickelodeon yet.

(LAUGHTER)

GREGORY: That’s right, so you’re a nobody.

OBAMA: I’m sure at some point it may be happening.

GREGORY: Senator, I don’t want to take too much of your time
because I want to interview you at other times in the future and I
really appreciate you getting up.

OBAMA: Thank you so much.