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  • >> DRUMMOND: Another great day at Google. So I want to welcome everybody to the latest

  • installment of Candidates at Google. For those of you who don't know me, I'm David Drummond,

  • Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, the company's Chief Legal Officer. I'm very

  • pleased and distinctly honored here to welcome back to Google Senator Barack Obama. I say

  • welcome back because for those of you who were around in the summer of 2004, you may

  • remember at TGIF in which I joined Larry and Sergey on this stage and introduced to the

  • assembled Googlers then senate candidate Obama. And Barack had been in the Bay Area and he

  • wanted to come down and see what we were up to here at Google, see what this Google thing

  • was all about. And he had a great visit. He came and did the tour. He saw the GeoDisplay,

  • the Search Traffic, and he saw the servers, and everything we had at Google. We sat down

  • with Larry and Sergey. We had a great talk about innovation, about policy, and he later

  • wrote about that in his book, The Audacity of Hope. And I know all of you have a copy

  • of that. And all in all a great visit. And, you know, while it was a fantastic visit,

  • I now realized that we made a grave error that day at TGI, we didn't let him speak.

  • So, ladies and gentlemen, today, we are going to rectify that error. We are thrilled that

  • Senator Obama has chosen Google to unveil his innovation agenda. And you're going to

  • hear that today and we're very, very excited about what that means for the country and

  • I think you will be too. Following that, Eric's going to come up on the stage and do a Q&A

  • with Senator Obama. And following that, you'll have your chance to ask your question. So,

  • without anything further, please join me in giving an enormous Google welcome back to

  • Senator Barack Obama. Thanks. >> OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,

  • every body. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. What a--what a wonderful reception.

  • I am so grateful to all of you for showing such interest in taking the time to be here

  • today. I want to thank Larry and Sergey and Eric and, obviously, David for helping to

  • set this up. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their leadership and their friendship.

  • And I also want to acknowledge state Senator Elaine Alquist who is here. This is her district,

  • and since I used to be a state senator I always want to give her, her props, so it's wonderful

  • to see her as well. So, thank you. Well, it is wonderful to be back. As David said I was

  • here about 3 years ago and had just a wonderful visit. It was such a striking visit for me.

  • It made such an impression that I ended up writing about it in my book. And so it's always

  • good to be back in Mountain View and it's good to see that Google is maintaining its

  • strict dress code.

  • When you stop to think about it, there is something improbable about this gathering.

  • After all it wasn't much more than a decade ago that Larry and Sergey got together in

  • a dorm room as graduate students, with a big idea to organize all of the world's information

  • into an accessible form. And at that time, I was an Illinois state senator doing my best

  • to help people get a better shot at their dreams. What we shared is a belief in changing

  • the world from the bottom-up, not the top-down. That a bunch of--that ordinary people can

  • do extraordinary things. We shared that. We also shared a bunch of student loans that

  • still needed to be paid off. And you would have found it hard to predict that Larry and

  • Sergey would now be the co-founders of one of the most successful companies in recent

  • history and that I would be standing on this stage today as a candidate for president of

  • the United States. But this is where improbable journeys have led. This is where the moment

  • finds us. And I'd like to say a few words about what I believe we have to do together,

  • to seize this moment with a sense of purpose and a sense of urgency. We know how the first

  • chapters of the Google story have turned out. After all, all of you have good jobs. But

  • we also know that the Google story is more than just being about the bottom line. It's

  • about seeing what we can accomplish when we believe in things that are unseen, when we

  • take the measure of our changing times and we take action to shape them. And that's why

  • we're here today, that's why many of you decided to work here instead of someplace else. Technology

  • and innovation have reshaped our economy and our lives at breathtaking speed. America's

  • been fighting to figure out how to tap this awesome new resource that we have, and Google

  • has helped to show us the way. But the story is far from over. Google’s story is far

  • from over. The story of how we shaped our changing times is far from over. What comes

  • next depends on the choices that we make right now, at this moment, in this election. We

  • could see the spirit of innovation that started this company be stifled. We could see the

  • internet divided up to the highest bidders. We could see a government that uses technology

  • to shut people out, instead of letting them in. Tax break shuffled to special interests

  • while the next start-up, the next Google can't get a fair shot. Challenges like healthcare

  • and energy that hold our country back while competition from other nations picks up. That's

  • one alternative. Another alternative is for us to unlock a new future of opportunity.

  • Together we could open up the government and invite all citizens in while connecting all

  • of America to 21st century Broadband. We could use technology to help achieve universal healthcare,

  • to reach for a clean energy future, and to ensure that young Americans can compete and

  • win in the global economy. If America recommits itself to science and innovation, then we

  • can lead the world to a new future of productivity and prosperity. That's what we can do if we

  • seize this moment. That's the choice we face. And as president, I intend to work with you

  • to write the next chapter in the story of American innovation. That's part of the reason

  • why I'm running for president of the United States. To seize this moment, we have to ensure

  • free and full exchange of information, and that starts with an open internet. I will

  • take--I

  • will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality, because once providers

  • start to privilege some applications or websites over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed

  • out and we all lose. The internet is perhaps the most open network in history and we have

  • to keep it that way. To seize this moment, we have to connect all of America to 21st

  • century infrastructure. As president, I will set a goal of ensuring that every American

  • has Broadband access, no matter where you live, no matter how much money you have or

  • don't have. We will raise the standards for Broadband speed. We will connect schools and

  • libraries and hospitals. And well take on the special interest so that we can finally

  • unleash the power of wireless spectrum for our safety, our security, and our connectivity.

  • To seize this moment, we have to use technology to open up our democracy. It's no coincidence

  • that one of the most secretive administrations in our history, has favored special interests

  • and pursued policies that could not stand up to the sunlight. As president, I'm going

  • to change that. We will put government data online in universally accessible formats.

  • I'll let citizens--I'll let citizens check federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and lobbying

  • contracts. I'll let you participate in government forums, ask questions in real time, offer

  • suggestions that will be reviewed before decisions are made, and let you comment on legislation

  • before it is signed. And to ensure that every government agency is meeting 21st century

  • standards, I will appoint the nation's first chief technology officer to coordinate and

  • make certain that we are always at the forefront of technology and that we are incorporating

  • it into every decision that we make. And if you want to know how I'll govern, just look

  • at our campaign. Weve received over 370,000 donations online, half of which have been

  • under $25. Nearly 300,000 Americans have their own accounts on BarackObama.com. Theyve

  • createdtheyve created thousands of grassroots groups. They've offered up over 15,000 policy

  • ideas, because we believe the real change can only come from the bottom-up, and technology

  • empowers people to come together to make that change. Because at this moment, I think we

  • have to do more than to get our house in order, the opportunity in front of us is bigger than

  • that. Seizing this opportunity is going to depend on more than what the government does

  • or even what the technology sector does. It's going to depend on how together we harness

  • technology to confront the biggest challenges that America faces. Just imagine what we could

  • do. If we commit ourselves to electronic medical records, then we can lift up the quality of

  • healthcare and reduce error and dramatically lower costs. If we take on--if we take on

  • special interests and make aggressive investments and clean a renewable energy like Google has

  • done with solar here in Mountainview, that we can end our addiction to ore, create millions

  • of jobs and save the planet in the bargain. If we make technological literacy a fundamental

  • part of education then we can give our children the skills they need to compete and ensure

  • the next generation of scientists and engineers as being educated right here in America. We

  • can do this, but we can't wait because Silicon Valley is not the only corner of innovation

  • in the world. If America doesn't seize this moment, then we will face only more competition

  • from Dubai and Dublin, from Shanghai and Mumbai. So, instead of George Bush's policy of undermining

  • science, I intend to double federal funding for basic research and make the R&D tax credit

  • permanent. To keep--to keep the door open for the next generation of start-ups, I'll

  • enforce tough anti-trust laws, and to ensure that America continues to track the world's

  • best and brightest, we need comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens permanent

  • resident visas like the H-1B program. We need to make sure that the next success story,

  • the next Google, happens here in America. The Google stories about what can be achieved

  • when we cultivate new ideas and keep the playing field level for new businesses. But it's also

  • about not settling for what we've already achieved, it's about constantly raising the

  • bar so that we're more competitive. And so we use technology to reach ever expanding

  • horizons. You know, the first time I was back here in 2004, Larry showed me the image that

  • tracks all the internet searches taking place in the world. I wrote about this in my book.

  • And I saw the earth rotating on a flat panel monitor with the different lights for different

  • languages marking all the traffic on this wondrous network, the network that didn't

  • even exist when almost all of us here were born, almost. But what struck me wasn't the

  • light on that globe; it was the darkness. Most of Africa, chunks of Asia, even parts

  • of the United States, the disconnected corners of our interconnected world where the promise

  • of the 21st century is being eclipsed by peril. You and I must not settle for anything less

  • than an America that replaces that darkness with a new light, because the promise and

  • prosperity of the new economy must not be the property of the few. It must be a force

  • that lifts up our entire country and ultimately lifts up the entire world. We have the privilege to live in a transformational

  • moment, a moment when an idea can change the world, a moment when technology empowers us

  • to come together as never before while letting each of us reach for our own individual dreams,

  • a moment when we can finally progress and move beyond the huge challenges that have

  • stood in the way of progress for far too long. We cannot and we must not look back and regret

  • that we settled for anything less. And that's why I'm asking you to join me in seizing this

  • moment, I'm asking you to join me in changing the world. Thank you very much everybody.

  • Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Eric, come on up. Thank you.

  • >> SCHMIDT: Brilliant. Brilliant. >> OBAMA: Thank you so much.

  • >> SCHMIDT: Thank--thank you, Senator, for such a strong message about innovation.

  • >> OBAMA: Thank you. >> SCHMIDT: Senator Obama, the product of

  • a Kansas mother and a father from Kenya, born in Hawaii; your history, of course, Columbia,

  • Harvard, state senator, now, senator running for president, welcome to Google.

  • >> OBAMA: Thank you so much. Thank you. >> SCHMIDT: When you see yourself in the presidency

  • in 2008, 2009, and for many years, what is it that you're going to do that's exceptional?

  • What is your fundamental reason why you think this company--this country, excuse me, is

  • going to be--is going to be a great country? And by the way...

  • >> OBAMA: Is this the kind of interview that you guys want too?

  • >> SCHMIDT: And your book is really extraordinary, its title is The Audacity of Hope.

  • >> OBAMA: Yeah. Well, Eric, first of all, thanks, thanks for letting me be here, and

  • the reason that book is called The Audacity of Hope is it captures an idea that got me

  • into politics in the first place, which is that part of what has been great about America

  • is there’s a certain audacious quality, this belief that this ragtag bunch of revolutionaries

  • can overthrow the greatest empire on earth, start a government that we've never seen operate

  • before, spread across the continent, create the greatest economy and the greatest democracy

  • in our history, and then overcome barriers, both internal and external that would prevent

  • us from making progress. There's a certain confidence and boldness to the idea of America.

  • And the reason I'm running for president right now, because oftentimes people ask me, "Why

  • now?" You know, if I waited 10 years, I'd be still younger than most of the other candidates,

  • that's true. It is because I think we are at a defining moment in our history, our nation

  • is at war, the planet is in peril, ordinary Americans are working harder for less. They

  • feel as if the dream that generations fought for is slowly slipping away. There are costs

  • for everything, from healthcare to college have gone up. They're finding it more difficult

  • to save, difficult to retire, and they don't feel as if anybody in Washington is listening

  • to them. And when I made the decision, I sat down with my wife, and I asked myself three

  • questions: One, could my family survive the rigors of presidential campaign? And because

  • my wife is exceptional and my children are above average, we figured we could do it,

  • and theyve been great. That's also true. The second question we asked was, "Could we

  • win?" And we determined that we could. But the third question was, I asked myself the

  • question you asked, because I think so much is at stake right now that running for president

  • can't be about just ambition this time, there's got to be a rationale. And what I concluded

  • is this; I believe I can more effectively bring this country together to solve problems

  • than on the other candidate. And, yeah, we have seen a gridlock where 45% of the country

  • is on one side, 45% of the country is on the other, we've got 10% in the middle, they all

  • live in Ohio and Florida apparently, and so, political contest just become beating down

  • the other side and eking out of victory one way or the other, but you can't govern. And

  • the problems we face, whether it's climate change or healthcare or our standing in the

  • world are so enormous that we have to govern, we have to make good decisions, so that's

  • number one. Number two, is I--I have taken on the special interest in the past and of

  • one and I've got an instinct of bias to push against the status quo, which I think is really

  • needed right now because Washington has become captive of special interest that are making

  • decisions not based on reason, not based on competition, not based on innovation, but

  • all too often based on who's got the most juice, who's got the most clout, and that

  • has to change. And the third--the third thing and this is the last thing is--you mentioned

  • in my background--I was shaped by a new global perspective. I grew up in Hawaii. I lived

  • in Indonesia. I have family all around the globe. And the damage that's been done over

  • the last seven years and outstanding in the world is so significant that we have to have

  • the next president engage in a level of personal presidential diplomacy that I think is unmatched

  • at least since World War II. And I believe that the day I'm inaugurated, the--not only

  • does the country look at itself differently but the world looks at America differently.

  • And I'm able to go to Africa and speak to them about development and problems of corruption

  • and our obligations towards that continent, and I could say--I've got a grandmother in

  • a small African village without electricity or running water. So I have a little credibility

  • that no other president could match. If I go to a Muslim leader, I can speak to them

  • and I can say, "I am a Christian but I live in the country with the largest Muslim population

  • in the world. And so, I don't assume a clash of civilizations. I think that there's something

  • we have in common that we can potentially build on. And I have a level of credibility

  • that no other president has. That I think is what's going to be necessary to lead us

  • out of the problems that we're in right now. >> SCHMIDT: You know--well. Now, Senator,

  • you're here at Google and I like to think of the presidency as a job interview. Now,

  • it's hard to get a job... >> OBAMA: Right.

  • >> SCHMIDT: As president... >> OBAMA: Right.

  • >> SCHMIDT: And--I mean, you're going to do a great job. It's also hard to get a job at

  • Google. >> OBAMA: Right.

  • >> SCHMIDT: We have questions and we ask our candidates questions. And this one is from

  • Larry Schwimmer. >> OBAMA: Okay.

  • >> SCHMIDT: What--you guys think I'm kidding, it's right here. What is the most efficient

  • way to sort a million 32-bit integers? >> OBAMA: Well...

  • >> SCHMIDT: Maybe--I'm sorry... >> OBAMA: No, no, no, no. I think--I think

  • the bubble sort would be the wrong way to go.

  • >> SCHMIDT: Come on. Who told him this? Okay. I didn't see computer science in your background.

  • >> OBAMA: We've got our spies in there. >> SCHMIDT: Well, why not--okay, let's ask

  • a different interview question. Well, obviously, more serious. You're notable in this campaign

  • for your steadfast opposition to the Iraq War.

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> SCHMIDT: On the assumption that you're

  • elected president on day one, you'll walk in...

  • >> OBAMA: Yeah. >> SCHMIDT: And the war will probably still

  • be on. >> OBAMA: Yeah.

  • >> SCHMIDT: And we know your view that the war was a mistake.

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> SCHMIDT: But here it is, you're at the

  • desk, what are you going to do? >> OBAMA: We will call in--I will call in

  • the Joint Chief of Staff, my Secretary Of State Nominee, my National Security Advisor

  • Nominee, and they will have a new mission, which is to end this war. And it appears based

  • on the advice that I've gotten from military commanders that we can safely bring out one

  • to two brigades per month. At that phase, we will have our combat troops out in sixteen

  • months. The only mission--we will not have permanent basis in Iraq and we will not have

  • combat operations in Iraq. The only mission that I will allow will be to protect our embassy

  • and our civilian personnel, diplomats, humanitarian workers and we will have a narrowly targeted

  • mission of if there are terrorist camps that are amassing in Iraq that we have a strike

  • capability. Now, it is important during those 16 months that we are redoubling our diplomatic

  • efforts. The reason that it is so important, I believe, to start getting our troops out

  • is because the Iraqi government has declined to negotiate with the various factions. The

  • Sunnis, the Shiites, the Kurds have not come together and arrive at the political accommodations

  • that are necessary to solve this problem. And we have not reached out to the regional

  • powers including Iran, Syria--so not just our friends, but also our enemies to arrive

  • at a workable and stable Iraq. And this is an argument that I've had with some of the

  • other candidates, including Senator Clinton in this race. And I think it's part of what

  • signals a break from Bush-Cheney diplomacy; the willingness to speak to our adversaries.

  • President Kennedy once said, "We should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never

  • fear to negotiate." And the notion that not talking to leaders we don't like makes us

  • look tough is fundamentally flawed. It makes us look arrogant and it sends a message to

  • the world that we're not listening. And if we change our diplomatic approach led by me,

  • the president of the United States, that I think will allow us to shift not just the

  • situation in Iraq but change the climate in the Middle East around the world. It will

  • give us more leverage then to deal with terrorist activity that's taking place in Afghanistan,

  • in the border areas around Pakistan and elsewhere in the region.

  • >> SCHMIDT: Let's ask about--let's ask about Iran, Guantanamo...

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> SCHMIDT: Pakistan, give us your sense as

  • leader what you would do with all of these issues.

  • >> OBAMA: I will talk to Iran directly. That does not mean that we will be conceding any

  • positions with Iran. It means that we will listen and see where we can find common ground.

  • I think Iran is a grave threat to security. If they develop nuclear weapons, they could

  • trigger another arms race in the Middle East. It is indisputable that they have assisted

  • Hezbollah and Hamas in terrorist activity and--you know, their language, when it comes

  • to Israel is unacceptable. But what is also true is that we have repeatedly rebuffed gestures

  • that might allow for some resolution of these conflicts in a non-military way. And so, for

  • us to say to them, "You stand out on the nuclear issue and you may be able to join the World

  • Trade organization. You stop supporting terrorist activity; we are in a position to start normalizing

  • relations." Having those conversations face-to-face are important. Not--it may be that Ahmadinejad

  • rejects it, but it will send a message to Iranian people that they are not our enemy

  • and it sends a message around the world that we are doing business differently. Sarkozy,

  • President Sarkozy, I know you just met with him, Eric. He was quoted in the New Yorker

  • a while back, and he said--he was asked what's the most important thing America could do

  • to help you, and he said, "Be more liked." Be more liked. You know, and he wasn't joking

  • because when our standing is low, it gives us less leverage. We can't negotiate and maneuver.

  • Many people are concerned probably here about the genocide in Darfur. We would be in such

  • a stronger position to ensure there was a protective force on the ground and to save

  • people's lives if we had more credibility and more trust so that people--so that the

  • Khartoum government couldn't say that, "Oh, we're just trying to invade another Muslim

  • country." So that's on Iran. Pakistan--Pakistan is in a difficult situation right now. And

  • in some ways, we've got the worst of both worlds; weve got a military ruler who has

  • locked up political opposition and institute an emergency rule. So he's violating human

  • rights in Pakistan and he also has not dealt with terrorist activity inside his borders.

  • We need to reverse course. I've already said that we should suspend military that's not

  • related to--directly to hunting down terrorists. We should suspend that until military--emergency

  • rule is lifted and prisoners were released and they can proceed with what the Constitution

  • of Pakistan has called for. This is a mistake we repeatedly make. We think somehow and we

  • made this all throughout the Cold War. We think that by latching on to non-democratic

  • authoritarian rule, we somehow contain--in this case, Islamist extremism, it doesn’t

  • contain as Islamist extremism. It makes people believe that somehow the United States is

  • opposed to their liberty, opposed to their democracy. And that's not the side of history

  • that we want to be on. Now, we have to make sure that the nuclear weapons in Pakistan

  • are secure. And that has to be our number one priority and will be my number one priority

  • as president. But understand Pakistan--the democratic element in Pakistan, a big chunk

  • of this movement is secular, it is middle-class. And what they're seeking is for the kind of

  • political liberty that we hope for. Last point, Guantanamo, that's easy. We close down Guantanamo,

  • restore Habeas Corpus, say no to renditions, no to wireless wiretaps, you know, Part of

  • my job as the next president is to break the fever of fear that has been exploited by this

  • administration, that--you know, we're told--you know, we're told that we should be afraid

  • of terrorists and immigrants and each other, and it becomes the means by which our civil

  • liberties are subverted, our values are distorted, we start hearing our attorney general nominee

  • not being certain as to whether simulated drownings are torture. That's not who we are

  • as Americans. And sometimes I’m accused of being, you know, this progressive far--I'm

  • conservative in a sense that I want us to get back to those values that were essential

  • to building America. Well.... >> SCHMIDT: The--let's talk a little about

  • America, and the America that you see today is one of extremes. And in your campaign,

  • you've talked a lot about the people who are not the--the economic winners, the educational

  • winners, or whatever, and many people are responding very strongly and positively to

  • that message. >> OBAMA: Right.

  • >> SCHMIDT: Take us through what would be different. What are you going to do, how are

  • you going to deal with the very serious economic problems, educational problems, a set of problems

  • that we face here in the United States. >> OBAMA: Well, let's start with acknowledging

  • that our economy is out of balance. We have seen extraordinary economic growth and, obviously,

  • Google is a symbol of one sector of our economy that's just been extraordinary; innovative,

  • creative and lucrative, but there's a whole another part of America that has been left

  • behind. You know, if you look economically, all the growth over the last two decades is

  • essentially been captured by not just the top five percent, but really the top one percent.

  • And the average American worker's wages and incomes have flatlined; they're not making

  • progress. And they feel anxious about it, and because they feel anxious about it, they

  • are afraid of globalization. And that fear has been fed by our politics. Now, my strong

  • belief is that globalization is here to stay and it is a powerful potential tool for good.

  • But we've got to--but we've--but we have to make sure that everybody has the ability to

  • access what's good about globalization. And right now, people are locked up. So very specifically,

  • what would I do, I would transform our education system and that means that we invest in early

  • childhood education to close the achievement gap that exists right now. And that's not

  • just pre-kindergarten, I mean, it's zero over to three. From the moment the child is born,

  • if they're born to an at-risk parent, we're going to that parent and we are helping them.

  • If that parent can't read, we'll teach the parent to read so they can read to their child.

  • But make sure they're prepared for school. That's step number one. The--in terms of K

  • through 12, we know that the most important element other than the parent in the child's

  • learning is the teacher. So we--I will be a president who stops talking about how great

  • teachers are and actually starts rewarding them for being great by paying them more money.

  • We need to pay them higher salaries. We have to give them more professional development,

  • especially in their early years where they start and we have to change how we asses progress

  • for teachers because No Child Left Behind has created a situation where people are being

  • taught just the standardized test. They're not being thought art, they're not being thought

  • music, and it is stifling for the teacher and for the student. Now, we have to have

  • high standards, but those standards have to build on what is best about the American education

  • system, which is innovation, and creativity. So that we have to take or we have to make

  • college way more affordable. And one way to--one way I will immediately do that is get to banks

  • and financial institutions out of the business of providing student loans. You can take billions

  • of dollars of profits with the direct loan program. So that's on the education front.

  • We have to make investments in Broadband line and infrastructure so that we are competitive.

  • There has to be lifelong learning available so that people can continually retrain. I

  • mean, you know, I will steal a phrase from--I think it was Tony Blair who said that, "We

  • can't guarantee employment for everybody, but we can guarantee that everybody is employable."

  • And that means that people have to be able to constantly transition in terms of their

  • ability to adapt to new circumstances. And technology can play a critical role in that,

  • but we've got to make sure that it's accessible and available to every person. And the last

  • point I would make is that we've got to rebuild our social safety net that has not been adapted

  • since FDR. So, we've got to make sure that healthcare is available even when you lose

  • your job, that you have a retirement account that follows you with the job. Part of the

  • reason where an innovative society is--that we've always felt that, you know what, if

  • we take a risk and we make a misstep, that there's some cushion there for--not just us

  • but for our families as well. And that's why universal healthcare is so important, that's

  • why creating new systems for--to help people say this is so important, so that we'll actually

  • spur on people's willingness to take risks in the marketplace. Right now, they don't

  • feel as if they're able to do so. >> A couple of final questions from me and

  • then we'll ask some audience questions. I had a privilege. I was watching 60 Minutes

  • and I saw an interview with yourself and your wife, Michelle, and there were a number of

  • questions to you and then they asked--asked your wife about it, and excuse, it’s rather

  • a personal question. It's a question about race.

  • >> OBAMA: Uh-hmmm. >> SCHMIDT: How did she feel about race, the

  • dangers of presidency and so forth, and she looked straight in the camera and she said,

  • "I worry more about my husband walking down the street from the Senate than anything else."

  • At that moment, I understood the gap and perception between people of races in America. And it

  • was made vivid to me how different her view and my view would be. The same question.

  • >> OBAMA: All right. >> SCHMIDT: Can you talk a little bit about

  • that issue in America? >> OBAMA: Absolutely. Look, the W. B. Du Bois

  • said that the problem of the 21st--the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the

  • colored one. And if you expand that, the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the

  • other, people who are not like us, whether it's in religious terms. If you go to Sri

  • Lanka, it's, you know, what's been fueling as a vicious civil war there even though everybody

  • looks exactly the same, same with--in Northern Ireland, or it manifests itself in this country

  • in racial terms. And that--it has always been a nagging problem. There have been reports

  • just this week that African-Americans feel more pessimistic than they have in a very

  • long time and there's statistics that bear out. Why--how they in fact have not kept pace

  • when it comes to economic growth in this country. The virulent and anti-immigrant sentiment

  • that we're seeing all across the country is something that has been striking. I mean,

  • just in the last two years, you're seeing a shift where, you know, I fought for comprehensive

  • immigration reform two years ago and we didn't succeed, but there wasn't this raw anger about

  • it that you see now even when I'm campaigning among Democrats sometimes. So part of what

  • I believe I bring to this office is somebody who sees the world through a variety of different

  • races. My mother was white, my father was African. I grew up in Hawaii. I've got a sister

  • who's half Indonesian. She's married to a Chinese Canadian. You know, I've said...

  • >> SCHMIDT: It sounds like Google. >> OBAMA: Yeah. It's--my family would fit

  • right in here, no doubt about it. But people talk about our federal budget deficit, right?

  • We have an empathy deficit. We aren’t able to see the world through other people's eyes.

  • And that's what I think I can provide. Now, very concretely, what we need to do when it

  • comes to issues of race, I think a lot of the tensions are tied to economics. African-Americans

  • and Latinos are much more likely to be unemployed, employed in lower-wage jobs, will not have

  • healthcare, and be in substandard schools, drops out of school. So on in every indicator,

  • they're doing worse. And that contributes to that gap in perceptions that you're talking

  • about because, you know, the glass often looks half empty to a lot of African-American and

  • Latino children. And so, part of our job in investing an early childhood education or

  • making sure that they're going to outstanding schools, or insuring equality of opportunity

  • when it comes to employment, enforcing our Civil Rights laws, investigating crimes like

  • news is being hanged in classrooms. All that contributes to a sense that these kids matter

  • to us, that they're not those kids, theyre our kids, and when we can have a culture and

  • a government that perceives every child as mattering, and then they will respond differently.

  • And I think we will start stitching together the kind of America that all of us hope and

  • dream for. >> SCHMIDT: That's promising, absolutely riveting.

  • Let's get a couple of questions from the audience. I've also got--why don't you go ahead--and

  • I've also got some that were submitted that we also ranked, so, go ahead.

  • >> First of all, thank so much for coming. Your words are really inspiring.

  • >> OBAMA: Thank you. >> And we really appreciate it. You know,

  • I've been voting for quite few a years, a little older than the average Googler. And

  • >> OBAMA: Yeah, you know, you, like, look like you might almost be my age.

  • >> Maybe a little older. >> OBAMA: Yeah.

  • >> And, you know, Bill Clinton is the only Democrat elected in the last 30 years. And

  • he's the only Democrat elected twice since World War II.

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> I'm tired of losing.

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> So, what have you learned from Clinton

  • that is going to make you win? What are you going to do differently? And what have you

  • learned from Gore and from Kerry and all those guys that you're going to avoid so that history

  • doesn’t reoccur? >> OBAMA: Well, first of all, I think--there's

  • a lot to learn from Bill Clinton. I mean, one of the things that Clinton did I think

  • was recognize the moment. We were in a particular moment in 1991-'92 when the Democrats had

  • not wrung out the excesses of the '60s and the early '70s, we were still deeply invested

  • in identity politics and interest group politics. And the Democratic Congress wasn’t showing

  • itself adaptable and shaking off some of the orthodoxies of the past. And he came in and

  • he said, "You know what? I'm a different kind of Democrat, and I'm willing to do things

  • in some new ways." And that was a powerful message for that moment. The reason I'm running

  • and the reason I believe I'm going to win is because we are in a different moment. So

  • you can't just copy what Bill Clinton did, but you have to take the same approach. What

  • is it that's needed right now? And I believe that what's needed right now is the capacity

  • to bring people together to think in practical reasoned ways about big problems that we face

  • to be straight with the American people about--and honest with them about the challenges that

  • we face. So part of what our message is built around is that we are in this defining moment

  • and we can't keep doing the same things that we've been doing that haven’t been working.

  • So that's point number one. What I've learned in terms of how Democrats lose? Democrats

  • lose when they are not clear about what they stand for. Democrats lose when they are attacked,

  • and because they don't know where they stand, they end up getting defensive instead of going

  • on the offensive. So, let me give you a very specific example, I am looking forward to

  • having a debate with whether it's Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney about the fear mongering that

  • has dominated the Republican debate of, like, where they're going to say I'm going to double

  • Guantanamo. Or, I'm going to, I think torture is okay. Or, you know, at least we'll redefine

  • torture. So torture is not okay, but these things that look on off are like--like it,

  • are okay. Or we need to do whatever it takes to read people's e-mails. And I am looking

  • forward to having that debate. But the problem we have is when we get defensive, and we're

  • not sure about our beliefs and our convictions, and so we start trying to sound a little bit

  • like them, and that is a profound mistake. One of the things that my wife and I, we said

  • to ourselves when we got into this race is if we start sounding like anybody--everybody

  • else, then what's the point, you know? I should go work for Google, you know, it'll be more

  • fun. >> SCHMIDT: You answered the question correctly.

  • >> OBAMA: I did answer the question correctly. So making sure that we're clear about where

  • we stand, honest with the American people, seizing the moment and recognizing that we

  • have to deal with climate change now, we have to deal with healthcare now. We have to revamp

  • our education system now. We have to double our investment and research and science now

  • and understanding that we don't have a lot of time to waste. That I think is going to

  • be a compelling message for the American people. Thank you. Thanks.

  • >> SCHMIDT: We--okay, thank you very much, Senator. We have an electronically submitted

  • question dealing with federal deficit. >> OBAMA: Okay.

  • >> SCHMIDT: What concrete steps will the Obama Administration take to address the federal

  • government's deficit and debt? What specific tax measures and program changes will you

  • recommend to Congress? >> OBAMA: This has been the fiscally the most

  • irresponsible administration that we have seen. I mean, we have increased the national

  • debt, almost doubled it since George Bush took office. It is now over $9 trillion. And

  • that is money that we're all going to have to pay back. So, the first thing that we have

  • to do is to bring an end to this war in Iraq. We're spending $10 to $12 billion per month.

  • The latest request for both Iraq and Afghanistan are $196 billion for next year. One year,

  • a $196 billion. That is money that could be providing health insurance to all Americans.

  • It could be rebuilding our schools. It could be providing higher teacherssalaries.

  • It could be providing scholarships for every American, young persons going to college.

  • So we are using our resources in a way that's not sound. We can recapture some of that money.

  • Some of it will go to taking care of our veterans, some of it should go to social programs, and

  • some of it should go towards deficit reduction. Second principle is a very similar principle

  • called Pay Go. If you want to cut taxes, youve got to cut spending, if you want to raise

  • spending, you got to raise revenue, so that you have honest accounting. Right now, the

  • federal budget is not honest. And unless we have good numbers, we can't end up dealing

  • with this budget issue. Now, the biggest problem we have in terms of our budget though long

  • term. And look, I want to eliminate no-bid contracts. I want to scrub the federal budget

  • free of earmarks and pet projects that are not based on our national priorities and that

  • require transparency in government. I talked earlier about the power of technology. One

  • of the things that we've done, you'll be pleased to know that we call this the Google for Government

  • bill and… >> SCHMIDT: Google is in favor of it.

  • >> OBAMA: Yes. And what it does is we're going to set up a searchable database for every

  • dollar of federal spending so that we can track it, which means that we'll be able to--journalist

  • and ordinary citizens and think tanks and, you know, advocacy groups will be able to

  • see it. There are moneys going to a bridge to nowhere instead of going to a bridge to

  • somewhere. We'll be able to challenge it in real time and that's going to be important.

  • But the last thing I was going to mention--and this is probably the biggest problem we have

  • with the federal budget is healthcare spending; Medicare and Medicaid. That's the big budget

  • buster. That's the scary thing out there that it will be, like, the blop. It will just consume

  • everything unless we do something about it now. And again, technology is part of the

  • answer. And innovation is going to be part of the answer in reducing these costs. The

  • reason that healthcare cost is skyrocketing is not so much that the population is getting

  • older, that contributes a little bit to it, but the main problem is healthcare inflation

  • goes up six, eight, ten percent per year. It's unsustainable. And so for example, if

  • we use Health I. T., just simple stuff, making sure that everybody's medical records are

  • on digital--in a digital form, so that when a nurse pulls up somebody's chart, they can

  • actually read the writing, and theyre not administering the wrong drug. Making sure

  • that billing is all electronic. That can make a huge difference, investing and prevention,

  • so that children are getting regular check-ups instead of having to go to the emergency room

  • for treatable illnesses like asthma. That makes an enormous difference. That will probably

  • be the biggest savings item for our federal budget if we do it right. And people like

  • yourselves can be a part of that process. >> SCHMIDT: Thank you. Ethan.

  • >> ETHAN: Thank you, Senator Obama, for coming to visit us. And were really pulling for

  • you out here in the Bay area. >> OBAMA: Thank you.

  • >> ETHAN: I'm a big supporter and a vocal supporter, and the biggest issue that I constantly

  • hear brought up about you is the lack of experience, the inexperience issue.

  • >> OBAMA: Right. >> ETHAN: And I heard about it amongst my

  • friends, you read about that in the press, I'm sure youve had the answers to lots

  • of questions about it, without getting into--frankly, I guess you can--but without getting whether

  • experience makes a difference or not, but what youre actually going to do to address

  • this perceived weakness and allow a lot of voters that want to get behind you and want

  • to support you to get past this issue of inexperience. >> OBAMA: Right. Well, look. The--first of

  • all, Sergey and Larry didn’t have a lot of experience starting a fortune 100 companies.

  • And it's a--and I suppose when they came in, we're talking to Dave Drummond about incorporating

  • Google. You could have said, "Duh, these guys don't know what theyre doing." But, you

  • know, what we're looking for, I believe, when it comes to leadership is judgment, vision,

  • character. And that's what I bring to bear in this race. I have the experience of bringing

  • people together to get things done that I would put up against any candidate in this

  • race. When I was in Illinois, I expanded healthcare to Illinoisians by getting Democrats and Republicans

  • to agree and work together. We were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken

  • by getting law enforcement and Civil Rights advocates to agree on things that people said

  • was--were impossible, but I was able to get it done, probably, because I'm pretty good

  • at listening to people and finding common ground. I've also got the ability to stand

  • up for what I believe in even when it's unpopular, which I think is the quality that the next

  • president has to provide. I mean part of the reason I was opposed to the war--I was opposed

  • to the war in Iraq back in 2002 when George Bush was at 65%, I didn’t just stumble into

  • that. It was based on having thought through what the consequences would be, understanding

  • that I was running in the U.S. Senate race, and I might lose my race, but I thought that

  • it was important to speak out forcefully on what I believed in. I think that's what the

  • next president has to offer. And I know how to choose talent, get smart people around

  • me who are capable and independent and bring together a variety of different points of

  • views and then set a vision and move in the same direction, that, more than anything is

  • what we need. We're not looking for a Chief Operating Officer when we select a president.

  • What were looking for is somebody who will say--will chart a course and say, "Here's

  • where America needs to go. Here's how we need to solve our energy crises. Here's how we

  • need to revamp our education system," and then gather the talent together and mobilize

  • that talent to achieve that goal and to inspire a sense of hope and possibility. So one way

  • to answer this question is to say, "Look, the guy has been in the public service for

  • 20 years. He's a constitutional law professor. He was a Civil Rights lawyer. He did X, Y,

  • and Z in the state legislature. He's done all these wonderful things in the United States

  • Senate." But I think the main way to respond is to say, "This is all about judgment and

  • character." And also, I think, a little sense of impatience because part of the reason I'm

  • running is I'm impatient with the status quo. And what we've seen out of Democrats and Republicans--what

  • weve seen from Democrats and Republicans is a certain willingness to tolerate, what

  • I consider to be an intolerable status quo. And I think the American people feel that

  • same frustration. So, thank you. >> SCHMIDT: Thank you. Then we have our--we're

  • going to have our, unfortunately, our last question, so why don't you go ahead.

  • >> Senator, you said you had a bias to act against special interest.

  • >> OBAMA: Yeah. >> But if special interests were having a

  • perverting influence on the entire legislative process, what can you propose as president

  • that can make it through that process intact? >> OBAMA: Yeah, it is the classic question

  • of how do you get insiders to fix the system that theyre benefiting from, and it's hard.

  • You have to use shame. No, and I mean it. I'll give you an example. Last year, I passed

  • the toughest ethics reform legislation since Watergate. And I worked with Russ Feingold

  • and we eliminated corporate gifts or gifts from lobbyists, meals from lobbyists, and

  • corporate jets from lobbyists. We required the disclosure of campaign contributions that

  • were bundled from lobbyists. And I'll be honest with you, when we first started, it wasn’t

  • just resistance from Republicans, there were Democrats who didn’t want to see this happen

  • either. But what I knew was that if you stuck with it and you got it to the floor where

  • the people had to vote, then it was going to be hard for them to vote against it. So

  • part of the key for any reform is going to be getting the American people to pay enough

  • attention, that members of Congress start worrying, "You know what, the American are

  • looking at us. And so we better change how we behave," that's why this Google for Government

  • is so important because it--that's why transparency generally is so important in this entire process

  • because the more American people know, the more government is going to be held accountable.

  • And I'll give you just one very specific example around healthcare. I've mention that I want

  • to set up a system where every American has healthcare that's at least as good as the

  • healthcare I've got as a member of Congress. And if people want to--and if youre interested

  • in the details of the healthcare plan, you can go to my website, barackobama.com. But

  • people asked me, "Well, why do you think you can get it done and overcome the insurance

  • and the drug companies to spent a billion dollars over the last decade preventing the

  • reform from happening in lobbying and campaign contributions?" And what I tell them is, "Yeah,

  • I respect what the Clintons tried to do in 1993, in moving health reform forward." But

  • they made one really big mistake and that is they took all their people and all their

  • experts into a room and then they close the door and they try to design the plan in isolation

  • from the American people. And during that period of time, the insurance companies and

  • the drug companies, and the HMOs they mobilized, and by the time the Clintons announced their

  • plan, you already have this Harry and Louise heads up, you guys don't remember this, you

  • weren’t born, maybe, I'm teasing. You were six. But these ads were out there that convinced

  • the American people they should be afraid of healthcare reform. Now, I will do it entirely

  • differently. Within the first 100 days of my administration, we are going to have a

  • big table, and everybody is going to be invited; laborer, employers, doctors, nurses, hospital

  • administrators, patient advocate groups, the drug and insurance company, theyre all

  • going to sit at the table, they just won't get to buy every chair. And we will work on

  • this process publicly. It will be on C-SPAN. It will be streaming over the net. And every

  • time we hit a glitch where somebody says, "Well, no, no, no, we can't lower drug prices

  • because of, yeah, RND cost that drug companies need." Well, we'll present data and facts

  • that make it more difficult for people to carry the water of their special interest

  • because it's public. And if they start running Harry and Louise ads, I'll make my own ads

  • or I'll send out something on YouTube, I’m president, and I'll be able to--I'll let them

  • know what the facts are. But, you know, one of the things that you learn when youre

  • traveling and running for president is the American people at their core are a decent

  • people. There's a generosity of spirit there and there's common sense their, but it's not

  • tapped. And many people are--they are just misinformed or theyre too busy, they're

  • trying to get their kids to school, they're working, but they just don't have enough information

  • or just they're not professionals at sorting out all information that's out there. And

  • so our political process gets skewed, but if you give them good information, their instincts

  • are good and they will make good decisions. And the president has the bully pulpit to

  • give them good information, and that's what we have to return to as a government where

  • the American people trust the information theyre getting. And I'm really looking

  • forward to doing that because I am a big believer in reason, in facts, in evidence, in science,

  • in feedback, everything that allows you to do what you do, that's what we should be doing

  • in our government. I want people in technology. I want innovators and engineers and scientists

  • like yourselves, I want you helping us make policy based on facts, based on reason. You

  • know, one of my favorite stories I have from Washington is Daniel Patrick Moynihan, he

  • was a giant of the Senate and a very, you know, towering intellect. And he got an argument

  • one time with another senator, and the other senator apparently was losing the argument,

  • and so he got kind of huffy, and he said, "Well, Pat, you know, you're entitled to your

  • opinion and I'm entitled to mine." And Moynihan says, "You are entitled to your own opinion,

  • but youre not entitled to your own facts." And part of the problem that we're having

  • and special interests exploit this is we constantly have a contest where facts don't matter. And

  • I want to restore that sense of decisions being based on facts to the White House. And

  • I think that many of you can help me, so I want you to be involved. Thank you so much

  • everybody. >> SCHMIDT: Thank you.

  • >> OBAMA: Thank you. >> SCHMIDT: Senator, thank you very much.

  • >> OBAMA: Thank you.

>> DRUMMOND: Another great day at Google. So I want to welcome everybody to the latest

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