Feb 9, 2008 3:00 pm US/Central
Obama: 'Swift-Boating' Wouldn't Sink Me
Interviews With Clinton, Obama To Air On '60 Minutes' Sunday, Feb 10
(CBS News)
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US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama addresses a town hall meeting at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Jan. 23, 2008.
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Sen. Barack Obama could withstand any last-minute "swift-boat" attacks from Republicans on his race or past drug use because winning the grueling contest for the Democratic nomination will make him the "toughest, baddest candidate on the block," he tells 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft.
Asked by Kroft if he will be able to endure attacks from "swift-boating" Republicans who may use his race or his youthful drug use against him, Obama replies, "Whoever wins this Democratic primary...they're the toughest, baddest candidate on the block. And if I beat Senator Clinton, then I will be more than capable of beating the Republicans. And if I don't, then she'll be the nominee and [race or past drug use] will be a moot point."
But the senator from Illinois vowed not to use such tactics himself to beat Hillary Clinton. Kroft's question on whether he would pull out any "Clinton skeletons" prompted Obama to say, "We don't play that. I mean, one of the rules that I laid down very early in this campaign was that we will be fierce competitors but we will have some ground rules. And one of the ground rules for me is that we battle on policy differences, and that if we draw a contrast between Senator Clinton and myself, then it is based on fact," he tells Kroft.
Sen. Hillary Clinton tells Katie Couric she's the best candidate to go against the Republican nominee in November because she has experienced the negative ad campaigns the Republicans are sure to run and Sen. Barack Obama has not. But Obama, in a separate interview with Steve Kroft, says running for the Democratic nomination against the "Clinton Machine" is just as tough.
Both interviews will broadcast separately on 60 Minutes this Sunday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
"Senator Obama has never had, I don't think, a single negative ad ever run against him," Clinton tells Couric. "Until you've been through this experience, you have no idea what it is like and he hasn't been. He's never had to face this. I am much better prepared and ready to…withstand whatever comes my way," said Clinton.
Then Obama promises, "We're not going to fabricate things. We're not going to try to distort or twist her positions."
Sunday's broadcast also features unique coverage of Obama. 60 Minutes was the only news organization allowed to videotape behind the scenes at Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters on Super Tuesday and to record the candidate and his wife as they watched the election coverage on television.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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