Last night on C-Span, A Hawaiian woman stood and asked Barack Obama a
question during a Q and A. She said she was "torn", because her son was
for him, but her husband was voting for Hillary. She then asked him,
"Why should I vote for you?"

Below is a transcript of what Barack Obama said, word for word, as best as I could transcribe it.

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Barack Obama's Response:

I've
already indicated why I actually think I can beat John McCain more
effectively than Hillary Clinton can. And I think that's very
important. The fact that I can get more independent votes and more
Republican votes. And offset whatever advantages he may have and
actually succeed. I think if Senator Clinton starts off with 47 percent
of the country against her. That's a hard place to start off if you
want to win an election. But that's a political matter. The third and
most important question is, why should I win? Because I think you
shouldn't just ask can you win, you want to ask why should you win. And
there were at least four reasons why I thought I could do better than
Senator Clinton or any other candidate as president at this moment in
history. Number one: I have the ability to bring people together. And
as I said before I don't think we can solve our health care problem,
for example without having a strong working majority. Both Senator
Clinton and I want to provide universal health care to everyone. We
both have a government plan that we set up where you will be able to
buy into it, you won't be able to be excluded for pre-existing
conditions. We will both negotiate with drug companies for the cheapest
available price on drugs. We're both going to put an emphasis on
prevention. I emphasize costs more. She has a mandate which would force
everybody to buy health care. What I say is, if we make it affordable,
people will buy it. And I don't want to penalize people before we make
it affordable. But basically 95 percent of the plans are the same. The
question is, who can actually get it done? And who can avoid the
resistance of some of the Republicans who may want to see improvements
but politicallyfeel like it's hard for them to work with. So that's
point number one. Point number two: I ask myself who can overcome the
special interests and lobbyists who have come to dominate Washington? I
don't take P.A.C. money. I don't take money from Federally registered
lobbyists. We have funded our campaign with 25 dollar, 50 dollar, 100
dollar donations from people in this audience. And so that means that
I'm answerable to the public -- in a way that Senator Clinton, who's
raised more money from P.A.C.s and special interests than John McCain
has -- isn't. And this has been a consistent theme. It's not just a
stunt I did for this race. You know last year I passed the toughest
ethics reform legislation since Watergate. I passed transparency laws
to make sure that people would know, on a searchable data base, how the
Federal government is spending our money. I have a consistent track
record of reforming government so that it's more accountable to you,
the American people. Senator Clinton does not have that track record.
And I don't think we can change Washington unless we can change how
business is done in Washington. So that's Number two. Number three, I
think that part of what the American people are looking for, right now,
is straight talk. They don't want, you know, political talk. I'll just
give you one example. Senator Clinton and I were in a debate. And she
was asked about the Bankruptcy law that she voted for in 2001, that
made it harder for people to file bankcruptcy because of credit cards
that had gone from zero percent interest to 30 percent interest, or for
people who had been sick and paying for medical care -- I mean this was
a credit card industry bill. And she said -- during the debate, "Well,
you know what, I voted for it, but I had hoped it wouldn't pass." Now
that was a quote on live TV. That kind of talk I think makes people not
trust government. And I think we need somebody who's going to answer
clearly and straight forwardly about the problems that we face. That's
number Three. And that's why for example when I proposed that we were
going to change our tax code and increase oversight of the financial
industry I didn't do it in front of a Union Hall, I went to Wall Street
and did it in front of corporate C.E.O.s That's why when I talked about
fuel efficiency standards I went to Detroit, to people who most resist
increases in fuel efficiency standards. Because I want people to feel
as if I'm presenting them honestly with choices. I'm not trying to
negotiate or finesse or avoid tough questions. And the last point. I
think the day that I'm inaugurated, I think this country looks at
itself differently. Right? Your son sees somebody different, as
president, after 43 of them. He'll say, "You know what? That guy has a
funny name just like me." It changes our perceptions in this country.
But it also changes perceptions overseas. And that's not just symbolic.
If I go to a poor country in Africa, I do so with the credibility of
having lived in a poor country in southeast Asia. And having family, a
grandmother, who lives in a small village without electricity or
running water. And so I have credibility not just because I know the
leaders but because I know the people in those countries. If I'm
reaching out to the Muslim world, they may know that I'm a Christian,
but they also know I lived in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim
population in the world. And so I understand their culture. And that
gives me more credibility in negotiations to figure out how to bridge
the gaps. So those are four good reasons. Aside from the fact that I'm
a local guy from Hawaii. That's the fifth. Alright? Thank You.