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Tavis: Just before the primary process began, I sat down with Senator Obama for a conversation about his history-making campaign. Among the topics discussed were his unprecedented ability to raise money, as we have seen so far this election season. The energy and financial support surrounding the Obama campaign has helped to propel him into the lead now for the Democratic nomination.

First of all, let me just say congratulations. And I say this with all sincerity because it is mind-boggling, even more mind-boggling than you and Dick Cheney being cousins, is the fact that you have raised more money than anybody, Democrat or Republican, running for office - $75 million. Ancestors are jumping up and down screaming at the thought of you raising that kind of money.

Sen. Barack Obama: Well especially because we've raised more money in small increments, from small donors, than all the Democratic candidates combined. So it's reflective of the grassroots enthusiasm that we've been seeing in the campaign, and the challenge now for us is to make sure that we get known beyond that enthusiastic base of supporters to the broader public. And that's obviously a big challenge when you're running a national race and you've only been on the national scene basically for three and a half, four years.

Tavis: I'm just reading this stuff every day. You, of course, are the guy, you're the candidate. How much truth to the stories that we're reading that you are having to do some damage control where your supporters are concerned who are fretting - your wonderful answer not withstanding - fretting that if these numbers in the polls don't start to move, the campaign's in trouble?

Obama: No, listen. Campaigns always go through ups and downs, and what I've always said to my folks is, "If you were looking for the safe choice, you shouldn't be supporting a 46-year-old Black guy named Barack Obama (laughter) to be the next leader of the free world." That's not where the smart money went, especially when you're running against the dominant political force in the Democratic Party over the last 20 years.

People have gotten involved in our campaign because they believe that politics as usual, business as usual, is not adequate. It's not that they dislike some of the other candidates. They just think that if - let's take the example of healthcare. If we can't break the gridlock between Democrats and Republicans, but if we also can't overcome the insurance company and the drug company lobbyists that have a lock on the debate in Washington, we're not going to get anything passed. It doesn't matter whether John Edwards or my plan or Hillary's plan is better, and that, I think, people understand.

The second thing my supporters understand, the day I'm inaugurated, this country looks at itself differently and the world looks at America differently. And if you believe that we've got to heal America and that we've got to repair our standing in the world, then I think my supporters believe that I am a messenger who can deliver that message around the world in a way that no other candidate can do.

Tavis: They would look at the U.S. differently for what reason or reasons?

Obama: Well, I think if you've got a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, that's a pretty good contrast to George W. Bush, to start with. Somebody who's lived in a foreign country, somebody who knows what it's like to see family members in dire poverty, somebody who has a grandmother who lives in a village in Africa without running water and without heat and without indoor plumbing - a village that's been devastated by HIV/AIDS.

When I got to Africa, I'm not speaking based on what I've read or what I hear in a hearing or what I've seen visiting the ambassador's residence in Nairobi. I'm speaking from experience, in the same way that when I talk about issues facing the inner city here in the United States I'm not looking at it from a distance. I'm speaking from somebody who's worked in public housing projects and dealt with trying to find ex-felons a better life for themselves. And so that experience, I think, gives me more credibility to talk about these issues.

Tavis: Let me go back to Hillary Clinton for just a second, since we raised her earlier. One could argue that these national polls notwithstanding, people really don't like Hillary Clinton. You say that people like the Clintons, they like Bill, they like Hillary.

If you dig deep in these numbers, one could argue at least that they really don't like Hillary, and that these numbers seem to suggest in many of these polls that she's not the most electable Democrat in a face-off with two or three people on the other side of the aisle, in part because her negatives are so high.

Obama: Are very high.

Tavis: All right, so what do you make of that?

Obama: See, I think the question is can we get beyond the gridlock that we experienced during the nineties? Who's in the best position to point forward? And part of the reason - when I sat down with Michelle and I said, "Should we do this race?" We asked three questions. One, could our family survive it? And since Michelle's exceptional and my children are above average, we figured they'd be okay.

The second question was, could I win? And we looked at it and we said we can win, because I'm not interested in running a symbolic race; that's been done. The third question was, is there something I can do that no other Democratic candidate can do? And what I believe is that the country is ready to get beyond the old arguments that we've been having since the sixties.

About Vietnam and the sexual revolution and the role of faith in society - all these things that we've been arguing about, and the American people have moved beyond that. And that's part of the reason why you see consistently in polls that among Independents and among Republicans, we do very well. When we get these big crowds, I'm always shaking hands afterwards and I always have folks come, "I'm a Republican, Barack, but I support you."

And I lean over and I say, "Thank you, why are we whispering?" (Laughter) But they almost surprise themselves. But I think it has to do less with the positions I'm taking than the tone I'm taking, which is I'm going to listen to everybody, and I want to break down this red state-blue state divide.

That's part of the reason why the convention speech I did in 2004 went so well, is because it's not that my positions were different, but the language and the tone was one of let's unify the country.

Tavis: I'm in my car on the way to the studio just an hour or so ago, listening to some King stuff, and I brought the CD in and I want to play a clip for you. This is King speaking at a church in your hometown in 1966, talking about his own fear for his own life. As you know, he didn't talk about this very often in public, but here he is in a church in Chicago, dateline 1966, Barack Obama's hometown. The words of Dr. King. Take a listen; I want to ask you something about this.

"Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:" They started making nasty telephone calls and came to the point that some days more than 40 telephone calls would come in threatening my life, the life of my family, the life of my children. I took it for a while in a strong manner, but I never will forget one night, very late. It was around midnight, and you can have some strange experiences at midnight.

Tavis: He goes on to talk about the fear for his own life - this, of course, King speaking about Montgomery, Alabama when he was leading the movement there. I was listening to that and thought about you on the way to the studio, wondering how it is that you process that. And so you led me into it when you suggested, as Michelle has, your wife, suggested, that Black folks should not be afraid to vote for you because of what they think might happen to you.

We know that there's Secret Service all around this studio right now; other candidates don't have that because of threats against your life. How are you dealing with that, seriously?

Obama: It's not something I think about. Part of - when I listen to that tape is I think about the courage that that man went through, because he didn't have Secret Service protection, and law enforcement in the towns where he was working were against him. Some of them were Klansmembers. And so I can't even comprehend the degree of courage that was required, and yet look what he did each and every day, getting up, speaking out, marching, leading.

And it just reminds me of that tradition where the stuff we go through now - I get called names, right? People call me up, they say, “Oh, I'm sorry about that bad newspaper article about you.” “Oh, that review on the debate, that was rough; I thought that was really unfair.” And I'm thinking, listen, nobody's throwing a brick through my window.

And I do think that the country has changed in a profound way, and when I'm traveling through Iowa, which doesn't have a large African American population, and you see the responses of people and the crowds we're attracting, you really get a sense that folks are ready to transcend some of these issues. Now that's not to say that the country's going to be colorblind in this race.

Obviously, that will be an issue both for Blacks and Whites, and one of the things my candidacy has surfaced is people have some confused views, both in the White community and the African American community about this. But what it does say is I think the vast majority of Americans right now, what they want to know is how are you going to help me hang on to my house now that the sub-prime lending crisis is in full force?

What are you going to do to help me deal with my job now that the plant moved to China? How can I save for my child's college tuition and my own retirement at the same time? And if I can answer those questions effectively in the last few months of this campaign, then we have an excellent chance of getting this nomination.

Tavis: That said, so I'm going to ask you that question. Do you think, though - the other question I get asked all the time is whether or not America is ready for a woman / African American on the ticket, or to your point, an African American / woman on the ticket? Is America ready for that at the same time?

Obama: I think that what America wants desperately is change, and they want not incremental change, they want big change. Now they've got to have confidence. They won't vote for me just because it makes them feel good - well, let's have a Black person - any more than they'll vote for Hillary just to say, "Isn't it great that we finally got a woman?"

They want to know that you can take care of the business of this country, and that's the primary criteria by which they're making decisions. I think at this point the main thing that every voter is doing is just sorting this out, and trying to figure out who's got the characteristics, who's got the judgment, who can bring the country together, who's going to fight for us against the special interests, and most of all - and this is something that I want to emphasize - who's going to be straight and tell the truth?

Tavis: I'm glad you're in the race, and I am honored you came to see me.

Obama: Appreciate it, enjoyed it. Thank you.

Tavis: Thank you, Senator. Barack Obama.

As the race between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton continues to tighten, the battle now shifts to delegate-rich primaries in Ohio and Texas early next month.