Obama: ‘Nobody Expects This is Going to Be Easy’

ABC News’ Sunlen Miller Reports: Sen Barack Obama D-Ill., is pushing hard against the notion that his top competitor, Senator Hillary Clinton is the inevitable nominee for the Democratic ticket.

"A lot of people now are saying, ‘you know – Hillary Clinton, she’s so far ahead. And you know Obama, he’s nice but you know, that’s not going to happen’," the Senator told a Los Angeles crowd and then countered, "When you’re forty-six, you’re black and you’re named Barack Obama you’re always going to be considered the underdog, so nobody expects that this is going to be easy."

Obama explained it’s not so easy for him because people don’t know him or his track record as well as Senator Clinton’s. The Senator says the reason he is nearly tied in the state polls out of Iowa is because people know him there. He’s spent all or parts of fifty-two days campaigning in early state.

"I’m going to be in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada basically between now and New Years, "Obama stated half explaining why he’s not a frequent visitor to California. His last visit to the state for official campaign events was in February.

But Obama remained optimistic on the momentum looking forward to California’s primary, "By the time we get to California, it will be February 5^{th, and we will have out performed those other candidates in the early states."}