Hope, History and the 'Testosterone' Factor

— -- ABC News' Claire Shipman talked to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., about the spirit of America, the fight for the African-American vote, the "testosterone" factor in his flare-up with Hillary Clinton and his pledge to quit smoking.

Below is a transcript of Shipman's conversation with Obama:

Claire Shipman: So Selma this weekend, have you been to the commemoration before? Is this your first time?

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.: No. This will be the first time. John Lewis who is a hero of mine, and I think, a genuine American hero has invited me over the last couple of years, and I just haven't been able to make the schedule work. So when he asked this year, and he asked me to speak at the church before the march, I was really gratified to be able to do it.

Claire Shipman: You've talked in your book about the country's needs to face up to its tragic past...

Obama: Right.

Claire Shipman: What will you say this weekend at Selma to the country about how far we've come in 42 years, and what we haven't achieved in 42 years?

Obama: Well, I think you describe it properly. You know, I think we have made enormous progress in this country on the issue of race relations. I mean think about, when I was born in 1961, most blacks in the South still weren't voting, many were still using separate facilities. And for me now to be sitting here as the United States senator and a presidential candidate is astonishing. The problem is, is that better than good enough? And we still see the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in the gaps in health care, in the achievement gap in education.

What I try to argue is that I think the spirit of America is one that is looking for reconciliation and unity, but we've got to make some sacrifices and we've got to put resources behind what I think are basically good impulses at this point.

Claire Shipman: Like it or not, this is also going to be a symbolic political moment this weekend. You and Sen. Clinton speaking in dueling churches, if you will, 300 yards apart, is that going to be odd?