Barack Obama speaking event at Unity 2008 in Chicago

As the crowd awaits the appearance of Barack Obama at the Unity Convention in Chicago, 1980s music is blasted out into the large ballroom at McCormick Center West. Video cameras are lined up against the back and thousands are seated in front of a stage with three video screens. I am seated to the right of the stage and will with luck see the top of Obama's head when he steps in. The anticipation is so thick that it seems to warm us against the freezing cold inside this room. I am committed to live blogging this through my Blackberry Pearl with Bluetooth keyboard and to personally protest the exorbitant WIFI price. So pardon any misspellings.

When the music stops, a hush falls upon the room and whispering ensues. When he enters everyone immediately stands up and there is resounding applause.

[Technical difficulties prevented live blogging on first question, so a summary follows:

He is asked about his trip to the Middle East. Obama speaks about these experiences in the Middle East and the importance of getting the Pakistan government to be more involved in the US finding safe havens for Al Qaeda. We cannot afford a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. There is no more important security agenda to address than nuclear proliferation.
He is asked about his stance on the war in Iraq.]

I have not heard someone ask John McCain about his stance What are the strategic judgments to make America safethe question is whether we should have started a phased withdrawal earlier is something I would no change. The question is whether or not that military action is sufficient to solve the problems.

The key now is how do we move forward. People believe that at this point we ought to start drawing back our troops.

Question: So the timetable for pulling back makes sense?

I think it's realistic... When you have the people Iraq taking the lead in actions, we need to take advantage of the opportunity. But we can't keep spending millions of our money in Iraq when we have so many problems at home, especially taking care of our veterans.

Question: What did you take out of this trip that would make you a stronger candidate?

I did the same thing that John McCain did and no one suggested that was audacious...I was puzzled by this notion that what we were doing was any different than what Senator McCain was doing. I admit we did it very well, but that shouldn't be a strike against me. So that's point number one. I don't know the political effect of this when I come back. People are worried about gas prices, job security, and stock prices as the market goes down...because people are understandably concerned about the immediate effects of the economy. I do think that in terms of me being an effective president, this trip was helpful, because I established relationships and met with key leaders.

[Break to be followed up by questions from the audience]

Question: Bryan Boll from NPR asks about reparations for Native Americans and formal apologies to Native American sovereign nations.

I personally would want to see our tragic history or the tragic elements of our history acknowledged...We have some very sad and difficult things to account for. What an official apology would look like, that's something I would want to consult with Native American tribes and councils to see what that would look like...one of the things I have said to tribal leaders is that I would like to set up an annual meeting to address some of the issues...one of the most important things for the U.S. government to do is to not just offer words, but to offer deeds. When you look at the situation with tribal lands and tribal situations...I have to confess that I am more concerned about delivering a better life and a better relationship with tribal communities and tribal leaders.

Question: Would you take this a step further other reparations?

The best reparation we can provide is good schools for the inner city and jobs for the unemployed. I think strategies that help people lift out of some of the legacy of discrimination and slavery are going to cost billions of dollars. How do we get every child to learn, how to get people jobs, and help senior citizen with health care? Question: I am Diana Solis from the Dallas Morning News and my question is about immigration...should we have more or less immigration and where should people come from? I think that we are a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws. The problem that I see is not the number of immigrants. The Europeans have the opposite problem. The fact that we're getting people that still want to come to this country and live out the American dream, that's all good.

The problem is when we have a legal immigration system running next to an illegal immigration system...It means having serious border security, it means providing a pathway for immigrants to become fully part of the American society.
I think that's very important. I think a comprehensive immigration reform is also looking at the legal system and making sure we have a realistic approach. It also means we need to know where immigrants are coming fromwe keep on jacking up the costs of immigration and that skews things so it's hard for ambitious, hard working poor folks to come to this country than say Mick Jagger from coming to this country. I don't think that’s what we stand for in this country.

Question: Have you gone too far in denying that you're a Muslim? Have you done harm to the Muslims?

This is a classic example of a no win situation. People say why are you correcting this...let me put it this way...I've said this on more than one occasion. I just don't like the idea of somebody falsely identifying my religion. I suspect that you wouldn’t' appreciate that either. If you were a Muslim and someone said you were a Christian I suspect you would correct that to. My credentials on supporting Muslim Americans are very strong... [He speaks about examples of his support.]

On the Muslim question, I hope that people assess me based on the whole of my candidacy and my contributions.

I am a strong supporter of Affirmative Action... It speaks to the value of diversity in all walks of American life. We are becoming a diverse culture and we need to acknowledge that. Affirmative Action is not the long-term solution to race in America. If you have kids dropping out of college then Affirmative Action will not take care of that in the long run. We also need to make sure that our children are not getting more advantage than a poor white kid who grew up poor. I am interested at wide issues that take in account who is deserving of opportunities.

I am disappointed that John McCain flipped and changed his position. The truth of the matter is that these are not designed to solve a big problem. They all too often drive a wedge between people. One of our greatest strengths is the fact that we come from so many different places and yet we are all Americans. The Iraqis were impressed that we had people from all walks of life joining and working together. That's what makes America special and we shouldn't lose that or see it as a source of division, we should see it as a source of pride. Affirmative Action when structured properly can do that.

Question: He is asked about his take on the whether he is a not black enough question that has come up throughout his candidacy.

Now I'm too black. I do think that there is this sense of going back and forth depending on the time of day in making assessments around my candidacy.

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