Team Obama: All the Presidents Real Men and Women

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You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, "well, it must be because I was just so smart. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.

March Madness: Barack Obama's 2018 NCAA brackets and all his past picks

There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges; if you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. Now that we're 18 days before the election, Mr.

Severely Conservative wants you to think he was severely kidding about everything he said over the last year. He told folks he was the ideal candidate for the Tea Party, now he's telling folks, "What?

And he's betting that you will too. I mean, he's changing up so much and backtrackin' and sidesteppin'. We've gotta name this condition that he's going though. I think it's called Romnesia. That's what it's called. I think that's what he's goin' through.

Former President Barack Obama picks Michigan State Spartans men, UConn Huskies women in NCAAs

Now, I'm not a medical doctor, but I do wanna go over some of the symptoms with you, because I wanna make sure nobody else catches it. You know, if you say you're for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you'd sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work , you might have Romnesia. If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care, you might have a case of Romnesia.

If you say you'll protect a woman's right to choose, but you stand up in a primary debate and say that you'd be delighted to sign a law outlying — outlawing that right to choose in all cases — man, you definitely got Romnesia. Now, this extends to other issues. If you say that you're a champion of the coal industry when, while you were governor, you stood in front of a coal plant and said "This plant will kill you" —[audience: And if you come down with a case of Romnesia and you can't seem to remember the policies that are still on your website, or the promises you've made over the six years you've been running for President, here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions.

We can fix you up.. We've got a cure. We can make you well, Virginia. This is a curable disease. But we would do well to recall that day itself also belonged to those ordinary people whose names never appeared in the history books, never got on TV. Many had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters. They had seen loved ones beaten, and children fire-hosed, and they had every reason to lash out in anger, or resign themselves to a bitter fate.

His suite was bright, airy and colourful. Many of the staffers, about 12 in all, had worked for Obama in the White House, and most of them knew Reeves; people stepped out of their offices to greet her.

He walked up to Reeves with his arms outstretched and asked about her family, and she sheepishly stepped in for a hug. And a bunch of them, you know, a number of them met on the campaign or at the White House. But nobody yet has named a child Barack. We followed him into his office. He offered us a seat on the couch, and he sank into the chair at the end. He was in jeans and a light blue shirt unbuttoned at the top. He put his feet up, crossed his legs at the ankles. I noticed that over by his desk, on a wall, he had hung the framed letter from Natoma Canfield; Obama had said she reminded him of his mum, who died at 52 of a similar cancer.

The letter had stood as a reminder to him of his commitment to healthcare reform. And folks in the office came from different backgrounds. We had our volunteer workforce. And there were some old people in the mix, too. Whether that was on a campaign or in the office. And a lot of them felt alone in that hardship. You know, after a tornado or a flood or a shooting. And what was clear was that my presence there signified to those families that they were important.

Their loved ones were important. The grief they were feeling was important. That it had been seen and acknowledged.

Just going around and listening to people. And how did they come to believe what they believe? And what are they trying to pass on to their children? But I do think that that was pretty embedded in our campaign philosophy. And created the kinds of bonds that made people want to then try to work together. They disagree with you on abortion.

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There are all these concrete issues that are real. And there are real conflicts and real choices. I did it because, as you said, it sustained me. So maybe it will sustain others in the future.

The letters as sustenance came up again during our second meeting. He got his first physical in a decade. They caught a tumour.

Barack Obama

We talked about another letter writer, Marjorie, who wrote about trying to expel the racism she believed was lodged like poison in her heart. She had discovered it and wanted to get rid of it. The Clinton campaign pounced.

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