After winning the nomination, Obama said he would like to sit down with presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whom he has outraised by about three to one, to talk about preserving the public financing system.

However, the Illinois senator stressed that the issue of outside expenditures would need to be addressed before he would agree to use public funding, which very likely would leave him with significantly less money than if he were to opt out.

“What I don’t intend to do is to allow huge amounts of money to be spent by the RNC, the Republican National Committee, or by, you know, organizations like the swift boat organization…,” Obama stated.

In a lengthy interview, which made news in and of itself because Obama had refused to sit down with the cable news network for a long time, the senator also said that there would be “some frustration” among his supporters if he does not end up with the nomination. However, Obama stressed that he believes the party will be united heading into this fall’s general election.

On Iraq, the senator said that, as commander in chief, he would listen to Gen. David Petraeus, saying it would be “stupid” not to do so, “given the experience that he has accumulated over the last several years.”

“What I would do is I would say … ‘We have a new mission. It is my strategic assessment that we have to provide a time table to the Iraqi government. I want you to tell me how best to execute this new assignment, and I am happy to listen to the tactical considerations and any ideas you have, but what I will not do is to continue to let the Iraqi government off the hook and allow them to put our foreign policy on ice while they dither about making decisions about how they're going to cooperate with each other,’” he said.