Obama talks issues at Google

By Jason Bennert

November 15, 2007

When Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama came to Google headquarters yesterday, he not only attracted a visibly larger audience than any previous candidate but also two of the world's richest men, company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Obama told the assembled Google employees he will win the presidency next year by "being straight with the American people."

"Democrats lose when they are not clear on what they stand for," Obama said. "The problem we have is when we get defensive. And we are not sure about our beliefs or convictions."

Obama did not hesitate to offer specifics during the forum, which was streamed and is available for download on Google's YouTube site. He said as president he would have American combat troops out of Iraq in approximately 16 months.

"We can safely bring out 1 to 2 brigades per month," Obama said.

The freshman U.S. Senator from Illinois also promised to negotiate directly with Iran if elected and he criticized his opponents, without mentioning any specific candidates, who have rejected direct negotiations.

"The notion that not talking to our enemies makes us look tough I think is fundamentally flawed. It makes us look arrogant," Obama said.

Obama, like every major presidential candidate that comes to Silicon Valley, promised his presidency would increase broadband access nationwide and make more H-1B visas available for foreign workers.

The response to Obama appeared to be more enthusiastic among the Google employees. More than 1,500 people crowded into a Google auditorium to hear Obama this afternoon, the largest audience ever for a presidential candidate, according to a company spokeswoman.

Brin and Page were also visible in the audience, which was not the case previously when candidates appeared at company forums open to the media.

Former California State Controller Steve Westly, now a co-chairman of Obama's California campaign, said Obama's getting stronger as more California residents begin to pay attention to the presidential race.

"I think he's got huge momentum building," Westly said. Obama only took one question from a reporter as he was leaving the Google event. The reporter was journalism student Allison Tam, 10, of Saratoga. She asked him what he would do about contaminated toys being imported from China and other countries.

"I would have our safety inspectors go to those countries," Obama told Allison.

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