“We had to step in, it was the right thing to do, even though it is infuriating,” Obama said, explaining why the government needed to bail out the troubled banks.

“The same is true with AIG,” he said. “It was the right thing to do to step in. Here’s the problem. It’s almost like they’ve got — they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.”

"Work? Work is my mother working 16 hours a day in a sweatshop, and my father working in a restaurant all day every day," he said. What I have to do - going to campaign events, meeting people and shaking hands, talking issues with journalists, this is fun.

I didn't have a defining moment. I was baptized a Democrat. I was born a Catholic in New York City.

We have the best staff in the world. They're not in it for the money because ... we don't have any.

We will make sure a republican never wins an election in New York ever again.

Make no mistake about it, this was one tough job. I could actually take my jacket off and show you the bruises to prove it.