It’s a character thing, Legend says.

John Legend:  The reason why I’ve endorsed him is, I think, first is a character thing. Like I said, I think if you look at the issues, everybody wants all Americans to get health insurance.

Among John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, all of them, I think, feel like we made a lot of mistakes in foreign policy and want to improve our standing in the world. But all of them want to take care of our poor more effectively and our working class. And I think all those things are very important.

But I think when I look at Barack, and how he’s carried himself, I look at the things he’s written over the years, especially “Dreams of My Father”, his first major book; if I look at his biography, I look at the things he says now during his speeches, I feel like I’m seeing someone who has true integrity, has a true sense of himself, and is comfortable with himself, and I trust him. It’s that simple. I trust him. And because of that, it makes me believe that he’ll do the right thing.

Because a lot of the circumstances that are going to happen to a president are unpredictable. Like no one would have predicted that George [W.] Bush would have had to handle 9/11, for instance. And because things are unpredictable, you can’t just rely on their specific issue stances right now. You have to somewhat rely on the kind of judgment you think they have as a person, and the kind of integrity they have, and what their moral compass is. And I honestly believe when it comes to that criteria, Barack is clearly the most qualified to be president.

Recorded on: Jan 29, 2008