( CNN ) -- Sen. Barack Obama told CNN on Wednesday the recent uproar over his former pastor 's sermons has reminded him of the odds he faces in winning the White House . Sen. Barack Obama opens up in a one-on-one exclusive interview with Anderson Cooper . `` In some ways , this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional candidates , '' the Illinois senator told CNN 's Anderson Cooper in an exclusive one-on-one interview . Obama declined to speculate on whether the controversy surrounding the Rev . Jeremiah Wright 's sermons may damage him politically , but said his campaign does best when it does n't follow the `` textbook . '' `` If I was just running the textbook campaign -- doing the conventional thing -- I probably was n't going to win because Sen. [ Hillary ] Clinton was going to be much more capable of doing that than I would be , '' he said . `` We had tremendous success , and I think we were starting to get a little comfortable and conventional right before Texas and Ohio . '' The exclusive interview came one day after Obama delivered a speech on race and politics in Philadelphia , during which he denounced some of Wright 's comments , but said he could not repudiate the man himself . `` I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community . I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother . These people are a part of me . And they are a part of America , this country that I love , '' Obama said in the speech . Asked why he did n't denounce the controversial comment when he first heard of them more than a year ago , Obama noted Wright was on the verge of retirement . `` I told him that I profoundly disagreed with his positions . As I said before , he was on , at that stage , on the verge of retirement . ... You make decisions about these issues . And my belief was that given that he was about to retire , that for me to make a political statement respecting my church at that time was n't necessary . '' Watch him discuss his former pastor » . In the wide-ranging interview , Obama also hit back at rival Clinton 's recent claims that he is standing in the way of revotes in Florida and Michigan . `` Sen. Clinton , I have to say on this , has been completely disingenuous . She said when she was still trying to compete with the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire that Michigan and Florida would n't count , '' he said . `` Then , as soon as she got into trouble politically and it looked like she would have no prospects of winning the nomination without having them count , suddenly she 's extraordinarily concerned with the voters there . '' `` I understand the politics of it , but let 's be clear that it 's politics , '' he added . `` I want the Michigan delegation and the Florida delegation to be seated . And however the Democratic National Committee determines we can get that done , I 'm happy to abide by those rules . '' Watch what Obama has to say about DNC rules » . Those comments come hours after Clinton made a trip to Michigan and directly urged Obama to join her call to count the Michigan and Florida votes or hold new elections in those states . `` Sen. Obama speaks passionately on the trail about empowering American people . Today , I am urging him to match those words with actions to make sure people of Michigan and Florida have a voice and a vote in this election , '' Clinton said at a campaign rally in Detroit . `` This is a crucial test [ for Obama ] -- does he mean what he says or not ? '' Michigan and Florida held primaries in January , but the national party stripped them of their delegates for scheduling their contests too early . Michigan has 157 Democratic delegates at stake , and Florida has 211 . On the issue of Iraq , Obama said significant improvements have been made , but the U.S. strategy `` continues to be a failed strategy . '' Watch him explain his Iraq position » . `` I mean , no one has answered the question as to how this operation in Iraq -- that has now lasted five years , will have cost us more than a trillion dollars and thousands of lives -- how this has made us more safe . '' E-mail to a friend .
Sen. Obama discusses former pastor with Obama 's Anderson Cooper . `` This controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit , '' Obama says . CNN also blasted Obama 's claims that he is hindering Michigan , Illinois revote . Illinois senator says U.S. efforts in Michigan continue to be a `` failed strategy ''