Hey, it's Glenn Thrush with Politico's Off Message podcast. I'm in the basement of the White House.

I just finished up a 40-minute interview with a very relaxed Barack Obama,

who kept looking out of the oval office window with the snow coming down on the South Lawn,

even though he has a much shorter commute than I do.

And we talked a lot about his experiences in Iowa in 2008, which really shaped him.

He was really eager to talk about that.

But what would surprise me is how eager he was to sort of assess Bernie Sanders and Hillary

Clinton as candidates.

He had a lot of praise for Hillary, even though he acknowledged some of her vulnerabilities,

particularly her less than electrifying speaking style.

And he had a little bit of a message for Bernie Sanders,

and that is, focus on just one more issue,

walk and chew gum at the same time.

And he also kept the door open for either of them

to call him any time for campaign advice.

We'll see if that happens.

And here's my conversation with President Obama. So one of the things, thanks for doing this, by the way, Mr. President, I really appreciate it.

One of the things I've been talking to a bunch of people who were around you in 08, because

I went to Iowa and I figured it would be a good idea to speak to the Mitch Stewart's and

the Paul Tuzes of the world.

And they said, you know, he's been in a really nostalgic mood lately about Iowa, that

he's kind of watching this from a distance, you know?

...