Obama scoffed at the idea that he is not as tough as Clinton, or as ready for the rigors of a general election.
"Since I've won twice as many states and we've probably gone through a tougher time than, certainly, Sen. Clinton or John McCain have over the last two months, and we're standing here campaigning actively to win in Indiana and North Carolina," he said. "So, obviously, I've been able to take my shots and keep on ticking."
Obama is favored to win North Carolina, a state with a large number of black voters. In Indiana, it's a tighter race, and polling shows Obama still struggling with blue collar white voters.
Even so, Obama dismisses the idea that this primary election is polarized by race.
"I think that there's a lot of speculation around demographics in this race, people studying polls, and I just think that each state is different," Obama told "Nightline." "We're running against a strong candidate who has her own base, and we won a lot of white voters in Virginia, in Wisconsin, obviously places like Idaho and North Dakota. ... What I know is when I talk to white voters, their concerns are the same as when I talk to black voters."
Obama also believes the media has been inconsistent in portraying his candidacy along racial lines.
"This is something that the media, I'm sorry to say, has been promoting for a long time," he said. "I don't know if anyone can remember this, but about this time last year, when every story was, 'Is he black enough, he's not getting black votes,' I kept saying at the time, 'Listen, relax. People are getting to know me, and when they have a sense to see me, and hear my life story, then we're gonna get those votes.' Now we've gotten those votes and everyone's saying, 'Oh, he's too black now!'"
But it's not only his race. Obama's opponents have also criticized him as an out of touch academic.
"I'm not out of central casting as a presidential candidate," Obama admitted. "I've got to work harder for those votes. African Americans may be obviously more attracted to my candidacy. College educated voters may have gotten more familiar with me or have read my books. And with blue collar voters who are worried day to day how to move their lives forward and pay the bills, they haven't had the time, the chance to see who I am or what I stand for. And over the last month, all they've heard about is a pastor who's said a bunch of offensive stuff that offends their sense of patriotism. So, we're gonna have to do some work."
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