Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday that he can't yet say what role Georgia will play in his Super Tuesday strategy, but said if he's the nominee, he'll fight for it in November.

In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution following his address at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Obama said he has one immediate goal.

Jessica McGowan /Staff (ENLARGE)

Temperatures were in the teens Sunday morning as the crowd lined up outside Ebenezer Baptist Church.

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"I'll be honest with you. Right now, our strategy is to win South Carolina," he said, sitting at makeshift desk in a vast ballroom of the Hyatt Regency on Peachtree Street.

The South Carolina Democratic primary is Saturday, six days before Georgians and voters in more than 20 other states got to the polls. Such a vast array of states voting on Super Tuesday means campaigns have to strategize: The candidate can't hit all of them in six days.

Georgia appears to be wide open. A recent AJC poll found Obama and Clinton running neck and neck here. Still, Obama said it's too soon to say what Georgia will mean for his campaign.

"If we're successful (in South Carolina), we'll take the measure of the other Feb. 5 states and gauge where my presence would make the biggest difference," he said. I can guarantee you some of those states will be Southern states, but which ones it's hard to gauge right now."

But if he wins the nomination and is campaigning for the general election in November, Georgia will most definitely be in play, he said.

"One of my premises for my candidacy is we can bring new voters into the fold," he said, "that I can reach out to independents and Republicans in a way we haven't seen in a long time."

That was true in Nevada on Saturday, he said, where while he barely lost the popular to vote to Clinton, the two were even in delegates because Obama scored victories in conservative parts of the state.

"And I think we can find that same sort of success in the South," he said.

Obama had just come from a rousing service at Ebenezer Baptist on Auburn Avenue, the church where the late Martin Luther King Jr. launched his career as a pastor, civil rights leader and eventually, American icon. His presence at the modern Horizon sanctuary, next door to the historic church, brought out thousands in freezing weather — it was in the high teens moments before Obama took the pulpit. The sanctuary that holds 2,500 saw a few more squeezed in.

From the pulpit Sunday, Obama said he knew where he was standing.

"I will try to deliver my message succinctly and with a spirit of humility because I'm aware of how meaningful this pulpit is, not just to the city of Atlanta or the African-American community, but to the entire country and the entire world" he said to thunderous applause.

The crowd had finally warmed up, having stood in line in the cold as the Secret Service swept the building. Not everyone made it inside. Hundreds waited through the nearly two-hour service for a glimpse of Obama afterward.

In his speech, Obama called for the country to follow King's edict of unity above all. Through the biblical parable of Jericho, Obama said by working together people can achieve greatness.

"Unity is the great need of the hour — the great need of this hour," he said. "Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country."

That "deficit," he said, is a moral deficit, and a deficit of empathy. Too many are without health care or employment, and for many the economical scales are impossible to balance.

Later, in the interview at the Hyatt Regency, Obama said the government needs to act now to stave off recession. He said he favors giving a $250 to $500 rebate immediately to taxpayers "so they can give a boost to consumer spending."

He gently chastised Clinton for being late to recognize the need for such an infusion of cash for American families.

"Initially, Senator Clinton and some others were critical of that approach until most economists agreed with us," he said.

But Obama also acknowledged for that many Georgians saddled with debt, any windfall of $250 might go to pay the credit card bill or the utility bill, and not necessarily into the general economy.

"There's no doubt we have this overhang of debt we have got to deal with," he said, repeating his call for better oversight of the financial sector.

Still, he said, "there are a whole lot of families out there who will use this $250 to get a car fixed that's been broken or get a new coat for the kids." That boost to the economy will help small businesses, and is the best bet for avoiding a long-term recession.