I'm confused

Today, in reaction to the Tom Daschle withdrawal, the President said:

"I think I screwed up," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. "And, I take responsibility for it and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again."

"Ultimately, I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics," Obama said.

"And I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards -- one for powerful people and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes."

What's he doing here? This doesn't sound like spin at all. His language is so advanced, it makes me doubt that he's ignoring reality. What's the deal?